Page 65 of The Devil's Daughter

She’ll be the perfect distraction later, but for now we need to stay focused, which Drake seems to grasp since he lets out a small sigh and turns his gaze out the window of the helicopter.

We land half an hour later in a small field at the rear of the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park. Karl meets us with a small detail and escorts us inside the building without incident.

“The men are all set,” he says. “All the caterers have passed the security check and are setting up now.”

“Is Lindsey here? Ms. Cramer, I mean. My secretary,” Drake says.

“Yes sir. She arrived shortly after we did. She’s overseeing the logistics inside.” Then he turns to me and Baz. “We have the sidearms you requested, sir. If you’ll follow me, we have everything in one of the conference rooms on the second floor.”

“You asked forguns?” Elle whispers, leaning close. “Is that necessary?”

“Yes,” Drake answers for us. “We’re not taking any chances. Thank you for everything, Karl.”

“No problem, sir.” He escorts us to an elevator and joins us inside, pressing the button for the second floor. Once the door closes, he says, “Mr. Stavros, I need to apologize for questioning your choice to replace Hagler with the Quins.”

Baz and I turn to look at him, my twin’s look of surprise a mirror to my own. We’ve only been with Drake a week and have delegated a lot of tasks to Karl without complaint since we started, so I had no idea he had misgivings about our presence, beyond what Drake shared. Drake doesn’t look surprised.

“I told you it’d work out,” he says.

“You didn’t think we were up to the job?” Baz asks. “Why didn’t you come to us?”

Karl’s a big man, with deep-set eyes in a pockmarked face that’s largely covered by a close-cropped beard. The beard makes it difficult to read his expressions. It’s easy enough to see the shrewdness in his eyes from here, though.

“No offense, but your ages kept me from taking you two seriously. I figured Stavros would come to his senses once he worked with you for a little while, and I’d just pick up the slack until he figured it out.”

“Exactly how much slack have you had to pick up?” I ask.

“None, which is why I owe you both an apology. I also did some digging, and now that I know where you come from, it makes sense.”

“We’ve coordinated security for events just like this one for Arturo Flores,” Baz says. “He holds one about twice a year, and has for as long as I can remember. I admit the corporate stuff was trickier to get the hang of, though.”

I chuckle, “Yeah, we kind of picked up most of that on the fly.”

But the fact that hedid some digginginto our past gives me pause. Not that there’s anything he’d find that I should worry about. If he’s worked for Drake long enough, he’s aware of some of his boss’ underworld connections. But he didn’t need to go digging to learn those details—he could’ve asked. Which makes me think he was looking for something more specific, if he was looking at all.

I share a look with Baz that tells me he’s picked up on this detail as well. We didn’t hire any new people once Drake brought us on—no time—but we did look closely at all the files of the security staff we have. Nothing popped out about Karl, but his remarks make me want to take a closer look to see if there’s anything we need to worry about.

“Well, you’re doing a fine job,” he says, his tone only slightly patronizing.

“Better than Hagler?” I ask, taking care to watch his expression.

There’s a minute twitch in his brow and his lips tighten slightly. “Hagler was a good man. I was sorry to see him go. But I think you have the advantage, since there are two of you doing the job of one man. There’s really no comparison.”

“Where did he land, anyway?” Drake asks. “He didn’t ask for a referral. I just came in one morning to a letter of resignation, and that was the last I heard from him.”

The elevator door opens and Karl moves through, carefully checking the hallway beyond before holding the door open for us. Elle steps out first, then Drake, with Baz and I following close behind.

Karl’s expression is inscrutable now. He gives a noncommittal shrug. “No idea. We were friendly but not close. He was always all business. I was as surprised as you were when he left.”

The elevator opens onto a balcony overlooking the massive museum space, within which are suspended a variety of aircraft in all sizes. The biggest ones are outside, but it’s still an impressive display and hard not to marvel at. Karl leads us down a short hallway that curves behind the elevator to an empty conference room, which he unlocks with a keyring on his belt.

Inside, Elle moves to sit primly in one of the chairs while Karl unlocks a case resting on the table, producing a pair of handguns. Baz sets down his laptop case, which he brought in the event we needed to do some quick investigation while we’re here, then reaches for one of the guns. We check the chambers, then load magazines in each one before removing our jackets to strap on shoulder holsters, inside which we stow the guns before putting our jackets back on.

I catch Elle watching with interest and wink, which earns me a smile and a raised eyebrow. I wish I could read her mind, but I think she likes what she sees. My brother and I are usually pretty in sync when we’re on the job.

Finally I insert the tiny earpiece in my ear, and Baz and I test them, receiving confirmation that they work from whoever’s currently manning the security booth.

Karl nods at us once we look up. “If that’s everything you need, I’ll get back to the security booth. The men are already at their stations ready for guests to arrive. I’ll be in the booth monitoring radios while the guests arrive, then on the floor like you requested. If you need me, just say so.” He taps his ear, where he likely has his own earpiece.

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