Chapter 2

Ruby rubbed her hands together briskly, wishing she'd thought to bring gloves. The beat of a bass drum filled her ears, overlaid by the cacophony of trumpets as one marching band moved on and another tramped closer. Ruby winced as the minor key of "What Child Is This"clashed with the major key of"We wish You a Merry Christmas."

She and Corinna had arrived with the parade already in full swing. Still, they'd managed to find standing room among the crowd viewing the spectacle from the long run of steps made famous by the first Rocky movie and leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, right where the parade ended. As float after float reached the finish line, each one more colorful than the last, Ruby began anticipating the Christmas season. Holiday motifs abounded, lifting her spirits.

I'll tell Tony about the baby at Christmas. Won't that make a nice present!

The decision warmed her heart. Now she had a good reason for keeping her secret.

As last, the final float came into view, marking the end of the parade. Owned by the city council, it touted a massive, brightly decorated Christmas tree that spired twenty feet into the air. At its base stood the mayor of Philadelphia, a swarthy Italian dressed in a Santa suit. As the crowd roared with appreciation for the event that was in its 104th year, the mayor blew kisses back at them, happy to accept credit for the festivities.

His appearance was Ruby's cue to rendezvous with Lieutenant Governor Lennard Katz in the office complex adjacent to the museum. They'd planned to meet once the parade was over, with Katz requesting to keep their interview brief, as he'd scheduled lunch with the mayor right afterward.

Ruby leaned toward Corinna, who was videotaping the mayor with the fancy digital camera Tony had given her for Christmas the prior year. "Hey, I forgot to tell you I'm supposed to interview someone right after this. It'll take me twenty minutes. Stay around here, and I'll find you when I'm done."

Corinna's eyes widened with alarm. "But the parade's over. Why can't I come with you?"

Maybe that was the better choice, as Tony wouldn't like her leaving his sister all alone. "Okay. Why not? Come on." Keeping a hand on Corinna's coat sleeve, Ruby followed the disbanding crowd down the museum steps and across the thronging street to an office complex leased by the environmental advocacy group, which Katz chaired.

As they approached the building, Ruby spotted a young man wearing a wool trench coat, his cheeks ruddy from the cold, watching her with a hopeful look. "Ruby Bonheur?" he asked as they neared him.

"Yes." She had kept her maiden name to keep from losing the notoriety she had gained before her marriage. Adopting the demeanor of a top-notch reporter, Ruby extended a hand. "And you are?"

"Dave Cullum. I'm Lieutenant Governor Katz's assistant. He's expecting you." His friendly smile faded as focused on Corinna. "I understood you'd be alone."

Ruby thought on her toes. "Oh, this is my camerawoman. With the lieutenant governor's permission, we'd like to film the interview."

Cullum's gaze fell to the Nikon camera hanging on a strap around Corinna's neck, and he shrugged. "It's up to him." He turned toward the double glass doors behind him. "Right this way."

They entered a wide, echoing stairwell, blessedly warmer than it was outside. Chatting about the weather and the vibrancy of the parade, they climbed a broad marble staircase to the second level, then coursed a quiet, unlit hallway to an open door. The room beyond it was obviously a boardroom.

As Ruby's gaze lit upon Len Katz, he rolled out of the chair he was lounging in and fixed a plastic-looking smile on his face. "Ah, here she is."

"I hope I didn't keep you." The man's physique was the first thing Ruby noted about him. He was built like Tony, only taller—a former Marine but still fit at fifty-four, with broad shoulders and long, sturdy legs. Following his twenty-year career in the military, he'd served briefly with the CIA, no more than a handful of years, about which nothing could be found, despite how hard Ruby had scoured the internet.

"Not at all. I just sat down. That was quite a parade, huh?" His slate-gray eyes swiveled in Corinna's direction.

Ruby made introductions. "This is my camerawoman, Corinna. She's an intern."

"I didn't realize you'd be filming me." Katz smoothed his still blond, but thinning hair. "I thought this was just a write-up for a Virginia newspaper."

Ruby had misled his secretary intentionally. "Well, no. I work for a television news station—WTKR. We're located in Norfolk with a large military population." And while she'd intended to record his answers in a voice memo on her phone, filming Katz's reactions might reveal his lies better than a voice recording ever could.

"I see." His plastic smile returned as he gestured to the seats around the table. "Should we have a seat or do this standing up?"

"Let's sit right here where the lighting is best." Ruby pulled out two chairs, positioning them to face the light shining through the windows. Then she shimmied out of her pale-peach swing coat to reveal her Jones of New York java-colored wool suit, paired with a cream silk blouse and tailored to show off her curves.

In her peripheral vision, she noted Katz's appreciative once-over. Tony hadn't seen what she'd been wearing when she left the house, as he'd already been down in the basement, hard at work repairing his mother's washer.

As she cast her coat over the table, she directed Corinna to stand to one side of the windows and await her cue.

Playing right along, Corinna moved to the right spot and fiddled with her camera settings.

Ruby smiled at Len Katz and sought to put him at ease—for now. "Did you bring your family with you?" Katz's offices were in Harrisburg, the state capital, an hour away. He was married, with a three-year-old son.

"No, they had to stay at home. My son has a bit of a cold."

"Oh, what a shame." She pursed her lips into a frown. "I bet your little boy would have loved the parade. That Santa Claus was very convincing."

They chatted for another minute before Ruby cued Corinna with a nod to start filming. "Well, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me, Lieutenant Governor." She pivoted her body forty degrees toward his, set one elbow on the back of her chair, and cocked her head slightly, keeping her body language receptive.

"My pleasure." Katz brandished his false smile, his gaze dipping toward her cleavage.

After tucking a curl behind one pearl-studded earlobe, Ruby launched into introductions for the viewer and offered up standard questions, which the former Marine answered with practiced ease. He was just beginning to look comfortable when she brought up his service in the CIA. "Is it true you worked for the CIA after your retirement from the military?"

The split-second pause on his part betrayed a reticence to touch on the subject. "Well, yes. I discovered that retirement didn't suit me, and I still wished to serve my country."

Another practiced answer. She zeroed in for the kill. "But you were only in the CIA for six years. Why would you quit so early on?"

"Well, I realized I could do more for Americans by working in politics."

Here goes. "Then your decision had nothing to do with an operation in Dishu that went terribly wrong?"

The glint entering his gimlet eyes had an instant cooling effect on Ruby's skin as he stared at her, perhaps just now realizing she wasn't your average, everyday reporter. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

Ruby touched a finger to her chin, as if searching her memory. "August of 2016, I believe it was. Your mission was to snuff out a top Taliban official, Gabir al Baldawi, who operated in the Helmand Province. He was supposed to be holed up in a private home on the west side of Dishu. You and a squad of Navy SEALs raided the building, only al Baldawi wasn't there, just five or so civilians, including a boy and his mother who ended up dead."

Len Katz had stiffened with every word coming out of her mouth. "Who told you this?" His expression remained pleasant, baffled, but his voice had cooled several degrees.

Ruby shrugged. "Like I said, I live in a military community, and that's the rumor circulating. Can you confirm or deny the story? Maybe you could clarify what went wrong?"

Katz's lips thinned and his jaw hardened. "There's not an ounce of truth to that story. I don't know where you get your information, but I'd advise you not to listen to rumors that aren't true."

"Mm." Ruby nodded with false sympathy. "So, this is just another attempt to discredit you in the eyes of the public?" She strove for a sympathetic expression. "I imagine it's because you're a candidate for the vice presidency and your opponent has made up the story hoping to ruin your reputation."

"Exactly." He seized on to her excuse immediately. "The opposition will say anything to discredit me. I assure you I have never taken part in any military operation that I wasn't proud of. Of course, I'm not at liberty to talk about those days, but my conscience is clear. I don't believe in keeping secrets."

"I didn't think so." She sent him her most charming smile, while nodding toward Corinna to signify that they were nearly done. "It's been a pleasure interviewing you, sir. I hope we can do it again sometime." She stretched out a hand for him to squeeze and noted his fingers felt distinctly clammy. The next time they spoke, she vowed she would have the proof to call him a liar. Any man who lied to cover up a murder had no business becoming the vice president of the United States. "Enjoy your lunch with the mayor." She pushed to her feet.

"I will." Katz rose also.

Gesturing for Corinna to join her, Ruby threaded her arms quickly through the sleeves of her coat as she started for the door. "Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, gentlemen. Oh, thank you, Mr. Cullum."

The friendly assistant had darted forward to pull the door open.

"We'll see ourselves out."

With a glance toward his boss, Cullum nodded. "Oh, sure. Okay. Bye."

Katz must have gestured for his assistant to stay behind with him. Ruby kept her satisfied grin contained until the door between them closed. She had hooked her big tuna. All she had to do now was to reel him in.