“I thought they were coming to get us.”
“That depends on what’s going on at headquarters and whether they think it’s safe.”
“When are you going to call them?”
“As soon as I figure out what to tell them.”
“What do you mean?”
Shield locked the door and took a seat on the couch. “I want you to tell me what the hell is going on—who this TQ is and how she involved you. And then I want to know how the hell you pulled this off.”
“Look,” Wagner replied, as she sat on an armchair to Shield’s left, “I know you’re angry and you have every reason to be, but I did what I had to, to stay alive.”
“The only reason you’re alive, that both of us are alive, is by the grace of a complete stranger. I don’t understand why she helped us, but we owe her our lives.” Shield tried to keep her voice steady and not let her bottled-up anger take over. “What you did—your lies and deceptions, kidnapping the president and getting innocent people killed in the process, and then trying to seduce me to throw me off track—is not why you’re still alive.”
“They promised me freedom,” Wagner said coldly. “And I did not try to seduce you.”
“Stop repeating that ridiculous mantra. Did you really think they’d let a nobody live to tell what happened? High-profile people have been permanently silenced for a lot less. Do you have any idea how ludicrous you sound?”
“What the hell was I supposed to do? Go to jail and wait for death? Do you think I went looking for them, for this whole absurd weirdness?” Wagner winced. “They framed me, killed my customer and his ex-wife with my stem cutter, and placed it back in my shop where the police found it covered in blood. I didn’t stand a chance.”
“Didn’t you get a lawyer?”
“A fancy-looking one came to me while I was being held for questioning. Initially, I thought my colleague sent him. I’d asked her to find me a lawyer, a pro bono one. Some guy in an expensive suit showed up instead and got me out then took me to his equally expensive office, where he told me if I refused to work for his client they’d provide solid evidence against me. Witnesses who saw me being intimate with the victim on various occasions.”
“Were you?”
“With Tim? No. Never. I hardly knew the man.”
“Who hired this lawyer to represent you?”
“He never said, but as time went by and they started to operate and school me, this woman would call to check on my progress. She never said so, but I know she was the client the lawyer had referred to. She was behind it all.”
“Was TQ her name?”
“She never mentioned a name,” Wagner replied. “No one ever mentioned their name, except for the woman who trained me, taught me manners, how to talk, sound, walk, politics, how to hold a damn fork, and every other little thing.”
“How do you know this woman who called was the brain behind this scheme?”
“Just the way she talked to me. Like it was up to her to decide whether my transformation was successful and I was ready to proceed with what they wanted from me. It wasn’t until I was ready for the job that they revealed who I was to double.”
“The president.”
“I only realized after the swelling from the operations had gone down and they let me look at myself for the first time in the mirror.”
“This woman—”
“It looks like she knows or owns a lot of people in high places, including Moore,” Wagner went on. “That’s why I was terrified to talk to you or even suggest what was going on. The woman gets personal invites to the White House. That should tell you how powerfully dangerous she is. Christ, I wouldn’t be surprised if she owned the place.”
“How do you know she gets invites?”
“Because that’s where I finally put a face to the voice. I’d recognize that voice anywhere.”
Shield sat forward. “You what?”
“She was invited to the state dinner for the Argentine president, and Moore introduced us. She came especially to check on me.”
“I saw her.” Shield remembered the older, attractive woman who’d arrived late.
“It was because of her I needed to get away and collect myself. You came to my room that night and we almost kissed…” Wagner went silent.
“The woman with the white hair.”
“And you didn’t have the pleasure of talking to her. She has the coldest voice and deadest eyes I’ve ever seen. My skin crawled when I touched her hand. It was like ice.”
Shield got up. “Who is she?”
“According to the guest list I studied and Rat…Moore…her name is Theodora Rothschild.”
Shield ran her hand through her hair as she stared at the floor. “I know that name, but from where?” she said to herself.
“Of the Rothschild Auction Houses.”
“The auction…you must be kidding.”
“Why?”
“She’s a client of mine,” Shield said. “Her secretary places orders directly to Tuscany.”
“But she doesn’t know you.”
Shield was still in disbelief. Rothschild was a huge name in the auction business, and although probably a wealthy individual, the woman had the power to own politicians and organize crimes of this magnitude? “Why would she? I’ve never dealt directly with her, and for privacy and security reasons due to my job with the EOO, I kept my company under Pepo’s name. The original owner.”
“But I swear I don’t know who this TQ is that that woman who saved us accused me of working for.”
Shield was lost in thought. “Huh? Yeah, the name doesn’t mean anything to me, either.”
She reached over and picked up the phone. “But maybe my employer knows.” Thankfully, she got a dial tone. “Shield, 29041971. Put me through to Pierce ASAP.”
*
Southwestern Colorado
Montgomery Pierce sat in his favorite armchair while Joanne massaged his shoulders.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised the grave was empty,” he said.
The op they’d sent to Kansas to check on Dario’s supposedly dead sister had confirmed Chase’s suspicions. Chase hadn’t sounded at all surprised when Monty called to tell her but had tried to reassure him they at least had something to go on. First thing tomorrow morning, she was going to Kansas herself to find anyone who knew the Imperis.
Reno had been assigned to find any adoption papers from the period that matched, but so far, his attempts had been fruitless. The baby had probably been sold, and no legal papers were ever drawn.
Monty sighed and looked up at Joanne. “We have to find someone who knew the parents. Someone must know—” The ringing of his telephone cut him off. He jumped up to answer it.
“You can’t keep this up, Monty,” Joanne said as he reached for it. “I’m worried, too, but you’re going to give yourself a heart attack if your blood pressure hits the ceiling every time the phone rings.”
“I’m fine. Stop coddling me.” He put the receiver to his ear. “Any news?”
“I have Shield on the phone.”
Monty took the receiver with him back to the armchair. “Put her through.”
He listened while Shield explained what had happened and how she’d gotten away. Halfway during the whole bizarre story he put the speakerphone on for Joanne, who was going crazy with his exclamations.
“I’ll be damned,” he said. “A fake president.”
“A very convincing one,” Shield said. “Do you know Theodora Rothschild?”
“Who?” he asked.
“Of the Rothschild Auction Houses. She’s the one who framed and hired Wagner, and unless someone finds her, she will not stop looking for us. We’re the only ones who know who she is and what she’s done, and she’s looking at terrorist charges. You know what that means.”