Home of the Braised (24 page)

I MUST HAVE WHISPERED AN EXCLAMATION
because Margaret nudged me. “You
do
recognize her. Who is she? Why are we watching her?”

At that moment the woman turned in our direction and I ducked out of the doorway, pulling Margaret with me. I started away, intending to return to the kitchen. “Wait,” I said, deciding to push my luck a little. “I don’t want to lose sight of her.” I resumed my position at the door, again pulling Margaret with me.

“Why? What has she done?”

“Do you know who Tom MacKenzie is?”

Margaret adopted her snarly personality again. “Of course I do. How could I work for the chief usher and not know who—”

“Find him,” I said, wondering what my next move should be if Margaret couldn’t locate Tom quickly. I’d had no luck contacting Gav and the only other people in the know were too high ranking for me to get close to during dinner. I could just picture myself walking up to the president and trying to explain this to him as Secret Service agents took me down, kicking and screaming. Chef or no chef, one didn’t simply walk up to the president without warning.

My only other option was Urlich, but I knew he was at dinner right now. If I asked one of the agents on duty to call him out, I could possibly talk with him. But how suspicious would that look to my would-be assassin? I wouldn’t be able to tell Urlich much, except that I’d recognized the woman. He would know what to do.

I needed to do something and I couldn’t do it here. I’d about resigned myself to leaving our surveillance spot when the female agent excused herself from the other agent she’d been talking with to meander a few steps away, where she pulled out her cell phone and studied it, as though she’d received a text. She kept her face impassive, but I thought I detected a ghost of a smile. She returned the phone to her pocket, looking for all purposes like she’d received very welcome news, indeed.

Margaret tugged at my arm, but I shushed her. I needed to know what the agent would do next. “Thirty seconds,” I said, “give me thirty seconds.”

We waited, Margaret constantly urging me to leave. So much for her rushing off to find Tom, I thought. “Okay,” I said, finally, but as I was about to relinquish my spot, movement caught my eye.

Urlich had emerged from the East Room and was making his way toward the State Dining Room. Could there be more perfect timing? I wanted to alert him now, this minute, but I held back. Especially at a time like this, during a dinner with so many dignitaries present. I needed to operate in stealth. I waited for him to cross the hallway, trying to determine where he might be going. If his destination was the State Dining Room or beyond, then it might be possible to intercept him long enough to bring him up to speed.

The female agent had spotted him, too, and approached him.

No
, I thought.
Not now.

My body jerked, itching to do something to get Urlich’s attention but the look on the female agent’s face stopped me cold. She smiled. Not the kind of smile you give an acquaintance. Not the kind of smile you give your boss. This was a quiet, intimate smile.

When Urlich returned the warm expression, it hit me.

“That’s Naomi!” I whispered.

“What?” Margaret asked.

I put my hand on her shoulder, silently shushing her.

Unaware of our scrutiny, Urlich and Naomi talked. From their body language, it seemed as though they were tense, but in a cheerful, excited way. And clearly together. Definitely together. She smirked as she spoke, checked to make sure none of the other agents were looking, and ran her fingers along his arm.

The Keeper’s words echoed in my mind. The yin, the yang. The he and the she. Two made up the demon. At that moment, I knew. Deep down with every fiber of my being, I knew. The Keeper was right. I’d been on the path to enlightenment, all right. I just hadn’t expected to come about it from this direction.

Unfortunately, I still had more of the journey ahead of me. Although I knew they were planning something, I had no idea what it could be.

“Come on,” I said to Margaret as we hurried back into the Red Room. I shut the door to the Blue Room behind us and kept my voice low. I had to hurry. Urlich might come down to the kitchen at any moment. I had no doubt he was on his way to pick up the book with the notes Naomi had secreted inside.

“Listen carefully,” I said. “Get back to your desk and hide the book. Get it out of sight. If anyone asks, tell them you put it in the kitchen. Don’t let anyone know I asked you about it. You returned it to the kitchen shelf. That’s all you know, got it? Don’t breathe another word. Do you understand?”

Margaret’s eyes were wide. “Mr. Sargeant told me you were difficult.”

“You’re getting a taste of it,” I said. “Now go. I have to get downstairs fast. And please, find Tom MacKenzie. Tell him I need him now.”

I hurried back through the State Dining Room and into the Family Dining Room, where I made a show of checking on our SBA chefs’ progress. I retraced the steps I’d taken just five minutes earlier, backtracking through the pantry, taking the circular steps down as fast as I could to get to the kitchen before Urlich showed up.

My breath came fast and shallow. My head spun.

The busy kitchen staff was in the middle of plating the next course, covering dishes, loading the dumbwaiters. I took a quick glance at the clock. Seven twenty. Right on schedule.

Bucky stopped me as I crossed the Butler’s Pantry. “What’s going on?” he asked.

I grabbed both his forearms and stared him straight in the eye. “Tell me. Dinner. How is it going?” I asked.

“Very well,” he said. “No problems.”

I let go. “Thank goodness for that.”

“What’s wrong?”

How could I tell him that in my pocket were raging screeds that if made public—especially tonight, especially when peace negotiations with Durasi were within sight—could permanently ruin relations between our two countries? I couldn’t.

From the moment I’d first read the documents in my pocket, I knew the allegations contained within them couldn’t be true. Gav knew the secretary of defense’s position on this matter. Gav had told me and I believed him.

Even if I doubted Gav—and I didn’t—even if I thought it possible that the secretary of defense had had a change of heart, and the president could possibly be guilty of those despicable crimes, I knew better. I had proof now.

The woman who’d hidden these documents in my kitchen had been the one who’d tried to kill me. Which meant that she, working with Urlich, had killed the men at the Ainsley Street Ministry. Which further meant that they’d killed Secretary Cobault and attempted to kill the Keeper as well.

They
were the bad guys.

A thought flashed through my brain, wondering why Urlich hadn’t killed me when he’d had the chance. He had been my guardian, after all. Plenty of opportunity. There had to be a reason he’d allowed me to stay alive. This cookbook situation made me believe he’d kept me around because he needed a reason to have access to the kitchen. I shook my head—right now wasn’t the time to ponder such things.

“I can’t tell you,” I said to Bucky, as I worked to corral the thoughts stampeding through my brain. The only thing that made sense to me at this moment was that the paperwork I’d found must have something to do with Urlich’s scheduled speech tonight.

“What in the world have you gotten yourself into now?” Bucky asked. Hands up, he said, “Forget it. Don’t answer, that was rhetorical.”

I raised the back of my sleeve to my forehead, thinking about what a perfect storm of trouble these documents could cause if made public, especially tonight. There were hundreds of guests and all sorts of media types swarming. It didn’t matter that the allegations weren’t true, Urlich could wreak havoc on the administration’s careful plans for peace. I couldn’t imagine the chaos that would result. Urlich apparently wanted to destroy all hope of negotiations with Durasi. What kind of person didn’t want peace?

The only thing that made sense was that Urlich and Naomi had something to lose in this race. But what? Prominent jobs at Kalto? The position in Durasi that Urlich claimed to love? That hardly seemed worth all this effort. Again, I couldn’t worry about this now. I had to find Gav or Tom.

The door opened behind Bucky, and Urlich came through, smiling as though delighted to see me. He raised a hand in greeting. Instinctively, I raised mine in return. “Keep everything running smoothly,” I said to Bucky. “And don’t say a word to anyone about this, okay?”

His face was grim. “You know I won’t, Ollie. Go do what you need to do. We’re covered here.”

As Bucky turned away to oversee the remainder of the dinner preparation, Urlich reached my side. “You look upset. Anything wrong?”

I puffed up my cheeks. “You know how it is,” I said. “Last-minute details are always the toughest to get straight.”

He laughed even though there was no reason to. “Hey, do you mind if I hang down here for a few? I need to walk off my jitters. I’ve got a huge case of nerves.” He managed a sheepish look. “I’ve never given a speech like this one before.”

“I’ll bet,” I said.

He rubbed his stomach and attempted to look miserable. “I’m missing dinner but I can’t eat. Too worked up. I’ll just stay down here for a while.”

“Fine,” I lied, “but do me a favor and stay out of the main part of the kitchen.” I gestured vaguely toward the busiest work area—the area where he’d have to go to find the book if, indeed, that’s what he was here for. I worked up a heavy, overwrought sigh. “We have at least eight chefs shouting to be heard running around in that part of the kitchen. There are hot pans, high tempers, and delicate china. It’s crazy in there and you could get hurt.”

Darned right you could.

For one hopeful second, I held my breath. If he sauntered away without complaint, if he didn’t attempt to look for that book, then I was wrong. I didn’t think that was possible, but this was my last chance to be sure.

He scratched his head as though considering it. “I’ll be quick. No bother at all. I’m only cutting through anyway,” he said. “Look how much quieter it is on the other side. I’ll go there.” Ignoring my request, he took a step toward the kitchen.

“You’ll be in the way.” I put my hand on his arm, stopping him. “I’d really prefer you go around this time. In fact, I’m sure it will be quicker. Far less disruptive to my staff.”

“Ollie,” he said, his voice no longer quite so cheerful. “I need to get in there.”

“No, you don’t,” I said. “This is my kitchen and I’m telling you to keep out.”

Without another word, he started in again. I grabbed his arm, but this time he was ready for me. He shook me off, roughly.

“Don’t touch me.”

And with that, he bolted in, headed directly for the bookshelf.

Without Gav or Tom, without being able to trust anyone else to understand, let alone help me, I attempted to control my nerves enough to be able to come up with a plan. I had less than a minute before Urlich realized the book wasn’t where it should be.

I crossed the room at a quick clip.

“Hey, Josh,” I said, urging the boy away from his workspace and to the sink next to him. “It’s time to wash your hands.”

“I did that a few minutes ago.”

“Josh,” I said taking a tone with him he’d never heard from me before. “You need to wash your hands now. Come on.”

The sink was about three steps away from Josh’s workspace. Close enough for me to speak to him directly without the Secret Service agents overhearing. Keeping my back to the agents, with Josh in front of me, I acted as though I was helping the boy from over his shoulder. Dutifully, he began washing his hands.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched Urlich as he searched through the books on the shelf.
Gotcha
, I thought.

“What’s wrong, Ollie?” Josh asked.

Keeping an eye on the renegade agent who’d begun pulling books out one at a time in an increasingly frantic search, I dug the secreted documents out of my pocket. “Dry up,” I said. “Hurry.”

As soon as he did and turned around, I stuffed the documents into Josh’s hands. “I need your help,” I said. “This is very important.”

The little boy’s eyes grew large. “What’s the matter? Did I do something wrong?”

“Remember when you and I were in trouble together?” I whispered. As he nodded, I pushed the papers deeper into his fists. “This is like that.”

He started to look down to see what he was holding.

“Don’t,” I said. “No one can see what we’re doing. You need to take those papers to your dad. Now.”

Josh looked confused. “He’s at dinner,” he said. “I’m not supposed to interrupt.”

Using my body to shield our hands, I crouched to his level and covered the crumpled documents with his fingers as best I could. “Listen to me. This may be one of the most important jobs I ever give you.”

He nodded.

“Nobody here can go see your dad without permission. Nobody. Except you.” I waited until I saw that he understood. “They’re in the East Room, you know that.”

“Yeah.”

“Go. Take these papers. Tell them he has to read them right now. Make sure he reads them
right away
. Don’t let anyone stop you.” I held his gaze. “Can you do that?”