The problem with doing research on the computer was that you were on the Internet. And when you are on the Internet, it’s nearly impossible to prevent yourself from looking up your public profiles. Tate took a deep breath and typed her name into the search bar and hit Enter.

She’d been feeling good until she did that. Her office wasn’t far from Birch’s and he’d checked on her twice already. Even if it was just for a quick kiss, it meant the world to her. She’d been entering the snippets from Harriet’s notes into search engines and finding speeches from governors, senators, and members of Congress over the past three weeks discussing one or all of the talking points Harriet had highlighted. One focused on the economy and the other laid suspicion on the president for his foreign affairs policy. The only difference in their speech compared to Harriet’s: the word not had been added. President Stratton is not helping the economy with his jobs program. President Stratton is not helping the country with his foreign agenda.

Tate had gathered the names and then moved onto social media. She’d searched hashtags and found Kerra Ruby posts, those of Kerra Ruby followers, and at least fifteen other celebrities spouting the same message, almost to the word, as if it were a script. Action stars, reality stars, singers, and models were all involved. Now Tate just needed to find out what they all had in common. Unfortunately, she saw one thing, and that was how she got sucked into the rabbit hole of searching her own name. All of them had been bashing her.

“Miss Carlisle? Miss Carlisle?”

Tate finally turned to her secretary. “Um, sorry. What is it?”

“Mr. Houlihan is here for his appointment.”

Tate let out a breath. “Put him in the conference room. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Her secretary closed the door and Tate looked back at the screen, her good mood evaporated. Tate snapped a picture of her notes and sent it to the group with her findings before taking the paper and shredding it. She couldn’t do anything right. They were right. She felt worthless.

Tate shoved away from her desk and with heavy feet made her way to the conference room. She smelled Fitz before she saw him. His signature power scent lingered in the hallway. Tate opened the door and didn’t even bother trying to fake it.

“What do you want, Fitz?”

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Fitz asked, hurrying over to her.

Tate tried to shake it off. “The press is getting to me. That’s all.”

“I have been thinking about that. If I were to represent you again, the press would stop talking. I bet even Claudia would stop reporting it. It’s not news if we’re a team again.”

Tate cocked her head and really looked at Fitz all shined up. “You never represent people in competing fields. You told me that’s what made you so powerful when it came time for negotiations.”

“But you’re not in a competing field. I’ve thought about it since I ran into you at BBN. This could be really good for you. I have a strong network connection to BBN that could save your reputation. Plus, I already have interest from Stanworth Motion Pictures and their publishing company. I pitched George Stanworth the idea of a tell-all after you’re out of office in a couple of years, and he’s ready to offer you a seven-figure book deal with his publishing company and a right of first refusal for Stanworth Motion Pictures to turn that book into a movie,” Fitz said eagerly.

“Why do you think I’ll be out of a job in a couple of years?” Tate asked, taking it all in.

Fitz looked at her as if she were stupid. “Everyone in the know knows that Stratton is out. There’s talk about someone running against him in the primary. When was the last time a seated president had opposition in the primary? That is, if he makes it through without being impeached for something. I’m telling you, Stratton is out. You need to be getting all you can from this.”

“Is that why you wanted to see me? I thought this had to do with Claudia’s interview?”

“Yeah . . . I lied. I want you back. Tell me what to do.”

Tate shook her head. “Fitz, I’m the biggest controversy in the media right now.”

“Exactly. You are a hot item, and I can sell that. I can get you on every news outlet, every TV talk show, and every late-night show. I can force Stanworth into a two million dollar advance if he wants your story. Come on, baby girl, you know we’re good together,” Fitz said in that seductive crooning voice that had once turned her on but now made her want to punch him in the face.

“It’s all so much. Give me a couple of days to think about it.” Tate took a deep breath. “I guess with your connection to BBN you are in with the Stanworths? I heard it’s a real soap opera over there. George’s kids, Helena and Auden, are fighting each other and George’s new wife, whom I believe is his granddaughter’s age, right? All for power of the company.”

“Yeah, but it won’t happen. George won’t give up power without a fight.”

“Isn’t he in his nineties?” Tate asked with surprise.

“I guess being married to a twenty-five-year-old keeps you young.” Fitz chuckled before turning serious. “Personally, I like my women to be real women and not fresh off the college cheerleading team. You’re looking good, Tate. I have missed you.”

Tate wanted to scream at him. He was the one who blew it with her. He was the one who fucked Claudia and ditched Tate as both a girlfriend and a client. Instead of yelling, Tate just smiled. “Thank you, Fitzie. I’m glad things are going well for you, business wise.”

“They are. They’ve really turned around this past year. Even before we split. You know how hard I was working and how badly I was scraping my way up to the top. I’ve finally reached it, and I’ve got to say the view from the top is excellent. I’m working with everyone from the Stanworth family to Bertie Geofferies to Trip Kameron to Sebastian Abel. And I’ve picked up a ton of new clients.”

Tate smiled. No matter what, there had been a lot of good memories between them. “I’m happy for you. I’ll think about what you said and get back to you. And I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

“I have to fly to LA to negotiate a deal for one of my new clients—the pop singer I brought to the party. But I’ll be around.”

Tate nodded and opened the door. Her secretary immediately joined them to show Fitz out. As Tate headed back to her office, all thoughts of Fitz vanished. She had a lead to follow.

Lizzy tapped her fingers on the bar in frustration. She was pissed off. First Dalton left to follow Epps. Then Tate commandeered Alex. And now Buzz and Snip had interrupted her right before she could get the prints out to start running them herself. At this pace, they were never going to get done.

“Come on, girlie. Take a pair of old men out for a walk,” Snip said, holding the front door of Lancy’s open. They never wanted to go on a walk. They always wanted free beer.

“Okay,” Lizzy said slowly as she turned to the old men. She’d just have to wait to go upstairs and get to work on the fingerprints.

The trio headed to the park by the river just as they had the night they told her about her father’s involvement investigating Mollia Domini—not that Buzz and Snip knew about the group. The familiar actions and looks sent her stomach flipping. Something was wrong.

They chatted about their grandsons, about the bar, and about the weather until they were standing next to the moving water. “What is it?” Lizzy asked as soon as she was sure they were safely away from anyone.

Buzz and Snip shared a look, and it was Buzz who took a deep breath and started. “We know you’re involved in whatever got your father killed. We haven’t asked, but kept an eye on things from a distance. No one ever pays us any mind. We’re just two old farts drinking beer.”

Lizzy didn’t say anything. She couldn’t admit to being in the shadow group by order of the president.

“So far, we’ve figured Dalton and Valeria are your muscle, Tate’s your insider, and, well, we can’t figure out what the hell Alex is,” Buzz said, keeping his gaze locked with hers.

Snip shook his head. “If he says dude one more time, I’ll hog-tie him and shave his head.”

Buzz rolled his eyes before turning to Snip. “If anyone needs a haircut, it’s your grandson. Every time I see that bun, I want to cut it off.”

Lizzy smirked as the two men fell into familiar bickering. “Gentlemen, you brought me here for a reason?”

Snip smacked Buzz as they stopped arguing and turned back to her. “Well,” Buzz started again, “this morning we decided to go fishing, and well . . .”

Lizzy stared at him.

“Okay, we were going to raid the bar for a couple of beers to take with us when we went fishing. Every liquor store is closed,” Snip defended.

“Anyway,” Buzz said, staring daggers at Snip for snitching on them, “we were sitting in the car looking for the key to Lancy’s when the door opened and a man walked out. I thought it was Alex with his hair pulled back, but it wasn’t. It was some Latin man, probably around thirty-four to thirty-eight years old. When we put on our glasses, we saw he was shorter and thicker than Alex.”

Lizzy pursed her lips. She’d been in the bar that morning, but she hadn’t swept it for bugs. She was getting complacent. Alex had already left when she’d arrived. Luckily all the evidence they had was still hidden in the attic.

“What time this morning?” Lizzy asked.

“Five-thirty,” Snip answered.

Alex had still been there at that time. Lizzy looked at her watch. It was almost one in the afternoon. “What the hell took you two so long to tell me?”

Buzz and Snip looked sheepishly at each other before Snip handed over the bag he was carrying. “Fish?”

Lizzy called Alex and verified that he had been at the bar that morning and hadn’t seen anyone. Lizzy was hoping it was a friend of Alex’s, but she knew that wasn’t the case. She hung up and headed back to the bar when her phone rang.

“I’m not in a good mood,” Lizzy snapped.

“I’m afraid this won’t help,” Humphrey’s slightly nasally voice said on the other end of the call. “Someone broke into Tate’s house last night and held a gun to her head while asking about Valeria.”

“What the hell? And again, why am I only hearing about this now?” Lizzy yelled.

“Brock is sleeping and Birch has been in meetings all morning. I just found out. Tate told me he was a Latin man around five foot eight and muscular. Probably around her age.”

That stopped Lizzy. “What time?”

“Huh?”

“What time was he at Tate’s? Oh, screw this.” Lizzy hung up on Humphrey and called Tate.

“Yes,” Tate answered with a snap.

“What the fuck are you doing, Tate? You get attacked and don’t bother to call me?” Lizzy felt her blood pressure skyrocketing. Her control on the situation was slipping. As team leader, if anything went wrong . . .

“Didn’t Humphrey call you?” Tate asked. Her voice was lined with anger, which only made Lizzy’s temper rise.

“I don’t want to hear from Humphrey almost twelve hours after it happens. You should have called me the second it was safe. We are a team, and I’m in charge. Just because you’re fucking Birch doesn’t mean you don’t have to report to me. Am I clear?” Lizzy said with a tight restraint on her temper.

“But I’m onto something,” Tate defended.

“I am, too, but apparently you don’t care since you took Alex this morning when you knew I needed his help on these fingerprints. You know, the one solid fucking lead we have?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Tate practically shouted. “I have multiple leads. I’ve identified over twenty celebrities, like Kerra Ruby, who are getting their marching orders from Mollia Domini. I have to meet Flint at the bar tonight. I’ll bring everything with me. You’ll be proud of me, Lizzy. I promise.”

Some of the air went out of Lizzy’s anger. “Tate, this isn’t about being proud of you. This is about being a team. And I can’t do my job as team leader when everyone is running off in different directions without telling me. First Valeria and now you. Speaking of which, I had a visitor at the bar around five-thirty this morning. Latin male in his mid-thirties, approximately five foot eight and muscular.” Tate gasped on the other end of the line. “I’m taking a guess that description sounds familiar?”

Lizzy listened as Tate relayed the events of the night. Her mind was systematically detailing the facts and filing them away. “Valeria is involved with drugs. She said she thought Hermanos de Sangre owned the originating bank in Mexico. Do you think she went to that bank?” Lizzy asked, but continued without waiting for an answer. “It was smart of her to give your name.”

“Is it because I don’t have any agency ties?” Tate asked. “Because we both know she doesn’t think highly of me.”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Tate. You wouldn’t be part of the team if you weren’t talented. Your talent is dealing with the press and looking into stories. And Val obviously trusted you enough to give your name as someone who could vouch for her being out of the DEA.”

“I just can’t believe she gave them her real name,” Tate said, voicing the same concern Lizzy had.

“I hope she gave it, and it wasn’t found out while undercover. We just need to trust that Val knows what she’s doing. She’ll get an earful when she gets back. I guarantee that much,” Lizzy said, lightening up a little on Tate. She could feel the stress Tate was under and knew enough that her point had been made. Tate needed her support now. “So, what can I do to help?”

Tate let out a relieved sigh. “Can you just let me borrow Alex for the rest of the day? He’s in my hotel room, and I’m heading over there in a minute to meet with him. I’ll come to Lancy’s as soon as I can to explain everything.”

“Okay,” Lizzy said, staring at her father’s bar from across the street. “I have to go over the bar with a fine-tooth comb before it’s clear.”

Lizzy hung up and walked across the street with the fish Snip and Buzz caught slung over her shoulder in a cooler bag. It was going to be a very long day.