Alien Diplomacy

mess.”
    “I’ll bet he’s going to make the ball anyway, though, isn’t he?”
    She gave me a dirty look. “He has no choice. Lillian needs to attend, so her husband has to attend with her.”
    “So sad,” Nathalie said, back to Angry Birds, since the boys were still petting the dogs as if they were going for the Best Dog Walker of the Year Award. “Poor Pia.”
    “Why does no one but me think it’s Jack we should be feelingsorry for? If you were all his friends and you thought he was delusional last night, why didn’t someone go over and see him then , as opposed to this morning when it was too late?”
    Marcia patted my arm, then took her hand away. “Like Bryce says, if someone’s determined to kill himself, there’s nothing anyone else can do to stop him.”
    “Are you kidding me? Of course there are things someone else can do!”
    White put his arm around my waist. “Kathy, I think we need to move on. Mourn at home, dear.”
    Nathalie looked up, gave us a sharp look, then smiled again. “Ah. Pardon my confusion. Don’t let us detain you any longer.” She nudged Marcia. “They’re on a time limit.”
    Great. I’d moved from an affair with the boys to an affair with my husband’s uncle. Or an affair with all three of them. I had no clear idea how Nathalie actually thought, after all, but it was obvious her mind went straight to “affair” no matter what the circumstances.
    “Oh!” Marcia blushed, proving she was also one with the “affair” mindset. “I’m sorry we slowed you down. Anyway, I figured you’d want to know about Jack. See you this evening.”
    “Yes, bye. Take care. Or whatever.” I let White lead me off. Len showed restraint and didn’t run down the street, though I got the impression he wanted to. “Okay, Rick, honey, I get that you wanted us to get away. But you know they now firmly believe I’m having an affair with you.”
    “Good,” he said as he moved us along, still keeping a hold of me. “It will keep them off balance, and I believe that will be important.”
    “Why so?”
    “Because those women were lying.”



CHAPTER 58
    “W ELL, THEY BOTH CAN’T STAND ME, and color me totally shocked and impressed that any A-C can spot a human lying, but what do you mean? Do you think Jack isn’t dead?”
    “I’m sure whoever they said was dead is no longer with us on the mortal plane,” White said as we walked down the street. “However, they weren’t in the Croatian Embassy. They were in the doorway when we came by, but they weren’t inside.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Positive.” Apparently he felt we were far enough away, because he stopped walking and pretended to fiddle with the stroller. “Gentlemen, your thoughts?”
    “I agree,” Kyle said. “I saw them in the doorway as we approached the property. The door wasn’t open at any time.”
    “I saw them when we were on the other side of the street,” Len said. “They were walking on the street and went into the doorway. But they didn’t go into the building at that time.”
    “So, why did they hide in the doorway? So they could jump out at me?”
    “To share that your other friend had died?” White asked.
    “They aren’t my friends, and neither is—was, he. Len, can you pull up the information on the death? Jack Ryan, owns a car dealership in Silver Spring, married to Pia Ryan, who works for the C.I.A.”
    Len made Duchess and Dottie sit, then got busy on his PDA while I pondered. Something felt weirder than normal. As I thought about it, neither woman had mentioned that their spouses had stopped by my Embassy the day before. Of course, it was possiblethey didn’t know. I wouldn’t share my business with them, and maybe their husbands felt the same. Or maybe they had another reason to talk to us. “Think they’re involved in the stuff with Paraguay?”
    “I believe it’s possible,” White said. “I’d say they’re involved in something, and it’s likely to be illicit.”
    “So why hide in the doorway of another Embassy?”
    “Lookout?” Kyle offered, while Dudley and Duke stared intently behind us.
    “That makes sense, actually. Len, anything yet?”
    “Just coming through. Listed as a suicide. Because his wife works for the Agency, it’s being treated as a possible homicide.”
    I thought about it. “You know, Jack didn’t sound either drunk or delusional when he called me last night.”
    “I can’t speak to the inebriation,” White said, “but if he was