“Do you have proof?”
She squeezed my arm hard. “No, of course not. Don’t you think I would come forward if I did?” Looking morose, she glanced to where Joel was chatting up a senator from Illinois. “Carl had proof. He told me he did. And Carl was about to blow the whistle on Kap.” She swallowed, glancing around yet again. “So Kap had him killed. And Cooper was the one who did it,” she said. “Right under my nose.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I need your help. And Howard Liss trusts you.”
Liss, I thought. That’s when the light dawned. Ruth was the confidential source he kept talking about.
“Ollie!” Nana called to me from about twenty feet away. “We’re ready.”
I waved. “I’ll be there in a minute.” I was trying to process Ruth’s revelation. “What does Liss have to do with this?”
“He knows the whole story,” she said. “He’s the one who figured out the connection between Cooper and Kap. Howard Liss has been following this story from day one and keeping me updated. I help him, too, a little bit. I trust him. And he trusts you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t trust Liss.”
“Whether you do or not,” she said, “we need your help. We need to uncover their treason before they kill anyone else.”
Nana called me again. “I really have to get going,” I said, inching away.
Ruth’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “Don’t you care about your country?” she asked.
That irked me. “Of course I do,” I said, with more than a little spirit. “But if you’re depending on Liss for your information, I want no part of it.”
She looked stricken, then resolute. “Listen,” she said, talking quickly, “Kap plans to kill Cooper. Did you know that?”
I didn’t want to continue this conversation and tried again to make excuses, when she said, “You didn’t believe that those two just met today, did you?”
So she knew. Stunned silent, I waited for her to continue.
“Cooper and Kap pretended they didn’t know each other. That was for my benefit,” she said, pointing her finger hard into her chest. “Cooper killed my husband. Now Kap needs to get rid of that loose end. He’s going to do that by killing Cooper.”
I waved to Nana and Mom, who were still waiting. Next to them, Kap stared at me with an odd expression on his face. I turned to Ruth. “What do you need me to do?”
CHAPTER 24
RUTH WAS ABOUT TO ANSWER, BUT KAP TOOK that moment to steer my mom and nana over. “We’re ready for our tour,” Nana said cheerily. “If you have a few minutes.”
What I wanted to do, more than anything, was show my family the China Room, the kitchen, and take them into the heart of the White House. But here I was, asking them-again-to wait just a little bit longer. “I’m sorry,” I said, “something came up.”
“What’s going on, Ollie?” Mom asked.
Ruth excused herself, shooting Kap a hateful glare as she left.
Kap watched her leave before speaking. “You were talking with her for quite a long time there.”
I nodded. “She’s having a tough day. Holidays, you know.”
“Anything else?”
“Why do you ask?”
Kap’s expression was unreadable. “Just making conversation.”
Oh, sure, Kap. Claim you’re striving for inane conversation while the world crashes down on me. Ruth’s allegations were nothing short of explosive, and I needed to sort facts from conjecture. “Hang on one minute,” I said, and raced over to where a giant pink bunny leaned over to pat an adoring toddler on the head. When the bunny righted himself, I sidled up. I was pretty sure who was inside this suit. “Agent Guzy?” I whispered.
The bulky head turned toward me, blocking my view of anything beyond its fat fuzzy grin. I tried to look behind the screen-printed eyes, but couldn’t see inside the darkness. The head moved up and down slowly, nodding. I knew that bunnies were instructed not to talk to the children, but I hoped he could hear. I whispered, “I need your help.”
Waving a pink-pawed good-bye to the children who had gathered around him, the Guzy Bunny followed me away. As we walked, I explained what little I could. “Listen, I don’t know exactly what to expect, but the gentleman I am about to introduce you to may bear watching.”
Guzy Bunny leaned his giant head close to mine. One of the bent ears grazed the side of my face. His voice was nearly inaudible. “What do you need me to do?”
I leaned up, pulling the plaster and fur face closer, hoping to be heard over the high-pitched squeals of children playing tag nearby. Hoping to not accidentally tug his head off.
“Just keep an eye on this guy, all right? I’ll hurry back as soon as I can with more information.”
The big head nodded again. Guzy Bunny followed me to the table’s edge.
“Look who came to visit,” I said with forced cheer.
Mom and Nana looked up at me, painfully unimpressed. Detritus from the day’s event littered the tabletop, and the other empty chairs were tilted and angled, as though their occupants had just tumbled out of them. Kap sat on the edge of his folding chair and studied the grounds, looking ready to bolt at any moment.
“This is…” I thought fast. “Fuzzy. He’s going to take you around the grounds and show you the gardens.”
Mom shifted in her seat. “We don’t mind waiting for you, Ollie.”
Nana patted the big pink paw. “No offense, Fuzzy.”
Fuzzy Guzy stayed silent, obviously waiting for them to stand and join him. When that didn’t happen, he lowered his cotton-tailed bulk into the nearest empty chair-right next to Kap. Without saying a word, the big rabbit patted the table in front of him, and folded his paws one on top of the other. “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Ollie.” Kap started to get up. “Do you need help?”
“No, not at all,” I said and sprinted away before he could argue.
Leaving Mom and Nana with him seemed wrong somehow. Ruth had said that Kap wasn’t who he pretended to be, and I believed that. In fact, I’d sensed that from the start. But in this crowd, with all of those kids running around, and with Fuzzy Guzy watching over them, I didn’t know how much safer they could be.
I spotted Ruth about a hundred feet away. She was leaning against a tree trunk, in conversation with Phil and Francine Cooper. Damn. Another delay. “Ruth,” I called. She turned and waved. I hadn’t expected her to be with Cooper. Could she be warning him about Kap’s alleged plans?
I slowed my pace, striving to appear casual. “Did you all have enough to eat? How was the food?”
Francine smiled and told me how wonderful everything tasted. Cooper distractedly agreed. Ruth made eye contact with me and raised her brows. What did that mean?
“When you have a few minutes, Mrs. Minkus,” I said, “I wouldn’t mind a chance to finish our conversation.”
“Maybe later,” she said. “I’m not feeling so well.”
Phil Cooper was instantly solicitous. “Do you want to sit down? Can I get you something?”
The offer seemed to stun her. “No, I’m just a bit unsettled,” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m not used to eating-I haven’t had much appetite over the past several days. Please don’t trouble yourself. I’ll be fine.”
As though drawn by the tug of a magic umbilical cord, Joel rushed over from out of nowhere. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
She smiled up at him. “Nothing, honey. Maybe you should call for the car. Would you, please? I’d like to go home now.”
Joel ignored her request and instead grabbed the nearest folding chair, pressing his mother to sit. As Ruth lowered herself onto the seat, she shooed Phil and Francine Cooper away. “I’m fine,” she said. Her voice seemed to have regained its strength. “You two don’t need to worry about me. Joel is here now.” The Coopers left, albeit reluctantly.
One of our volunteers came over and asked if there was anything she could do. Although Ruth tried to assure us all, I knew it was too late. This was the White House. No one got light-headed around here without it becoming a federal case. This little incident-forgettable in most any other environment-had just shattered my hopes for continuing our conversation.