Page 65 of The Art of You

I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone about what I’d read online today, least of all my father. I’d be getting the governor on the other end of that line, not a man worried about his son. “Is he just pissed about the news cycle or about the homicide case?” The pendulum could swing both ways as to why my father was blowing up at his staff.

“It turns out Kit was blackmailing your father’s favorite assistant.” Alessandro joined his wife at the table. “She forced him to add her name to the guest list at the last minute on Friday. She didn’t tell him why she wanted to go, just demanded he get her an invite. Explains why we didn’t know she’d be there. His main assistant has been trading Kit favors for her silence for about a year now.”

“What kind of blackmail? What other favors?” I positioned my back to the counter, using it for support.

“Kit discovered he was cheating, and she used that to extort him in exchange for not exposing him online,” Enzo shared, rolling his eyes in disgust.

“Your dad is now questioning all of his staff, worried he has more ‘problems’ in his inner circle.” Alessandro’s use of air quotes was a sign his wife was rubbing off on him.

“Your father was talking as if the story Kit wrote about the government cover-up was a lie. Sounded pretty convincing, too.” Enzo had to step right into that topic despite Constantine’s orders. “Does he not know the truth? And if not, then no reason to believe someone on his staff knows. Puts doubt on them being Kit’s source, right?”

“Your dad was still a senator back then,” Alessandro picked up with more questions before I could answer Enzo, “but I’m guessing he wasn’t one of the ones pressing JSOC and the Agency to rush that op in order to offer the public a victory, right?”

“No, he wasn’t in on that decision to send my team.”He wouldn’t have risked emailing me about my mom that day.“I didn’t tell him or my mom the truth about what happened. It sounds like he never looked into it or found out, but I’m sure he’ll be calling his friends at the Pentagon and CIA to see if they’ll help him kill the story regardless of whether he believes it’s true.”

“Aside from that conversation with your father,” Constantine continued, redirecting us, “we have a few other things to share.” He looked back down at his laptop. “Adelina let us know the Feds picked up that one valet for questioning.”

“The one who parked the Porsche?” I asked, standing taller at the news.

Constantine nodded. “Yeah. Adelina had no choice but to offer the Bureau that lead while we were in the city. They must’ve found something from his texts or emails that suggested he was tied to the kidnappers.”

That’s something.

“As for the photo dropped off at your place, Adelina’s tech guy”—Constantine turned to the side on his stool to look at Bella—“cleaned up the image and got a hit while we were in the city. His name is Deacon Jones. He’s bounced around between shelters for the last two years. Lost his job and home. We tracked him down, but he was on something.”

My stomach tightened, preparing myself for the punch I felt coming. Anything butthatdrug, dammit.

“Deacon used the hundred bucks someone gave him to drop off the envelope to buy fentanyl.” Constantine delivered the bad news quickly. “His description of who paid him off made it sound like?—”

“The Tooth Fairy made him do it,” Enzo remarked dryly. “So, he wasn’t helpful.” He flicked away the bag of chips on the counter. “We also showed Deacon photos of Kit and Agent Clarke to see if he recognized them. Also, the photo of the guy who’d been on a date with the woman across the street Friday night. Struck out on all three.”

“But he wasn’t all that coherent, so we should try again,” Constantine suggested, eyes on me. “Maybe we need to force him to get clean so we can talk to him.”

“Like help him pay for rehab, or force him to get clean in other ways?” Callie spoke up, putting her teacher voice into play.

“The second way would be much more expedient, but . . .” Alessandro let his wife fill in the blanks, and I’d take her shake of the head as a firm no to kidnapping the man. “Fine, we’ll help him sober up in a more ethical way.” His shrug was aimed at Enzo. “Happy wife, man, happy life. Don’t act like you’re not guilty of the same.”

I stopped paying attention to them when I realized Bella was staring at me with her sad, puppy-dog eyes. Who was she thinking about now? Pablo? Matt?

I really hated that drug and the people who trafficked it. But it also reminded me of something important. “No way Alfie would ask him to deliver the photo.” A touch of welcoming relief hit me at that. “He’d recognize the signs of addiction and assume how the money would be used. He might be Kit’s source, and maybe was even at that party, but no chance in hellwould he risk someone ODing on his dime.” He may have changed over the years, but notthatmuch.

No one questioned me. No one offered a plausible explanation as to why Alfie might be responsible. They trusted me the way I trusted my instincts.

Bella nodded, offering her support in my confidence about Alfie. “Did, um, Adelina mention . . .”

“Pablo-Not-Picasso?” Enzo swiveled on his stool to face her, tossing out the nickname he’d used for her ex last year. “She mentioned he’s in rehab. Coincidentally, because of the same drug we were just discussing.” His shoulders fell. “Two visitors in the last month. His mom and sister. She doesn’t think he, or any of your exes, are tied to anything, but she’s not ready to cross Pablo off her list yet.”

“And that has me worried.” Constantine twisted around to peer at her. “Is there something else I need to know about the artist? Another reason why Adelina wants to keep him on the potential suspect list?”

Bella’s gaze abruptly flew to me, a plea to help rescue her from this without her brothers feeling the need to murder her ex.

Was I really going to help save Pablo?Christ.

Realizing I now had eyes on me, I did my best to think of a distraction, and then a legitimate question wound up saving me. “Wait, did you say you have a photo of the woman’s date from across the street?” They said they showed it to Deacon, and I’d missed that detail, too focused on the mention of the drug.

“What’d you find out about the woman’s date?” Bella abruptly ran with that distraction. “Was he really just admiring the Porsche?”

Constantine turned around, narrowing his eyes my way, letting me know he wouldn’t be letting the subject of Pablo goforever. “Yeah, we spoke to her, as well as her date. His background checks out. They met through a dating app. He’s an accountant for one of the major firms. Nothing in his story that’s a red flag.” He stood, resting the laptop on his palm before placing it on the table in front of Bella. “You recognize him?”

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