THIRTY-THREE

Devyn hated admitting her cowardice, but she was relieved when she and Nick arrived in the parking lot at the same time. Walking through the vast open office area with him would deter any confrontations with Gardner.

“I certainly hope your weekend was more exciting than mine,” Devyn said as she and Nick exited the elevator.

“We stayed home all weekend. You should have called Morgan. I’m sure she would have taken you shopping for whatever it is you think will make Gage lose his mind over you.”

Devyn rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure that would help. First, we need to be in the same state together and, so far, that has proven to be a challenge.”

“Try harder and quit obsessing about this case. Leave town and enjoy a little romance. I understand there isn’t cell reception everywhere in Wyoming, but Gage is the sheriff. I’m confident he’s always reachable by radio if not by phone. I promise I’ll contact you if something breaks in the case.”

“Maybe I’ll try to surprise him this upcoming weekend if we don’t get a break before then.”

“The job isn’t everything. You deserve a personal life as much as the next person. What if he’s the one and you let him get away because of this ghost we’ve been chasing and may never catch?”

“Hasn’t your tone changed? I bet you wouldn’t have said that last month, pre-Morgan.”

“Maybe not. Fortunately, I received a little reminder in Arizona about what’s truly important, and it isn’t this.” Nick waved his hand in an arc encompassing the bustling room.

At times, like now, Devyn wished she had the old Nick back. She used to want him to open up a little about personal stuff, but now that he and Morgan were back together, he offered more relationship advice than she cared to hear.

“You know, I kind of miss Gordo,” Devyn stated as they approached their desks in an attempt to steer the conversation away from her love life or lack thereof. “I didn’t eat breakfast this morning, and I’m starving.”

“Morgan’s dropping off some papers for me to sign in a bit. Do you want her to pick up something for you? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“I’ll text her.” Devyn checked her messages and wasn’t surprised to find nothing of importance. Any news from the senator’s office would come directly through Conroy, and the Cayman bank they had contacted concerning where the deposits into Frank Soto’s account came from, would offer up nothing without a lot more pressure.

“I can’t decide which dead end to grab a hold of this morning,” Devyn pondered.

“Maybe Conroy found something. He’s heading our way,” Nick replied.

Devyn swiveled around in her chair. Conroy approached, his expression unreadable as usual. Hopefully, she wasn’t in any trouble. She couldn’t think of any toes she might have stepped on over the past few days.

“Nash, Melonis,” he said nodding at each in turn.

“Sir, happy Monday,” Devyn replied.

A crooked grin eased across his lips briefly before he jumped in.

“Margaret Blair of Maggie Blair, Inc., was found dead in a hot tub at a luxury spa in Santa Fe. It appears she fell asleep and drowned, but the authorities are investigating and, of course, an autopsy will be performed. There are no obvious external wounds or bruising.”

“Was Urban with her?” Devyn asked.

“No. He claims he stayed behind to watch the company so his wife would be able to relax. The local police reported he was extremely distraught by the news, and a number of employees can corroborate his alibi.”

“You don’t believe her death was accidental, do you?” Devyn asked.

“Well, the timing sure makes me seriously question the likelihood. I relayed everything we suspect to the authorities in Santa Fe and asked to be kept in the loop.””

Had someone decided to silence Margaret Blair for talking to the FBI? Who, besides her husband, was even aware of the meeting? After their brief interview, Devyn concluded that Margaret likely knew nothing about GCF or its connections to Coterie, but she hadn’t been as certain about Urban.

Devyn wasn’t an expert on relationships, by any means, but she had gotten the impression that Urban was thoroughly in love with his wife. She was having a difficult time picturing Urban killing her, with or without the alibi. The husband is always the first to be scrutinized, so it would’ve been a risky move on his part, especially on the heels of her and Nick’s visit to the couple.

“Where do we go from here?” Nick asked.

“After what we learned or didn’t learn about Aaron’s connection to Senator Grant and with one of his biggest donors showing up dead, I’d sure love to get someone inside that fundraiser,” Conroy stated.

“He has to be connected to all of this somehow,” Devyn added.

“I can get Nick placed with the company providing security for the fundraiser, but I’m not sure how much good that would do.”

“I can get in,” Morgan stated as she walked up and dropped a packet of papers on Nick’s desk and a breakfast burrito on Devyn’s.

“No.” Nick shook his head.

“Wait a minute. Let’s hear what she has to say,” Conroy stated.

“My father contributed heavily and was a big supporter of Carson Grant’s father, George. I haven’t continued that tradition, but I’ll bet with the right donation I’d get a quick invite to next weekend’s exclusive fundraiser. If they look into my family history, which I assume they would when honing the invitee list, they will make the connection immediately between my father and me.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near him. At worst he’s part of Coterie. At best he’s being manipulated by them. Either way he could be dangerous,” Nick stated.

“I can’t imagine I would be in any danger at the fundraiser. There will be plenty of security there.”

“She’s right. You’d be there to keep an eye on her,” Devyn added.

Nick gave Devyn a scowl that clearly indicated she wasn’t helping and should stay out of it.

“Normally I don’t like involving civilians, but I agree with Morgan. She won’t be in any danger with Capitol police, local police, hotel security, and the senator’s private security crawling all over the facility. We’d put a discrete wire on her and who knows what she could learn milling around,” Conroy said.

Devyn remained quiet. She doubted having Morgan attend a fundraiser for a few hours could possibly put her in any danger, but this was something Morgan and Nick needed to work out on their own. Nick would definitely not appreciate her input.

“Nick, I want to do this. If I can help in any way to identify Coterie, I think it’s worth a shot. Remember, before I met you, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry. The next time this group strikes it could be someone I know. My attendance won’t likely yield anything, but maybe someone will let something slip. I still have a lot of friends in the area, so I’m sure I can get one of them to go with me if I can score an invite.”

Devyn, Morgan, and Conroy turned their attention to Nick.

“I suppose in the end I don’t actually have a say in this, do I?”

“No,” Morgan replied sweetly as she reached over and gently caressed his cheek.

“Well, with that settled, let’s go see if we can request enough seized drug money to make a big enough campaign contribution to get you an invite,” Conroy said to Morgan, motioning for her to follow.

Nick slumped in his chair.

“I don’t like the way the other agents ogle her as she walks through the room, but this makes me really not want her coming down here at all. She has this notion that this time we should be more involved in each other’s lives, including work. Helping in the Risky Research case is way too involved for my comfort level.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Devyn assured.

“Is that what you thought when you let her drive you to the hospital in Phoenix?”

The statement stung, but it was true. She would beat herself up for that decision for the rest of her life. Thankfully, Morgan had survived and this time would be no different.