Page 75 of Sinful Palace

“I accepted the meeting as a favor to your father, because he seemed deeply concerned.”

I didn’t believe that for a second. Not when he’d refused to take a meeting with a lower-level member like me in over twenty years.

Q abruptly stood and beckoned his guards over. “Sorry, Logan. That’s all the time I have for you.”

“Okay. Thanks for seeing me,” I said with a tight smile. He’d barely told me anything during the short meeting, but unbeknownst to him, he’d given me exactly what I needed.

He stared down at me, gloved hands interlaced in front of him. “I hope my openness and honesty with you today proves to be enough to restore your trust in me. I’d hate to see someone like you turn against the Order.”

With that, he whirled around and strode toward the other side of the massive room, black robes billowing around him as the masked guards flanked him.

The man who’d led me into the room in the first place stayed behind, watching them go. While he wasn’t paying attention to me, I quickly reached forward and switched my bottle of water with the one Q drank from earlier.

The masked man turned back to me a second later. “Time to go.”

I stood and casually grabbed the half-empty bottle. “All right.”

He frowned and gestured to the water. “Leave that. Someone else will throw it out for you,” he said brusquely.

“I was just going to take it with me, if that’s okay. My throat is still pretty itchy after that coughing fit.”

He was silent for a beat, and then he gave me a curt nod. “Fine. This way.”

He led me to the main door and directed me through the maze of halls until we reached the candlelit Order Hall foyer. “You know the quickest way out of the tunnels, don’t you?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yup.”

“Good.” Without another word, he turned on his heel and disappeared down another dark hall.

I hurried out of the tunnels and made my way back to my car. When I was safely inside, I put the bottle in a holder in the center console and reached into my glovebox to grab a pair of gloves and a Ziploc bag.

I carefully fished the straw out of the bottle and enclosed it in the plastic bag. Then I grabbed my phone and called an acquaintance of mine, Connor Chang. We’d done some work together last year when Caldwell sent me and a couple of other analysts to the NSA to help with a social media surveillance project.

He answered on the fourth ring. “Logan Thorne,” he said drily. “To what do I owe the pleasure? You gonna apologize for not inviting me to your engagement party?”

“You know I didn’t plan that stupid party. Otherwise you would’ve been there.”

“I know. I’m just messing with you, man. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

“I was just wondering if you still have that connection at the lab in Arlington. The one you told me about that did the genetic testing stuff for you and your wife a while back.”

Connor clicked his tongue. “Let me guess… some gold-digger is claiming you knocked her up, and you need a way to covertly test the paternity?”

I forced a laugh. “Something like that, yeah.”

“Knew it.”

“I need to get it done as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry, I can hook you up. My friend Cleo still works there. I’ll call her and tell her you’re on your way right now.”

“Thanks.”

“The lab is at 2250 Crystal Drive. And hey, next time you get engaged, I better be invited to the party.”

I laughed again. “You got it.”

I ended the call and made my way to the address he’d given me. A short blonde woman was standing in the lobby, tapping one foot on the linoleum floor as she played with her phone. “Are you Logan?” she asked when she spotted me.

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