Eggsecutive Orders

At that, Sargeant opened a portfolio and clicked his pen. Kap’s dark eyes visibly hardened, almost as though the irises had swallowed up the pupils. He fixed his laser gaze firmly on our sensitivity director.

Sargeant asked, “What sort of delicacies do you generally prepare for the president and his guests?”

“There are many,” I said. “That’s a difficult question. Is there something specific you want to know about?”

“No. No.” Sargeant smiled, but I could tell it was just for show. “I just need to clear up these loose ends.” He consulted his notebook. “For instance… have you ever served truffles?” He looked up at me.

“Yes.”

He wrote that down. I got the feeling he was gauging my truthfulness. But why would I lie? “Foie gras?”

“The president doesn’t like it. So, no.”

“Caviar.”

“Yes.”

“Puffer fish.”

“No,” I said, aghast.

He watched me as I answered. “You have never served puffer fish?”

“Of course not. It’s too dangerous.”

With a prim smirk, he nodded and wrote that down.

A moment later, he continued with the questions, finishing off a list of about ten items, most of which we had served at one time or another. But never puffer fish. It wasn’t worth the risk. The skin and organs contained deadly toxins.

I looked up at both of them.

“What is it?” Kap asked.

I lied, “Nothing.”

“You’re sure?”

“I… I have a lot to do for tomorrow. I just thought of something I forgot.”

Sargeant wrinkled his nose as he shut his notebook. “I suppose that will be enough for now. I’m no longer needed here.” He waited, as though hoping we’d correct him. We didn’t.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kapostoulos,” Sargeant said with a little bow. He ignored the rest of us and left the room without looking back.

Kap turned to us. “Who hired that… gentleman?”

Cyan laughed. “We haven’t been able to figure that one out yet.”

Kap smiled at her and at Henry. “Would you mind if I borrowed your boss for a few minutes?”

My heart gave a little thump of disappointment. I didn’t know what he might want to talk about, but it was probably about my mom, and not something I wanted to hear. I steeled myself and followed him out. He led me into the Center Hall. “I don’t want to worry you, Ollie,” he began.

“I’m not worried,” I said. “My mother is a smart, strong lady.”

“She is,” he agreed. “And her daughter takes after her.”

Blatant flattery always made my teeth hurt. I clenched them. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention my visit here.”

That seemed like a peculiar request. “Your visit to the kitchen?”

“My visit to the White House.”

“Who would I tell?”

“Your family?” He shot me with that laser gaze again. “Howard Liss?”

“What?” I laughed my disbelief. “Why do you think I would have anything to do with that repulsive-”

“He hasn’t contacted you?”

The question shut me up. “How did you know that?” I asked. “What kind of consultant are you, anyway?”

“Let’s keep my visit to the White House between us, okay?”

I didn’t understand. “But other people have seen you here.” I held up my fingers, one at a time. “Henry, Cyan, Jackson, Peter Everett Sargeant III, not to mention everyone in the West Wing.”

“I’m not worried about the other staff. They’re not on Howard Liss’s radar.” He ventured a smile. “Please, let’s just keep this between us, shall we?”

The minute he left, I headed for the computer. “So that’s your mom’s boyfriend?” Cyan asked.

I didn’t think it was a good idea to look up my Internet question while Cyan stood next to me. “Just while she’s in town.”

From behind us, Henry grunted. We both turned.

“He’s here to stay,” Henry said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Henry stopped chopping scallions to look up at us. “He’s got the look.”

“What look?”

My former boss waved his knife at me. “You’re not going to get rid of him very easily.”

“Great,” I said.

Cyan patted me on the shoulder. “He’s very good-looking.”

“So was Ted Bundy.”

Cyan laughed, but at least she headed over to the other end of the kitchen. I was free to surf the ’Net. Sargeant’s inquiries-with Kap at his sleeve-were too suspicious to be the routine questions he claimed. The first thing I typed into my browser was “Puffer fish,” then, “Enter.”

And there it was.

Tetrodotoxin. Extremely deadly. Could cause death in as little as twenty minutes. This had to be the toxin Kap and Cooper were discussing at lunch today.

Puffer fish was considered a delicacy, but much too dangerous for me to consume myself, let alone serve to the president. But if my hunch was right, it was this toxin that killed Minkus.

I signed off and sat there for a minute, closing my eyes against the fear. Puffer fish poisoning was serious. No wonder they suspected the kitchen. I had no idea how to deal with the onslaught of publicity this revelation was certain to generate.

All day, with this new tetrodotoxin information floating around, I had expected the Secret Service to swarm the kitchen and kick us out again. That hadn’t happened. Instead, the eggs arrived just as Craig had promised; preparations moved forward for the following day’s holiday meal; and Cyan, Henry, and I made great strides on the Egg Roll preparations.

When I finally left the White House that night, it was late. The Metro was still ru

The second call was from Liss. Of course. My new buddy. Despite Kap’s best efforts, Liss had probably gotten wind of the ME’s report and wanted a news scoop for tomorrow morning’s edition, about how often we served puffer fish to the president. I listened to his message. “Olivia-I understand that the two men we discussed have indeed had their audience today. You may be interested to know that when they left their meeting, they went straight to visit the ‘late agent’s’ office.” He paused, as though allowing me time to let the information settle in. “What do you think they are looking for?”

He’d made it sound like one of his scandalous headlines. The lunatic. I ignored his call and instead steeled myself before dialing Tom. He answered right away. But rather than say hello, he asked, “Why did you tell Craig we had broken up?”

“He told you?”

“Why did you do that, Ollie?”

“So he could no longer hold you responsible for my actions.”

Tom made a noise of complete exasperation. “You didn’t think I could handle it?”

“I didn’t think you should have to.”

He was silent a moment. “Let me guess: You’re ru

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “I’m just trying to clear the kitchen’s name.”

“Well, you can quit right now. You’ve been cleared.”

“What about Bucky?”

He didn’t have an answer for that.

I pressed my luck. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“They know what killed Minkus, don’t they?”

He hedged. “This is a discussion for another time.”

“Was it really tetrodotoxin?”

“Where did you hear-?” Agitated, he nearly shouted, “How do you know that? No one knows the name of…” His voice trailed off but his anger was still palpable.

I was at the mouth of the MacPherson Square station, but I didn’t head underground, where my signal would be lost. “I just heard some things, okay?”

Tom’s irritation manifested itself in a series of restless noises. “My God, is nothing safe from your damn snooping?”