I breathe deeply, trying to control my racing thoughts and hard dick. What the fuck am I gonna do? I gotta give her my application, don’t I? Shit. Yeah, I do. I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but I’m gonna do it. There’s no other logical conclusion to this story. The woman just bared her entire soul to me, not just her sexual history. If I don’t at least give her my stupid application in return, then I truly am the sociopath she accused me of being. Not to mention a fucking pussy. And an asshole.
“Hey, Agent Sheffield,” Sarah says. “I’ve got a favor to ask of you. You do background checks, right?”
“Yeah,” Eric replies. “Every day.”
I’m instantly pulled away from my thoughts about Kat. I don’t recall a “favor” being part of the strategy Jonas and I cooked up for today’s meeting. What the fuck is Sarah talking about?
“I’d like you to find two people for me,” Sarah continues.
I look at Jonas as if to say, “What the fuck is she talking about?” and he shakes his head, totally at a loss.
“This isn’t a demand,” Sarah continues. “It’s just a personal favor. But it’s really important.”
I look at Kat and shoot her the same “What the fuck is she talking about?” look I just flashed Jonas. Kat shrugs, clearly as in the dark as the rest of us.
“Who are the two people?” Eric asks.
“The first is a woman named Mariela from Venezuela.”
Thirty-Two
Josh
The room warps and buckles. Did Sarah just say she wants Agent Eric to findMariela from Venezuela? My brain can’t process what I’m hearing.
I look at Jonas. His face looks exactly the way I feel: blindsided.
If Jonas has told Sarah about Mariela, then he’s surely told her about Mom, too. Does that mean he’s told hereverything?
“I don’t know her last name,” Sarah continues calmly, “but she worked for Joseph and Grace Faraday in Seattle during the years from…I’m guessing 1984 to around 1991.”
What the fuck is happening right now? I feel like Sarah just punched me in the balls. I glance at Jonas again. He’s got his hands over his face. Good idea. I do the same.
“In 1991, Grace Faraday was murdered in her home . . .” Sarah continues, and the minute she says Mom’s name this second time, I suddenly realize she just revealed the true meaning of my “Grace” tattoo to Kat.
I steal a quick look at Kat, and her eyes tell me she’s already put two and two together.She knows.Oh, fuck. I seriously can’t do this. Enough with the honesty-game. It’s too much. I put my hands over my face again. I’m shaking.
“Hang on,” Eric says. “Could you repeat all that?”
Sarah repeats everything again slowly, including Mom’s name, yet again, just in case Kat didn’t catch it the first two times. “Grace Faraday,” Sarah says. “She was murdered in her home... We need you to findMariela—and if she’s not alive, then her children.”
“Okay. That sounds doable,” Agent Eric says.
Am I hearing that right? This FBI guy is gonna track down Mariela?
I look across the room at Jonas. He looks like he’s in total shock.
“Awesome, Eric,” Sarah says. “Thank you. And there’s one more woman, too. I don’t know her first name—but her maiden name wasWestbrook.”
Oh Jesus Christ.
Jonas and I exchange a look of pure astonishment. This is beyond insanity. Sarah’s asking the FBI guy to find MarielaandMiss Westbrook? Well, that settles it beyond a doubt: Jonas has told Sarah literally every little thing about his life, and therefore mine: Mom, Mariela, Miss Westbrook, Dad, The Lunacy. Holy fuck. I never thought I’d see the day. Haven’t we always said no one needs to know about all that—that it’s best if these things remain between us?
“Miss Westbrook was a teacher in Seattle in probably 1992,” Sarah continues, “and then she married a guy in the Navy named Santorini who was later stationed in San Diego.”
“What do these two women have to do with The Club?” Eric asks.
“Absolutely nothing,” Sarah says. She gazes at Jonas in a way I’ve never seen anyone look at him before—with so much tenderness my heart stops vicariously for him. “This would be a personal favor to me,” Sarah says, not taking her eyes off Jonas. “I don’t have the resources to find these ladies by myself without having their full names, but I think you can do it.”
