Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(91)

“Truly, Mr. Hofmann. The students are family to me. I care greatly for them.”

AJ bit his tongue. “Then you’ll be happy to know we’re getting closer to finding her killer and bringing them to justice.”

Instead of the curt reply or brush-off he’d gotten the first time he’d stepped into the school, Lodovica placed a hand on his arm, gaze warm. “I truly hope you do. Now if you’ll excuse me. I see someone I really must speak with.”

He watched as she walked away and toward another beautifully dressed woman half her age.

Wiping imaginary lint from his lapel, he spoke into his sleeve. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Copy,” Neil said.

“How did she sound to you, Team Two?” Sasha asked.

“Sincere,” Claire replied.

“Me too. Okay, on the second subfloor. Range is toast. No stalls, nothing.”

AJ moved around the room, listening to the team in his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Isaac had joined him. The waiter uniform he wore matched perfectly . . . except his shoes.

Isaac nodded to his left.

Pohl.

The man stood talking with several people, drinks in hand. He looked up, saw a woman passing by, and scanned her briefly before turning his attention back to the men he was talking with.

Creepazoid.

Claire had it right. AJ lowered his gaze and listened to the chatter in his ear.

“Down on the lower level. Everyone still here?” Sasha asked.

AJ glanced over at Isaac. His voice came through. “Team Four.”

The rest of the team sounded off.

“Fingers crossed, kids.”

AJ held his breath.

“It’s all here.” Sasha’s words were music to AJ’s ears. Gathering the information in the school’s locked room was the key to moving forward with their plan.

“Why would they clear out the top floors and leave the bottom?” Cooper asked.

“Because someone wants the information found. Like maybe whoever spoke to us last night?” Claire said.

AJ wanted to comment but decided to keep his ideas to himself.

“Okay. This is going to take some time.”



Sasha opened the first filing cabinet and brought out a stack of papers. She removed a pair of clear glasses from her bag and turned them on. A digital display appeared before her eyes. “You getting this, Team Two?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, here we go.” Sasha opened the first file and flipped the pages as fast as she could before moving on to the next. None of it registered in her brain. She just kept flipping.



Claire leaned back in her chair, rested her legs up on the table, and turned to her friends. “So, any new gossip in the pipeline?”

As Sasha flipped pages, their computer recorded every document, every photo. Systematically all those images were filed and uploaded a second time to devices in Neil’s and Isaac’s tablets. If any one of them lost their packs, the others would have it.

“This is so completely badass,” Jax squealed.

“No personal chatter!” Neil grunted.

Claire rolled her eyes, covered her microphone. “My boss makes Lodovica seem like an angel.”

Jax and Stacey laughed. “You’re not going to believe this, but Lodovica moved Princess D into the staff housing.”

Claire’s mouth gaped. “You mean she came out of the closet?”

“Stop the damn chatter, kid, or I’m cutting your mic!” Neil was pissed.

Claire put a hand in the air, stopped her friends from going on. “Yes, sir.”

“That’s better.”

She smiled. As much as he tried to be such a hard-ass, there wasn’t a lot of bite in his voice.

The only noise on the line was Sasha moving papers and the chatter of room noise where AJ was pretending to party.

“Did I hear that right? Lodovica is a lesbian?”

Sasha’s question made Claire laugh with a snort.

“Jesus, this isn’t a fucking chat line.” Neil was pissed.

“Hold up. Princess D. That’s Denenberg?” Sasha asked. The pages she was flipping hesitated briefly.

Claire waited to answer, nodded her head instead.

Cooper looked at her. “The yearling is nodding,” he told the group.

“Bear with me, team. Thinking aloud here. Lodovica loses her place at Richter, a new headmistress comes in, everything is status quo. Remove Creepazoid, Lodovica has all this on the board members, she keeps her position. School removes the subfloors, loosens up the rules. Lodovica and Denenberg come out. Happily ever after and all that.”

“Motive for flushing out an operative and putting the target on Pohl,” Neil said.

“Only Pohl is still with us, isn’t that right?”

Silence.

“How much longer, Team One?”

“Almost there,” Sasha reported.





Chapter Thirty-Three



“AJ?”

The sound of his father’s voice had him turning around.

Surprise washed over their faces.

His mother’s shock faded quickly, replacing it were shifting eyes and hands that clasped in front of her like a shield.

“What on earth are you doing here?” his father asked while reaching out to shake his hand.