Page 18 of 4th Silence
Mom rolls her eyes. “All right. Well, if I were you, I’d start with Mary Hartman. Go to the queen herself.”
“No.”
Charlie’s tone is so matter of fact, Mom’s head snaps back. “Pardon?”
“The family is off-limits.”
“Damn JJ.” Mom mutters. “Still pulling the strings.”
I grin at my mother. “He is the U.S. Attorney, Mom.”
She blows air through her lips. “I’ll figure something out there. But, I have to say, that’s ridiculous. How does he expect us to solve it if we can’t talk to them?”
Charlie pins our mother with a look. “You’ve created a political firestorm. And that was before you got arrested. The mayor himself stopped by to speak with JJ this morning. He has to see Helen at a fundraiser tonight and was none too happy.”
Curious, I cock my head. “What fundraiser?”
“I have no idea,” Charlie says.
Mom waves a hand. “It’s probably to support families in need during the holidays. Mary is all about Christmas. This might be our shot at her. She’ll be distracted and surrounded by people. If ever there was a chance to catch her off guard, this is it. Meg, call Audrey at The Ledger. She has a contact in the mayor’s office. She knows who you are. Tell her I need to know where the mayor is going tonight.”
Go, Mom. “Wow,” I say. “That’s impressive.”
“You may think I’m a zealot, pushing my ideas on you, but I get things done.”
“No,” Charlie states in that same definitive tone from a few minutes ago. “I’m not going.”
I swing to Charlie. “I could go. Maybe take Matt with me. We find Mary and…”
“Are you insane? JJ will kill me. Kill us! We’ve just gotten him to agree to this review, and now, on day one, you want to risk it?”
I sure do.
“We can say we bought the tickets before all this happened.”
“He’ll never believe that.”
“We can claim we purchased them yesterday, thinking it might be an opportunity to speak to the family. Since we had the tickets, we felt we might as well go. Even though we don’t—wink, wink—intend on speaking to the family.”
“And what about convening tonight? What am I supposed to tell him?”
“Charlize,” Mom says, “do what you do. The man is putty in your hands.”
Wait. What? Is our mother telling Charlie, her oldest daughter, to manipulate JJ with sex?
A gagging noise erupts from my throat. “Ew.”
“Oh, please.” Mom rolls her eyes. “Men are idiots when it comes to sex.”
“I really am not believing this,” Charlie says.
She rises from the table, adjusts the sleeves of her blazer, and sighs. “I’m not purposely manipulating JJ to get him to further our cause.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Charlie spits. “I’m not doing that to him. Mom, I love this man. I want a future with him. And setting him up to lose a job he’s passionate about is not happening.” Charlie peers down at me. “I’ll be outside. Take your time.”
Five minutes later, we’re walking to Charlie’s car when her phone rings.
