Tam heard the tremor in Kip’s voice. She wished with all her heart that none of this stuck to Kip. She was trying to do the best in an untenable situation. Once again, Tam knew Kip’s best bet would be to go to the FBI right now and just tell them what she knew. Tam couldn’t find the strength of will to order her to go, though. She needed Kip, for selfish reasons—she believed Kip could help prove her innocence and find where the money had been transferred. It was all about the investigation. Sure it was.
“Kim? I’m surprised to catch you.”
Kip’s tone was so markedly different that Tam couldn’t help but listen. A bitter-edged sarcasm she hadn’t heard from Kip before was pronounced.
“Lost another job? Inconvenient work schedule again?” Kip listened, her back rigid and shoulders tense. “I need you to give a message to Dad. He isn’t? Oh. Sure, it’ll work this time. The last dozen trips to detox worked too.”
Tam was sorry she was eavesdropping. No wonder Kip didn’t drink. She was doubly glad Kip didn’t know about the hangover.
At least her headache had subsided to a dull throb.
“Just tell him I’m going out of town. I can’t tell you why and 142
don’t be surprised by anything you hear.”
She turned from the phone, her expression still stormy. “All yours.”
Tam had decided on her best course of action for the least amount of contact. She dialed into her mobile’s voice mail, then used the group function to send the same message to Diane, Hank, Ted and Mercedes. “Greetings to all of you. I’ve decided that I need a mental health break. I know you will all carry on with your assignments as we’ve discussed while I’m away. If you’re unclear on next steps, confer with each other. I don’t expect to be off the grid for more than a couple of days. Mercedes, my car wouldn’t start. It’s at a parking meter on the four hundred block of Marion. I’d be grateful if you could have it towed to a mechanic.”
“That’s it?” Kip led the way back to the car.
“They’ll understand and talk amongst themselves. I expect them to be the cavalry.”
They were settled and heading for the southbound freeway when Tam asked, “So your sister’s name is Kim? I didn’t remember that from the report.”
“Yes, after the Kipling book. I’ve often thought I should have been the one named after the secret agent. I loved that book.
Read it dozens of times.”
“I like Kip. It suits you.”
Kip flashed her a surprisingly shy smile. “I like it too. My grandfather would call me his little Kipling, like duckling or halfling.”
“He sounds like an amazing man.”
“Absolutely, he was. I saw him on TV once, a few feet behind Reagan. He looked so tall and so strong. I think I was six and he was like a Knight of the Round Table. Everything noble and good.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing you like women. Hard for a guy to compete.” Hell, Tam thought, it was hard for a woman as well.
She’d already tarnished her armor with kisses that shouldn’t have happened.
143
Kip grinned. “I never thought of it that way.” She colored slightly, then went on, “He was gone a lot. We lived with my grandparents, but he wasn’t home much. My grandmother—my mom’s mom—kept us fed and when he died, I think it was good she had Kim and me to fuss over.”
“I couldn’t help but hear. Your father wasn’t in the picture much?”
“Hardly at all. He ran away when my mother got pregnant with me. They never married. He would show up when he was out of drinking money. He could be charming and my mother was snowed for a while, I guess, because I’ve got a little sister, two years younger than me. But he took off again. She devoted herself to local causes for children. I think it was easier to deal with other people’s kids than her own. After all, we both looked a lot like the man who’d abandoned her. She’d been on the path to taking religious vows when she met him. That would have been a happier life than the one she had.”
From Kip’s tone alone, Tam guessed her mother had passed away. “When did she die?”
“The year I went away to college. She caught meningitis and shouldn’t have died, and somehow did anyway. My sister was never all that strong, but she went to pieces, and our father showed up for one of his rare visits. They’ve enabled the worst in each other ever since. I don’t want to know how she earns money.
She never keeps a job.”
“She sounds mentally fragile.”
“Yeah, well, it was certainly always easier to be fragile than to pull her own weight.” Kip paused. “I’m sorry, I know that sounds harsh. I’ve always felt like I had to grow up because she refused to. I had my first job at sixteen, saved up for a car, and gave her rides to her jobs, which turned into me being the one making her go to work. So when she decided a job sucked, I sucked too.
Keeping my distance has been easier on both of us.”
Tam digested the information, none of which surprised her. It sounded like Kip had quickly become the adult in her household, at a young age. She could imagine what that was like, but had 144
no experience of family life for comparison. The New England boarding school where she’d been placed after the adoption had required growing up, but she’d only been responsible for herself.
“And Jen’s a friend?”
Kip nodded. “If I have a best friend, she’s it. She works hard at making sure I don’t completely drift away. Her boyfriend is not one of my fans. My turn for a question.”
“Okay.” Tam felt a coil of worry form in her stomach. She wasn’t good with questions, but she wanted to give Kip answers.
“The Maldives account?”
Relieved, she explained. “I received a financial reward for finishing college. I was capable of earning my living and I didn’t actually want the money. I figured if I put it a long way away, if I did need it I’d have it.”
“Was it from your German family or something?”
The perceptive question gave Tam a moment’s pause. “Yes, relatives. Something like that.”
The frown on Kip’s face told her that her answer wasn’t entirely satisfactory. “Another question, then—this has been bugging me all day. Why Wren Cantu?”
“She’s a celebrity, I guess. She was apparently at some function the New York office put on. Maybe known for expensive tastes and illicit substance use. It’s more sensational.”
“But if she’s an innocent bystander why single her out when her own people will refute the claim as well?”
“She’s apparently a lesbian, so maybe the master planner thought some homophobia on the part of the masses would bring more scrutiny. Harassment for her, or the FBI digs into her life and finds something else equally interesting. Honest, I’d never heard of her until that reporter called.”
“I have a workup on her. I never even got to read it. Maybe something in it will tell us why she was made a target. We could finally get lucky and go from why to who.”
They drove for a bit talking in fits and starts. Tam found it hard to believe that some people were likely still having lunch.
It was strange, too, that the vivid greens of the pines and sharp 145
golds and oranges of maples were so bright, like the colors had never reached her eyes before. For most of her life, she’d felt on one side of a dimming pane of glass that protected her and let her be very good at her work. But clearly it had also leeched the world of vibrancy. Sitting next to Kip the separation was gone.
Even the whisper of the tires on the pavement held a kind of music she’d never appreciated before.