Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(39)

Once again, she pressed play.

Pohl’s voice sounded once again.

“She didn’t take the job.”

A pause.

“Did you really think she would? We move on to plan B. I already have things in motion.”

Neil brushed the back of his hand to the side of his face.

“That doesn’t sound good,” AJ stated the obvious.

“Is there any more?” Neil asked.

“I don’t know. This is the first time I heard the recording. Claire called me from the computer room to tell me my plan worked. I asked her to put it on a drive. I shouldn’t have involved her.”

“Could you have obtained that without her help?” Neil asked.

“Not without a few toys I didn’t bring with me.”

“Then let it go.”

“You just took Claire and left?” AJ asked. “That doesn’t sound like the school my sister went to.”

Sasha rubbed her forehead. “She jumped the fence and found me. She indicated that she wanted to leave when I first met her. Illegally recording a message from a man employing hired guns gave her the excuse she needed.”

“Smart,” Neil said. “How old is she?”

“Eighteen. Richter has their senior class taking their first year in college, so that when and if they leave after they’re eighteen, they have a head start. The second Claire became of age, she could opt out and leave.”

“So why run away?”

“It wouldn’t be without an exit interview and a conversation with her benefactor,” Sasha explained.

“You mean her parents?” Neil asked.

“She’s an orphan. Like me.”

AJ stop with his drink halfway to his lips. The way Sasha had revealed the personal information was so flippant it made his chest ache.

Processing the information didn’t have a chance before the speakers crackled and voices filled the room.

“How did it go?”

“That’s Linette,” Sasha told them.

“Seems your alum has no need of the income I can offer.”

“I warned you that might be the case.”

“I wasted my time, Linette. You know how much I hate doing that.”

“At least you haven’t wasted your money.”

“And you have not earned a finder’s fee.”

“It appears so.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Sasha tilted her head back and muttered in a language AJ didn’t understand. “A finder’s fee?”

Neil stood and crossed to the computer, turned off the audio. “She didn’t sound upset about the loss of money.”

“Doesn’t change the fact she’s taken it in the past.”

AJ finished his drink, set the glass aside. “Or will in the future.”

Sasha pushed up in her chair and reached for the keyboard. “I’m going to need coffee.”

Neil placed a hand on hers. “This will all be here in the morning. The guys in LA are bored stiff. This will give them something to work on while you recharge.”

“This is my—”

“You’re right. And morning is in less than four hours.”

Sasha looked like she was going to argue. Giving up . . . or maybe giving in to the fatigue that was hovering above them like smog, she removed another zip drive from her pocket and pressed it into Neil’s palm.

“What’s this?”

“Raw data from Linette’s computer. Along with a list of students. Past and present. I haven’t spent any time looking this over.”

“We’ll get on it.” Neil reached for the drive.

Sasha kept it slightly out of his reach. “I’m not used to asking for help.”

Neil took the drive from her fingertips. “You didn’t ask.”

She released a long-suffering sigh and turned toward AJ. “C’mon. I’ll show you to your room.”

AJ turned toward Neil. “Thanks again.”

Neil nodded once and moved to the seat Sasha had just vacated.

AJ fell into step beside Sasha, grabbing his duffel bag on the way out of the room. They moved back to the foyer and main staircase. His feet felt like lead bricks now that he knew sleep was only a few feet away. “I could sleep on a sidewalk.”

“Save that for another night.”

They rounded the corner to a hallway with a half a dozen doors separated by a wide corridor.

She stopped long enough to open a door. “This one is yours.”

The room held a queen-size bed with muted colors of tan and beige. It was a little more formal than you’d see in a guest room in the States, but perfectly acceptable for a manor house in the English countryside.

“Where’s Claire?” he asked.

“Across the hall . . . why?”

He dropped his bag, sat on the edge of his bed. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize she was an orphan. There’s no one outside of Richter for her to contact or depend on. The girl has a lot of attitude, but under all that has to be some vulnerability, maybe even a little fear of what’s coming.”

Sasha looked over her shoulder to the empty hall. “I’ll put my money on her being just fine.”

“Didn’t say she wouldn’t be fine, just that she might be scared.” Had Sasha been scared . . . when she left Richter for the first time and had to join the world without a family? Where did she go? Who helped her out? How had she met Neil . . . and what did he mean when he said Sasha didn’t need Pohl’s money?