That seemed to make the Etorri Rhej’s day. She laughed and repeated it, then said goodbye in high good humor.
“I’m begining to think,” Rule said as the car slowed, “I should call my father and see if the Nokolai Rhej has also departed for an undisclosed location.”
“Surely not.” The Nokolai Rhej was blind. She couldn’t jet off on mysterious Rhej business ... could she? “Maybe you should. Not that it will do any good, since we still won’t know what they’re up to. I’m starting to have some sympathy for Cullen’s attitude about Rhejes.”
“They do know how to be silent.”
The car had stopped for a light. So had a couple dozen other cars. As backed up as they were, it would take a couple of light changes to get through the intersection. They were only a couple blocks from Sjorensen’s place. Lily tapped her foot, considering getting out and walking the last bit.
“Assholes,” Scott muttered.
“What?” Rule said.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. The bumper sticker on that gray SUV bugs me.”
Lily couldn’t see it until their own lane of cars crept forward—then there it was. A shiny gray Nissan SUV with three kids in the back—two boys and a cute little girl in pigtails—and two bumper stickers on its rear window. One read “Humans First.” The other said, “Honk If You Hate Weers.”
Lily couldn’t believe it. “Jesus. Honk for hate. They think they’re being cute.” One of the boys threw something at the other. The mother turned around and said something to them. She looked like a nice woman, not yelling or anything, just wearing her Mother Face.
“They’re probably here for the Humans First demonstration,” Rule said. “The big rally is tomorrow.”
She’d lost track. With everything that had happened, she’d pretty much forgotten about the demonstrations Humans First had planned. “Rule. Tomorrow. Are you thinking what I am?”
“I don’t think it’s coincidence, no.”
Their eyes met. He looked as grim as she felt. If whatever Friar was cooking up was scheduled to coincide with the demonstration tomorrow, they didn’t have much time. And they still had no idea what Friar was planning.
Anna Sjorensen was staying in an ESH studio suite, with ESH meaning extended stay housing, and “studio suite” meaning it was basically a hotel room with a kitchenette. It was the sort of place the government parked clerks, agents, and other human miscellany when it wanted them in D.C. temporarily. Sjorensen was still technically part of the Nashville office, temporarily assigned to D.C. for training, so she qualified for ESH.
Unless Croft had gone ahead and pulled her into the Unit. Lily would ask about that.
These ESH units weren’t bad; the location was decent, if noisy, being on a busy street. No parking, though. Scott dropped her, Rule, and Mark off in front. He’d have to circle the block until they came out again.
On the sidewalk, the two men flanked her. Lily sighed and decided not to make an issue out of it. At least Rule was on her right. He knew better than to get in the way of her gun hand. “We aren’t all going to fit going through the door this way.”
Rule slanted her a smile. “Mark will go in first.”
“Good grief.”
“It’s standard practice,” Mark assured her. “The Rho never goes through a door first.”
“I’m not a Rho. I’m the one who makes sure the area’s safe for the other people.”
“Not this time,” Rule said.
“I’d like to argue, but that’s Arjenie’s ring tone.” She took out her phone as they reached the revolving doors that led to the lobby. With a sigh, she waited beside Rule while Mark went first. “Hey, Arjenie. Does this means you’ve got something for me?”
“I’m not interrupting, then? Good. I e-mailed you the files. You didn’t ask me to call, so I wasn’t sure if I should, but I had a hunch you’d want to hear about this.”
Lily had asked Arjenie for the complete personnel files on Sjorensen, Mullins, and Drummond. She was absolutely not entitled to see those. Even if she’d still been Unit, she would’ve needed Ruben’s written authorization to see the complete files. But Arjenie had the highest clearance possible now, Rule had said. She could access anything.
Mark had reached the lobby without being shot. He nodded, and Lily and Rule took the wild risk of entering the revolving door themselves. “This is a good time, actually,” Lily said as they emerged in the small, empty lobby. “You found something interesting?”
“Nothing much on Sjorensen. She was a good student and did well at Quantico. Not much on Mullins, either, except that he’s a recovering alcoholic—that’s how they say it, you know, even if they’ve been sober a long time, and he has. Twelve years. But that’s not why I called.”
Lily smiled. Arjenie had trouble summarizing. “You found something on Drummond?”
“I think so. Maybe. His wife died last year. They’d been married twenty-two years. No children.”
They headed for the elevators. “This is important?”
“It’s how she died. She was killed by a woman named Martha Billings whom Drummond had arrested years ago. Billings was Fire-Gifted and mob-connected, and had a bad habit of burning things down for money.”
“Ah.” Some Gifted had killed his wife. “What happened?”
“Billings got out of prison, partied for about a week, then went and burned down Drummond’s house. He wasn’t home, but his wife was, and she died of smoke inhalation. They know it was Billings even though no one saw it because she confessed. She was mad that it hadn’t killed Drummond, so she sent him a video where she raved about how she’d killed his wife and she’d be coming after him next. Can you imagine that? She confessed in a video.”
“Criminals are often not all that bright.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them got in.
“She might have confessed, but she didn’t hang around to be found. Drummond went nuts. He tore up his office and did some raving of his own. Then he vanished. Just poofed, abandoned his cases, went missing. He’s gone for two weeks, and in that two weeks, Billings turns up dead.”
“That is definitely worth a phone call,” Lily said. “I take it there was nothing linking him to Billings’s death?”
“No, it was ruled an accident. The car she was driving burst into flames. There were witnesses, and no one saw anything except that it was suddenly engulfed in flame. No sign of ac-celerants, shots fired, nothing. The investigating officers decided she’d suddenly lost control of her Gift. She had a rep for doing drugs, and drugs do mess up your control,” Arjenie added, “so that wasn’t implausible. This happened four days before Drummond turns up. He’d been drinking the whole time, he said, and he doesn’t remember everything real well, but he had credit card receipts to show that he’d stayed at an inn down in Tennessee, a long ways from Boston. Boston’s where Billings died. It wasn’t a real alibi, but Billings’s death wasn’t ruled a homicide, so it didn’t matter.”
They’d reached the seventh floor. The doors opened. Mark went first again, with Lily and Rule right behind him. No one in the hall. “That was not all in Drummond’s personnel file.”
“No, but there was enough in it that I knew you’d want the rest of the story, so I went digging.”
“I’m glad you did. Thanks, Arjenie. Feel free to bother me anytime you get a hunch like that. Did you find anything about Drummond’s alibi for five to six on the day of Ruben’s heart attack?”
“He had his teeth cleaned at three thirty, and the dentist says he probably left about four thirty. The agent’s notes suggest he could have gotten to Headquarters by five if the traffic wasn’t bad, but in the end he was eliminated based on scan and visual records and the testimony of the guards on duty at the entrances that day. They know Drummond by sight,” she added. “He’s been at Headquarters for years.”