Dan opened the kitchen door. He found Connie apparently getting a cooking lesson from Angelica. Ava was assisting. Jameka and Miranda were sitting at the table, watching. He kind of stared, dumbfounded, as he closed the door behind him.
“What’s going on?” he asked Miranda, who was watching from the kitchen table with a glass of wine in her hand.
“Mom said she needed to look up some heart-healthy recipes that Dad would actually eat. Angelica, it turns out, went to school to be a nutritionist when Jameka expressed an interest in pageants so they could both eat healthy and stay fit,” she whispered as he sat next to her. “She offered to teach Mom a few recipes. Ava is trying to help.”
“How’s it going?”
“Oh great. Except Ava keeps wanting to add butter to everything.”
He laughed in response.
“Butter tastes good!” Ava hooted.
“And clogs arteries!” countered Angelica.
“What are they making? It smells good,” Dan interjected.
“Chicken Marsala,” Miranda giggled.
“Without butter! That’s a sin against humanity!” Dan exclaimed.
“See?” Ava said.
“Trust me, will you?” Angelica said, spooning out some of the Marsala sauce for Connie to taste.
She tasted it and nodded. “It’s delicious. But it’s not Marsala,” she laughed.
Angelica clicked her tongue. “You need to make some compromises.”
“Where’s Theo?” Dan asked, noticing one guest missing.
“Headache. She’s upstairs,” Jameka answered.
Tom came through the butler’s pantry door into the kitchen, his face ashen.
“What is it?” Dan asked.
“Agent Belcher’s body was just found in the private hangar at Dulles. He was strangled.”
“Oh no! That’s terrible,” Connie said, frowning.
“It’s way worse than that. Belcher’s ticket was confirmed at the gate. According to American Airlines, he was on the flight to Chicago last night.”
Over the next hour, a storm front rolled in. The sky darkened, and the wind picked up. By the time Gavin and Deb arrived with Jason, the rain was starting to fall. They ran from the Odyssey to the house. Lightning struck nearby, and the thunder cracked immediately after the flash. “Damn!” exclaimed Gavin, ushering Deb and Jason inside in front of him.
They found the household a bit somber. “Everything okay?” Gavin asked Dan as they walked to the family room.
“Not really. Agent Belcher was killed in DC last night. Kris apparently boarded the American flight using his ID and ticket. I’m just glad Jason is in the house now.”
Gavin stopped walking. “He assumed Belcher’s identity?” Then, he shook off whatever thought had momentarily plagued him. “I’ve only got my service weapon on me. They took my spare the other night, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.”
“It’s okay. Between the three of us, we’ve got it covered,” Tom interjected.
The rain started pouring down as the storm increased in intensity. A large tree toppled across the street in front of the house in which Dan grew up. The lights in the neighborhood flickered and went out.