Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(86)

“Tomorrow night,” AJ said.

“How do we know this isn’t a setup?” Cooper tossed his hands in the air.

“How do we know this isn’t Pohl bringing the pigs in for slaughter?” Olivia asked.

AJ stood, started to pace. “Meeting of the minds, past and present. Schools are run by whom?”

“A school board,” Cooper said.

Sasha lifted a hand, pointed at AJ. “Clever, Clyde.”

“Got your back, Bonnie,” he said with a wink.

“Someone want to tell me what the hell that meant?” Neil asked.

“AJ’s mother was on the board. We need to make sure she is in attendance,” Sasha suggested.

“And I will accompany her.” AJ glanced around the room as if anticipating an argument.

No one denied him.

Twenty-one hours, Claire. Relay my message.

The chat room emptied.

Neil clapped his hands. “Okay, talk to me. What do you know about board meetings?”

“Meetings at night are parties,” Olivia said. “Black-tie things disguised as fundraisers.”

“During the day they take place in the auditorium,” Sasha said. “Those were lily days.”

“Still are,” Claire added.

“So, some of the board knew about the normal operations of Richter and some didn’t?” Cooper asked.

Olivia jumped out of the chair she was sitting in. “The board always knew. Why do you think Pohl is still around? The lilies were for their spouses. You need the perfect amount of balance in these situations. Those in the know and those who are clueless. Most of the teachers at Richter are oblivious of Pohl. They think they’re providing the world with prodigies like Claire. They convince their spouse that arms training and martial arts is just ‘smart.’ Crazy world we live in and all that. They leave Richter with jobs in the CIA, British intelligence agencies, and the like, and no one blows the whistle.”

“Are you telling me the board members all knew about Pohl and what he represented?” AJ asked. The anger in him didn’t escape anyone in the room.

Olivia glared at him. “Are you that naive? People are not always what they seem, Car Klepto.”

“My father could have been left in the dark,” AJ mused out loud.

“High probability,” Sasha said.

AJ ran both hands through his hair and rubbed them over his face. “Someone in that room knows who killed my sister.”

“My money is on Pohl commissioning a hit,” Olivia said.

“Then why the other roommates?” Claire asked. “I mean . . . Jax and I are close. Everyone at the school knows that. If Creepazoid hired me and five years later wanted to get to me, he wouldn’t take out my other roommates.”

“Unless it isn’t Pohl and whoever made the hits wasn’t going to risk asking around and raising any red flags,” Sasha said.

“Amelia was friendly with everyone.” Olivia paced the room.

“What about you?” Neil asked. “Were you friendly with everyone?”

Olivia’s lips pressed together . . . she paused. “My roommates. But I cut it all off when I took the job with Pohl.”

“Until you met back up with Amelia.”

“Which was a total accident. I would never have sought her out and put her at risk.” Olivia looked directly at AJ, remorse in her eyes. “I wasn’t on a job when I reconnected with Amelia in South Africa. It had been three months since I’d been sent out. I’d had it. I wanted out and couldn’t find a way. If I went to the authorities, it would be my neck in the noose, not the man who was blackmailing me. We were drinking one night and I told your sister enough to scare some sense into her. She wouldn’t have it. She believed that we were smarter than the average person out there. Together we could find a way to break me out of the chains that I’d let myself get into. We met up a couple times after that, and when it seemed no one caught on to our friendship, I disappeared.”

“Did you contact Amelia after that?” Neil asked.

“Once. Two months before she was murdered.”

“You worked for Pohl. Only him, right?” Neil asked.

She nodded.

“You never had any contact with anyone, on any job, other than him?”

She shook her head. “Solo agent. I didn’t have the luxury of a team.” Olivia glanced around the room.

Neil leaned against a table, crossed his arms over his chest. “Then it’s time for you to turn state’s evidence.”

Sasha felt her heart slam in her chest. There was no way of knowing how Olivia would respond to the suggestion.

“I’ll be dead before I can testify.”

“Not if we gather everything Richter is hiding and blow all the whistles,” Sasha suggested. “Regardless of who falls.” Her gaze met AJ’s. “Even your mother.”

“All guilty parties stand trial. Innocents go free,” Claire said.

“That’s not how things work in the real world,” Olivia scoffed.

“As long as Pohl is a free man, you have no life. He will hunt you down and kill anyone you care for,” Sasha reminded her.

Olivia lifted her chin.

Silence filled the room.

“I’ll do it.”