Page 12 of Harmless Secrets

His lips twitched. “I collect a lot of information.”

Yes he did. She had read his file, knew that his IQ was beyond genius level. The CIA had such high hopes for him. She’d only discovered a small part of his file. Devon’s ability to dance in and out of security systems undetected was unnerving. They had wanted to tap that skill and when he disappeared the CIA went into freak out mode. That kind of ability out running around was dangerous. Alicia knew at least one higher up had lost his job for it.

“Yes, well, my father was very interested in you. There was a lot of information on you at his house.”

“Why didn’t you ask him?”

She sighed. “Because I couldn’t find him.”

He studied her for a moment, as if trying to discern if she were lying. She wasn’t, but even if she was, she doubted Devon would know. She had been trained by the best.

“Your father was missing? Did this happen often?”

“Not that often, but he was in the business also. One thing you learn when you are raised in the business is that sometimes people disappear. But it was odd I couldn’t seem to find him at all. We had a few ways of getting in touch, but he never responded.”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “So they sent you after me?”

She could lie about that, easily. Devon might understand if she had been ordered to find him. But for some reason, she couldn’t lie about that. Not now and not to him.

“No. I did that on my own. I was actually on my own without backup when I went looking for you.”

He said nothing for a few moments.

“You came to Vegas to approach me—and apparently thought I was dangerous—with no backup?”

His tone told her he thought she was an idiot. She straightened her back.

“I don’t think you would understand.”

More fingers drumming on the table. “We’ll get back to that later. First, we need to talk about our daughter.”

Her heart ticked up a bit. “What do you want to know?”

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

He was obtuse. She just told him why and he kept asking. “As I said, you are not the easiest person to find.”

He waved that away. “But, still, you found me once.”

She sat down in the chair opposite of him and sighed. “That morning when you left me, I got another call from my cousin.”

“He’s in the business too?”

“She, and yes.”

He wanted to ask more. She wasn’t stupid. The man thrived on information. The thirst for knowledge shimmered just beneath the surface. He might be good at making everyone think he was just an average guy who came up with a great game. But she knew better. Alicia was okay with giving him a little bit of information, but not too much.

“So, the call?”

“Yes. The call.” Memories of that morning run to the airport, the rush to her childhood home, the disappointment and grief that she had been too late. “My father had been shot. I had to try and reach him.”

“And did you?” he asked quietly.

“No. He died about two hours before I made it back.”

“Well, at least he died not knowing you whored yourself out.”

“Devon!” Dee said. “Don’t you dare speak to her like that.”

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