Page 35 of Lilly

"Why? Because of Katherine?"

"Because of her husband." She innocently sips her tea but a mischievous gleam in her eyes tells me she's hiding a secret.

"What is it, Mother? What do you know?"

She sets her teacup down. "I'm simply saying they don't like Katherine's husband. And therefore they would never accept his son for membership."

"Why? What did Lyndon do? Are they upset by the scandal he caused when he had an affair with Katherine?"

"It wasn't the scandal. Scandals can be overlooked, and by now, his indiscretions have been all but forgotten."

"Then what is it? Just tell me."

She pauses, then says, "Before Leland died, he was trying to obtain membership for Katherine's husband. Leland hated the fact that his son-in-law wasn't part of it. But before the members could even consider it, Lyndon began making demands, asking for money, asking them to get his Senate position back. Once he knew the group existed, he wanted the perks, and when he didn't get them, he threatened to tell their secrets. Honestly, I'm surprised Lyndon is still around after that. But their threats seemed to quiet him because after that, he never asked for another thing. His membership was declined, and so far, he's kept their secrets, pretending they don't exist."

I'm stunned that all this went on and yet I never heard about it. "How do you know all this?"

"I saw things." She lifts her chin and smooths her hair. "Overheard things."

"How is it that I never knew this?"

"These were backroom discussions. There was nothing official going on at the time. Leland worked behind the scenes. He tried to involve your father but he wanted no part of it. And it ended soon after it began. I'm guessing only a handful of the members know about this, but it doesn't matter. Lyndon has been blacklisted and will never be allowed to join."

"That doesn't mean his son will be blacklisted as well."

"I suppose it's possible he could be considered someday, but I doubt it will happen."

"It will if he has the right people in the right places."

"What are you referring to?" she asks.

"Phillip was at the meeting today."

She leans forward, placing her cup and saucer on the silver tray. "Yes, I heard he was in town but I'm not certain how long he's staying."

"He's moving here. He already bought a house."

"Well, they certainly kept that quiet. News like that would spread quickly and yet I'm just hearing about it now."

"I think that's intentional. I think Phillip didn't want people knowing until he had certain things in place. At the meeting I discovered that—"

"Pearce," she says, stopping me before I say something I shouldn't. I'm not allowed to tell her information about the organization. Doing so could get me in trouble, and even though it's just the two of us in this room, we're both paranoid they'll find out. The fact that we're even discussing this shows how much our relationship has changed the past few years. I can actually talk to her now and even seek out her advice and opinions, whereas in the past, I never would've done that.

My mother smiles. "Perhaps we should find a new topic."

"Yes. Tell me what you've been up to lately."

A few hours later we have dinner, then I decide to stay overnight in one of the guest rooms. I have a hotel room for tonight but if someone is watching me, they'd find it strange if I didn't stay with my mother.

Before going to bed, I call Rachel but avoid talking about anything related to what's going on. Those things can't be discussed over the phone. But I keep my tone upbeat, so that she knows nothing happened at the meeting that would indicate they want me to be more involved. I was actually surprised no one approached me about that. For the most part, people just watched me from afar, making no attempts to talk to me. Some of them are probably afraid of me because they know I've killed at least one of our fellow members and gotten away with it. They can't prove it so they'll never know for sure, but the rumor has been out there for years.

The next day, I say goodbye to my mother and head to New York to see William. On the way there, I call up Ezra.

"Ezra, it's Pearce," I say when he answers.

"Hello, Pearce." He sounds nervous. He likely regrets what he told me, fearing they overheard. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go golfing next time I'm in town."

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