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“She designed it.” Liam hung his arm around the shoulders of his girlfriend and kissed the side of her head. “She’s a computer whiz, and that’s why I got Jack to hire her at Prospero.”
“Really?” Claire smiled at Katie. “I’m impressed. Ethan loves all these games.”
“Thanks.” Katie ducked her head, her asymmetrically cut black hair falling across her face and the gold ring in one nostril gleaming. “I can show him some tricks to beat the game faster.”
Katie pushed off the arm of the chair and sat cross-legged in front of the TV with the kids.
Jase came in from the Coburns’ kitchen with a sparkling water for his fiancée, Nina, who was expecting a baby—not Jase’s. Her ex-fiancé had been one of Tempest’s superagents before he’d gone off the rails and died.
Nina smiled her thanks and patted the cushion beside her. “Sit. I’m fine. I don’t need anything else.”
Jase perched on the edge of the sofa next to her as if he expected her to go into labor at any minute. He hunched forward toward Jack. “Do you believe Correll that Haywood was Caliban? Or do you think he was covering for himself?”
“I’m not sure. The way Correll bungled that—” he glanced at Ethan “—job in Colorado, I find it hard to believe he was the mastermind behind all the chaos Tempest created, or even second in command behind Haywood. Besides, there was definitely someone trying to ensure his cooperation by sending him those pictures and video. Whether or not that person was Haywood is going to require more research on our part.”
“Is he giving up any information in prison?” Lola, Jack’s wife, came up behind Claire and ran a hand down the back of her hair. “Sorry, sweetie.”
Claire twisted her head over her shoulder. “Do you think I care that Spencer’s in prison where he belongs? He should be there for what he did to my mother, too, but the authorities told me there’s not enough evidence, even the passing reference he made implicating himself in that phone call. But that’s okay. I know in my heart that I got justice for Mom, and the rest of the world now knows him for the lying psychopath he really is.”
“I know you don’t care about Correll. I’m sorry Jack and I doubted you at first.”
Claire turned and hugged her longtime friend. “You sent Mike my way, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Jack snorted. “Yeah, Prospero has become a regular dating service, and in answer to your question mi amor, Senator Correll has lawyered up and is keeping mum—so far. We do know he was in contact with the man who beat up Fiona. I think that was more personal than anything else.”
“And Hamid?” Claire twisted her fingers in front of her. “Can you tie him to Hamid’s death?”
Jack lifted a shoulder. “I think Hamid knew more than he’d been telling you, Claire. When he agreed to meet with you, Tempest had to take him out. I’m sure Correll gave that order, too.”
Jase jumped up from the sofa. “Then Caliban could still be out there, and we still haven’t found the Oxford Don.”
Mike glanced at Claire. “Donald Yousef is not going to be able to hide out for long, and if the real Caliban is out there, we’ve completely defanged him.”
Jack said, “Mike’s right. We’ve even brought in most of the Tempest superagents.”
“Did I ever thank you for the use of your palatial estate?” Mike clapped Jase on the back, and Claire knew he was trying to change the subject from Don Yousef.
“Not really. And how did a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks manage to identify the most expensive bottle of wine in the kitchen?”
Mike jerked his thumb toward Claire. “I had help from the upper-crust broad.”
Jase peeked out the curtains. “Someone’s coming—tall guy and a petite blonde.”
“It must be Max Duvall and Ava Whitman.” Lola put her glass down on the coffee table next to her husband. “I invited them. Jack’s going to talk to Max about working for Prospero.”
Liam popped his head up from the game controller. “Is that a good idea, Jack? The guy was one of Tempest’s superagents.”
