Cora looked at a shaken Olive, then at Demi. “Do we have to have this conversation in front of them?”
“Well, you guys finish your little domestic dispute,” said Felix, disappointed to see that the news wasn’t on yet, and as they did not have cable, no twenty-four-hour option was available. “I’m going to go online and find out about the aliens that are literally invading our planet.”
As Felix departed, Olive turned to her older sister, her blank stare finally betraying fear. “Are the aliens real?” she squeaked.
“No, the aliens aren’t real,” said Cora with no clue as to the validity of that assertion as she opened her arms to welcome Olive. Olive carefully moved into Cora’s embrace, looking at Demi as if to make sure she was allowed to even do so. Cora pulled her sister closer and picked her up. At just shy of six, she was a little small for her age. Cora looked at Luciana and couldn’t help but notice that Luciana seemed unusually keen on avoiding this conversation.
“I have a meeting tomorrow with the VP of staffing that may end with my no longer having a job. Because I recommended you to staffing,” Demi said, her anger now cold.
“I left during a crisis. The windows in the entire building had shattered.”
“Was that the noise?” asked Olive. “The bang?”
“It’s okay, butternut. We’re safe,” said Cora, her tone contradicting her words.
“You still have to play by the rules,” said Demi.
“Can we please have this conversation at another time?” begged Cora, not wanting this to end in a scream-out in front of a first grader. Olive hugged her even tighter.
“No!” said Demi. “No, you do not get to duck out of this.”
“I’m not trying to duck out of this—this conversation is upsetting your child. Lu?”
Luciana moved like she was about to agree with Cora, but one glance at Demi made her sink back into the couch awkwardly.
“Don’t use Olive as a shield,” said Demi, the anger turning hot again.
“It never even entered my head that it was in the realm of possibility that one temp leaving during a crisis would cost Kaiser as a client.”
“I see that it didn’t enter your head,” said Demi. “But that’s what happened. This isn’t high school, where you can just skip half a day and no one will notice. You’re an adult, Cora. Actions have consequences.”
“Hello?” A man’s voice sounded from the still-open front door.
The dogs, caught off guard, now overcompensated by tumbling off the couch in a heap of barks and rampaging toward the door. The three women turned to look at the man standing in the doorframe, looking like he’d caught a fair chunk of that conversation. He was tall and willowy, with full dark hair, a slender face, and a plastic smile.
“Demetra Sabino,” he said as he took off his big, shiny aviators. “You prefer Sabino now, right?”
Monster Truck had calmed, but Thor was still challenging the intruder. Cora put Olive down and moved Thor back. She looked at the man again and nearly choked on her own sharp intake of air.
Aviators.
“Yes,” said Demi. “I’m not giving any press statements.”
“Not with the press.” He pulled out a badge. “Special Agent Sol Kaplan, CIA.”
It was one of the men from the Town Car.
3
Cora had heard tales of CIA and FBI agents from Luciana (and long, long ago from Nils), but she’d never actually met one. He looked to be pushing forty, around Demi’s age but more than a head taller than she was, wearing a casual plaid button-down shirt over a Pink Floyd T-shirt, hardly the Man in Black she’d imagined.
“Mind if I come in?” asked Kaplan, ignoring the yappy Thor. Demi shook her head like she’d just snapped out of a spell, and she looked at Cora. Olive stilled, looking like a frightened gerbil. “This won’t take a few minutes.”
“You,” said Cora. “You were … at Kaiser today.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, a little too familiar, holding his hand out to her. “You must be Cora.”
She looked at Luciana, who was already wearing a tired expression of defeat. Feeling cornered, Cora took his hand briefly, giving it a light squeeze before pulling her hand away.
“Fancy seeing you here,” he said, looking at Luciana, his voice walking a line between flirtation and threat.
“Likewise, Special Agent Kaplan,” said Luciana.
“Sol,” he said, “Special Agent Kaplan is my father.” He laughed, indicating to Cora that he meant that to be a joke. But it didn’t have the tone of a joke, like he wasn’t practiced at joking.
“Olive,” said Demi, keeping her eyes on Kaplan. “Could you go wait in your room for a few minutes?”
“Are we in trouble?” Olive blurted.
“We’re not in trouble,” said Demi, clearly not believing her own words.
Olive looked at Cora, worried, before quietly trudging off to her room.
“Please relax,” said Kaplan. “I hate it when I show up and people act like I’m going to throw them into a military prison.”
“More a matter of timing,” said Luciana coolly.
Demi’s eyes darted between them. “Do you two know each other?”
“I’ve enjoyed the occasional chat with Ortega the Younger,” said Kaplan.
Luciana looked at him, and Cora wondered if her aunt wasn’t avoiding “the feds,” but him specifically.
“So how ’bout that meteor?” he said, looking at Demi. “Last time we had one of those, your ex-husband threw a little party.”
“Cora, I think you should go join Felix,” said Demi, eyes glued to Kaplan.
“No! I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting young Cora. And Ms. Ortega?” he said, nodding toward Luciana. “Glad you’re here. Save me a trip.” He looked again at Cora and Demi. “Have a seat; this won’t take a minute.”
Cora obeyed and sat down next to Luciana, trying to look casual. Thor calmed his whining and settled down while Monster Truck curled into a ball next to Luciana. Demi stayed standing.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, we are in the process of building a case against your ex-husband,” said Kaplan, taking a seat opposite Cora. “But that is far easier said than done, especially as he is very good at protecting his sources.” At this, he shot a sharp glance at Luciana, who struggled not to roll her eyes. “Now, I cannot force you to cooperate with this, but I’m hoping I can incentivize you to do so in the event that he tries to contact you.”
He looked right at Cora, and that same spike of fear she’d felt that morning at the mention of The Broken Seal on the radio began boring through her gut.
“I have no idea what he knows,” Demi stated. “I haven’t spoken to him in years. The last I heard from him was a letter he sent me in 2003. After that, nothing. Not to me, not to the kids. So I don’t have anything for you.”
Kaplan shot another glance at Cora before returning his attention to Demi. “I understand that it was messy. Divorce left you with all the debt, he never agreed to pay any child support. But really, nothing in four years? Not even to the kids? And now this ‘I’m doing it for the children, I hope they join me’ call to action. You’ve really gotten nothing from him?”