Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(92)
Before answering, he leaned down and kissed his mother’s cheek.
She had a hard time looking him in the eye.
“I received a tip,” AJ said. The rehearsed lines easily fell from his lips.
“A what?”
AJ stopped a waiter and handed his mother a glass of wine.
He stepped closer to his parents, felt his own nerves settling. “I was told the person responsible for Amelia’s murder was going to be here tonight.”
His father’s smile fell. The wineglass he’d brought to his lips paused midway, he shifted his feet and looked around the room.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” AJ kept his eyes on his mother. “This school harbors a lot of secrets. Doesn’t it, Mom?”
Marjorie set her wineglass down. “AJ, this is not the place.”
“I think it’s exactly the place.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex Senior asked.
“Mom?” AJ directed the question to his mom.
Marjorie leaned close. “There are very powerful people in this room, AJ.”
“You mean dangerous.”
Her gaze shifted across the room. Linette stood watching them.
“What’s going on, Marjorie?”
“I’ll explain later. Please don’t press me here.”
On this, AJ had to agree. “She’s right, Dad. We can all talk later.”
“What is he talking about?” Alex asked his wife.
AJ paused and heard the chatter on his earpiece.
“I have everything we need. Moving on to phase two,” Sasha told them.
One by one the teams reported in.
“AJ. What the hell?”
AJ turned to his dad. “I need you and Mom to stay in the center of the room. Do you have your phone on you?”
Alex tapped the breast pocket of his suit.
“Perfect. Now I need you both to trust me.”
“You’re scaring me, son.”
“When I signal you, I need you to call in whatever distress code you know and have this place raining in police.”
His mother reached out, grasped AJ’s hand.
He grabbed her hand and removed it. “Mingle. Enjoy the party.”
AJ lifted his sleeve to his lips, smiled, and said, “I’m ready on my end.”
Chills danced down AJ’s spine. He looked across the room and had to swallow. Sasha said she would be dressed for the party, but holy cow. Black dress, above the knee, formfitting with nothing demure about it whatsoever. The high heel stiletto boots made him want to purr.
“Is that . . . Jennifer?” his father asked.
“Her name is Sasha. I might have lied about her.” He leaned forward, whispered in his father’s ear. “I also still steal cars, but that’s behind me now. Keep Mom by your side.”
AJ left his stunned father and walked straight up to Sasha, lifted her lips to his for a soft kiss.
“Who is watching?”
“Everyone.”
“Now what?” AJ asked.
Sasha tapped her earring. “Claire . . . you’re up.”
Neil’s voice echoed. “Stay alert.”
Pohl’s eyes tracked her the moment she entered the room. Now that she was at AJ’s side, Pohl’s gaze drilled into her as if that alone could stop her beating heart.
Sasha watched as he moved to Linette’s side and spoke in harsh whispers.
She brushed past him and headed their way.
“Sasha. You look well.” Linette stopped short of them, her back to Pohl.
“How do you sleep at night?” AJ asked.
“Please, Sasha. The longer you stay, the more time he has to—”
“It’s not me you need to worry about,” Sasha told her. Leaning in, Sasha put a hand up to Linette’s ear and slid a tiny transmitter into the woman’s hair. “Whoever killed Amelia Hofmann is the one who should be afraid. They’re getting exactly what they wanted.”
Linette narrowed her eyes. “What are you suggesting?”
AJ lowered his voice. “Killing my sister to flush out Pohl’s hit man worked.”
The school intercom system sparked to life. The tone used to gather everyone’s attention worked, and the room went silent.
Pohl’s voice came through loud and clear. “There are people in this world that government-like agencies would love to remove. But often their own bureaucratic red tape stops them from even finding these people. When you work for me and the people I recruit for, your job will be anything from obtaining information, analyzing, spying, engaging . . .”
“Removing.”
Guests looked back and forth, some gazes landed on Pohl.
He shifted in his shoes.
Olivia’s encrypted voice followed the conversation Sasha had had with Pohl less than a week before.
“I thought I was taking on a legitimate job. What I ended up being was an assassin. Geoff Pohl blackmailed me, leaving me no choice but to be his hit man.”
Pohl’s voice followed. “You could be part of a team responsible for making this world safer. Imagine being on the inside of stopping terrorists before they attack.”
“And you recruit children for this job?”
Olivia’s voice followed. “I was barely twenty-one. I had no idea what I was saying yes to. My innocent roommates from Richter are dead because of it. All those pompous board members think they’re protecting their children. Geoff Pohl murders those children.”