Chapter 23
Daniela smiled at the newcomer in her gallery as the petite Asian woman approached her. She’d noticed her walk in about fifteen minutes ago ahead of a white man in his forties who looked sort of…less put together was the nicest way she could think to describe him.
This woman, on the other hand, was polished and gorgeous and it was clear she wanted to talk to someone.
Daniela had simply said hello to her, but then the woman had done a lap so she’d left her alone. Mondays were some of their quietest days, and after an oddly nice day with Cormac yesterday where they’d watched TV, ate good food, and just relaxed…she was still riding that high.
Maybe it should be weird, but yesterday had been so damn nice.
Logan had finally stopped texting her and it was like a dark cloud had been lifted.
Cormac had suggested they watch movies and they’d ended up binging a miniseries of ten episodes.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something like that.
It had probably been with him.
She was surprised he hadn’t insisted on coming with her today, given how protective he’d been, but he’d had to meet with his siblings about something. He’d assured her that someone was watching her gallery though—one of his “feral cousins”—so she felt better about being here.
She was pretty sure her brother had two people sitting on the gallery too, but there was nothing she could do about that.
“Hi, I’m Daniela, can I help you with anything?” she asked the woman with a smile.
“I certainly hope so.” Her smile was genuine as she nodded at one of Daniela’s favorite recent oil paintings.
The artist was new to her gallery and had an incredible gift for painting facial emotions. It was so difficult to get faces right, especially eyes, but this woman had a real gift.
“My name is Special Agent Grace Lee of the FBI,” she started, her voice pitched low. “No one else is in your gallery right now except my partner. I’ve been waiting for an opening to speak with you.”
Daniela’s heart rate kicked up, her blood turning to ice. She hadn’t thought the two of them were together. But clearly they’d been waiting to get her alone. “I—”
“Please just listen.”
To her surprise, she did. Maybe it was the woman’s calming voice. Or more likely she was reeling.
“I know that last Thursday you killed a man named Dima Lebedev. I also know it was in self-defense, just to put your mind at ease,” she said quickly.
“A man named Greg Temple was murdered earlier that morning. A neighbor’s doorbell camera caught someone who looks a lot like Lebedev leaving around the estimated time of death. ”
Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod. Was she breathing? She felt like she wasn’t. Were her lungs working? In and out, in and out. Breathe, damn it.
“Not long after that, he shoved a bunch of innocent people into a freezer then tried to kill you. So you killed him. Simple enough.”
Daniela swallowed hard, wondering where this was going. She knew better than to say a damn word right now, especially without her lawyer.
“I’ve been brought in as a special investigator because of some sensitive work that Mr. Temple was working on.
” She paused and Daniela felt the woman’s gaze on her but all she could do was stare at the painting.
Not that she was actually seeing anything.
Everything was out of focus as she tried to digest the agent’s words and panic about what this could mean.
The special agent continued, her voice steady and smooth. Almost mesmerizing as she lowered her voice even more, making Daniela want to lean in to listen. It was probably a tactic she’d learned but it worked because Daniela wanted to know what this woman had to say.
“Mr. Temple was working to bring down some powerful people. Mostly men. Judges, lawyers, cops, all dirty. That’s the main reason I’ve been brought in. They need outsiders to work this investigation.”
Somehow she found her voice. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Much later on Thursday, a woman appears on that same doorbell camera near Mr. Temple’s house. She looks a lot like you.”
Daniela didn’t respond. The woman had said “near” which could mean anything. Maybe she was fishing for info. But it didn’t sound like it. Either way, she couldn’t lie to a federal agent, that much she knew. So she kept her mouth shut.
“Nothing to say?”
Daniela regained her composure after her initial shock, was relieved when her voice didn’t shake. “What do you want from me? If you want to question me about something, I’ll need to call my lawyer.”
Special Agent Lee was quiet as she looked at the painting for so long that Daniela wondered if she actually would arrest her. Or at least haul her in.
But then she spoke again. “I think Mr. Temple was working with someone. Maybe more than one person. And from what I know after looking into you, I don’t think you’re like the rest of your family.”
Daniela didn’t say anything.
“So I’m not going to bring you in right now because I think it would put you in danger.
But—” She stepped forward, as if looking at the plaque on one of the stands next to the painting.
It was subtle, but she left what looked like a business card on it.
“If you need help or have information, I can be a friend.” She started to walk away.
Daniela cleared her throat. “Some of my brother’s people are watching my gallery. Make sure you aren’t followed if you don’t want to be made as Feds.”
“We saw them, but thank you.” As she walked away, the agent murmured, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your friend. Mr. Temple seemed like a good man.”
Daniela didn’t respond because the woman was gone, her heels clicking softly as she made her way to the main doors of the gallery. Just as subtly as the agent had left her card, Daniela plucked it up and tucked it out of sight.
She would look at it later when she knew she was truly alone. Her instinct was to reach out to Cormac, but in case her brother had people watching her closer than she thought, she had to act normal, to just go about her business until she could duck into the bathroom and text him.
She wouldn’t even risk calling or texting him from her office. It didn’t matter that she swept her office for listening devices and checked her cameras regularly. She couldn’t take any chances right now that someone had hacked into them, was watching her.
Maybe this agent reaching out was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. But before she talked to the agent, she had to make sure the woman was legit.
And not another corrupt asshole.
For so long, all she’d wanted to do was bring her father down—and she still did. But the more reality set in, the worse she felt about bringing down Julian too.