“Just a game we girls play. I’m sure she’s a ball of fire between the sheets.”
“Now, there’s the Dana I know.”
“I never said I had changed completely. What exactly do you want me to do about Tyler Wingo?”
“I would appreciate whatever you could find out.”
“I’m not a spy. I do some work with wounded soldiers and their families and I’m involved in many of the organizations that generals’ spouses typically are. But I don’t have the security clearances or computer skills to get into the Pentagon’s inner rings or hack into databases.”
“Don’t underestimate your skills, Dana.”
“What do you mean?”
Sean ran his eyes over her. “I was thinking more along the lines of pillow talk.”
She smiled. “Okay, now that I can do. Curtis is a stickler for protocols, but any man can be manipulated given the right… inducements.”
He smiled. “Like riding a bike.” His expression quickly turned serious. “But let’s be clear. Just try to work it into a conversation with the general and see what comes of it. I don’t want you to go out on a limb or take unnecessary chances. That would not be good.”
“You’re making this seem dangerous,” she scoffed.
“It potentially is very dangerous.”
She stared across the table at him. “You’re giving me your steely Secret Service stare.”
“Surprised you remember what it looks like after all these years.”
“There were many things that were unforgettable about you, Sean. That just happens to be one of them.”
“If you do decide to help us and anything weird happens you call me.” He slid his card across to her.
“Okay, you’re officially scaring me,” she said in a mirthful tone, although her troubled look clearly said otherwise.
“Good,” said Sean.
CHAPTER
15
MICHELLE DROPPED TYLER OFF ABOUT three blocks from his house. She watched him walk away and then slowly followed him to make sure he arrived safely. She didn’t see any Pentagon cars lurking like feral cats in an alley, ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
She drove off with one thought nagging her.
Tyler had refused to tell her what his father had written him in the email. She had asked nicely and then less politely when her frustration got the better of her. Yet the more she tried, the more Tyler had dug his heels in. They had not parted on the best of terms. She had promised him she would keep digging. He had been largely unresponsive to her on this point.
He had walked away, head down, feet shuffling, looking very much like a young man who had lost everything of value in his life.
She was annoyed and empathetic at the same time, and the disparate emotions were making her feel a bit dizzy.
She had texted Sean all of this information and wondered how his meeting with Dana was going. It had surprised her at first when Sean had started talking about his ex-wife. Michelle learned shortly after the two of them met that Sean had once been married. Yet Dana’s name had never once come up since then. It was as if she had disappeared from the earth, and it was a little jolting to discover that this was not the case, and that Sean would be meeting with her.
She wasn’t feeling jealousy, really, just apprehension. Yet maybe at some level they were the same thing. She also wondered if Dana would actually consent to use her husband’s status in the military to help the man who had divorced her.
As she was driving back to her apartment her phone buzzed. It was Sean. She arranged to meet with him at their office.
“How did it go with Dana?” she asked.
“Not what I expected,” he replied.