Eggsecutive Orders

Mom and Nana had gotten in line in the right-hand buffet behind Ruth Minkus and Francine Cooper. Kap and Phil Cooper went to the left. As I passed behind the two men, I heard Cooper whisper, “I told Ruth we were getting close.”

Kap’s reply was tense. “You didn’t tell her what was missing?”

“No, of course not. She still thinks it was an inside job.”

“She doesn’t suspect?”

Cooper almost laughed. “I think she suspects you.”

Kap kept his voice low. “She despises me. But I understand why. And if Joel has political aspira-” He stopped himself when he saw me. “Ollie, what can I do for you?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing. Are you finding everything you need?”

Kap gave me a puzzled look. I could tell he was wondering whether I’d overheard them. What did Ruth not suspect? That her husband had been poisoned by some missing tetrodotoxin?

Cooper seemed unfazed by my sudden appearance. He smiled, and brought his face close enough to mine that no one nearby would be able to hear him. “Thank you, Ms. Paras, for not mentioning our visit the other day.” He glanced around. “At least not to those outside the White House.”

“I will be the first to admit I don’t understand,” I said. “But-”

“Yes, thank you,” Kap said, cutting me off.

Just then Mom and Nana joined the group, looking for a place to sit. “When you’re finished,” I said to them, “I can take you on that tour.”

Because I didn’t think it appropriate to sit and eat with the guests, I meandered over to watch an egg roll race, reflecting on how this was exactly the sort of family event that our nation was famous for. I talked with a couple of volunteers and then made my way back to the buffets. Ruth was waiting for me. “Why is Kap sitting with your mother?” she asked.

I shrugged, not thrilled about the situation myself. “They’ve been seeing each other,” I said. “Socially.”

Her lips tightened into a thin line. “I don’t trust him. I don’t think you should, either.”

“Why not?”

She gave me a meaningful look. “He is not who he seems to be.”

Instinctively, I moved closer. “What do you mean?”

“I shouldn’t tell you this,” she said, her eyes wide. “Because I’m not even supposed to know…” Her words came fast, as though she were afraid she might get cut off. “But my husband found out that Kap”-she gestured toward the crowd with her eyes-“was selling U.S. secrets to China.”

My heart skipped a beat, then began to race. Ruth grabbed my arm. “Kap only pretends he was my husband’s good friend now that he’s dead. But Carl saw through him.”

“Do you have proof?”

She squeezed my arm hard. “No, of course not. Don’t you think I would come forward if I did?” Looking morose, she glanced to where Joel was chatting up a senator from Illinois. “Carl had proof. He told me he did. And Carl was about to blow the whistle on Kap.” She swallowed, glancing around yet again. “So Kap had him killed. And Cooper was the one who did it,” she said. “Right under my nose.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I need your help. And Howard Liss trusts you.”

Liss, I thought. That’s when the light dawned. Ruth was the confidential source he kept talking about.

“Ollie!” Nana called to me from about twenty feet away. “We’re ready.”

I waved. “I’ll be there in a minute.” I was trying to process Ruth’s revelation. “What does Liss have to do with this?”

“He knows the whole story,” she said. “He’s the one who figured out the co

I shook my head. “I don’t trust Liss.”

“Whether you do or not,” she said, “we need your help. We need to uncover their treason before they kill anyone else.”

Nana called me again. “I really have to get going,” I said, inching away.

Ruth’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “Don’t you care about your country?” she asked.

That irked me. “Of course I do,” I said, with more than a little spirit. “But if you’re depending on Liss for your information, I want no part of it.”

She looked stricken, then resolute. “Listen,” she said, talking quickly, “Kap plans to kill Cooper. Did you know that?”

I didn’t want to continue this conversation and tried again to make excuses, when she said, “You didn’t believe that those two just met today, did you?”

So she knew. Stu

“Cooper and Kap pretended they didn’t know each other. That was for my benefit,” she said, pointing her finger hard into her chest. “Cooper killed my husband. Now Kap needs to get rid of that loose end. He’s going to do that by killing Cooper.”

I waved to Nana and Mom, who were still waiting. Next to them, Kap stared at me with an odd expression on his face. I turned to Ruth. “What do you need me to do?”

CHAPTER 24

RUTH WAS ABOUT TO ANSWER, BUT KAP TOOK that moment to steer my mom and nana over. “We’re ready for our tour,” Nana said cheerily. “If you have a few minutes.”

What I wanted to do, more than anything, was show my family the China Room, the kitchen, and take them into the heart of the White House. But here I was, asking them-again-to wait just a little bit longer. “I’m sorry,” I said, “something came up.”

“What’s going on, Ollie?” Mom asked.

Ruth excused herself, shooting Kap a hateful glare as she left.

Kap watched her leave before speaking. “You were talking with her for quite a long time there.”

I nodded. “She’s having a tough day. Holidays, you know.”

“Anything else?”

“Why do you ask?”

Kap’s expression was unreadable. “Just making conversation.”

Oh, sure, Kap. Claim you’re striving for inane conversation while the world crashes down on me. Ruth’s allegations were nothing short of explosive, and I needed to sort facts from conjecture. “Hang on one minute,” I said, and raced over to where a giant pink bu

The bulky head turned toward me, blocking my view of anything beyond its fat fuzzy grin. I tried to look behind the screen-printed eyes, but couldn’t see inside the darkness. The head moved up and down slowly, nodding. I knew that bu

Waving a pink-pawed good-bye to the children who had gathered around him, the Guzy Bu

Guzy Bu

I leaned up, pulling the plaster and fur face closer, hoping to be heard over the high-pitched squeals of children playing tag nearby. Hoping to not accidentally tug his head off.

“Just keep an eye on this guy, all right? I’ll hurry back as soon as I can with more information.”

The big head nodded again. Guzy Bu

“Look who came to visit,” I said with forced cheer.

Mom and Nana looked up at me, painfully unimpressed. Detritus from the day’s event littered the tabletop, and the other empty chairs were tilted and angled, as though their occupants had just tumbled out of them. Kap sat on the edge of his folding chair and studied the grounds, looking ready to bolt at any moment.

“This is…” I thought fast. “Fuzzy. He’s going to take you around the grounds and show you the gardens.”

Mom shifted in her seat. “We don’t mind waiting for you, Ollie.”