A knock on the door cut off their conversation. Luke shot out of his chair and pressed his back against the wall beside the door. No one knew he’d returned to Washington, and it was best to keep it that way. Philip crossed to the door and opened it. Caroline recognized Freddie Alden, one of the Secret Service agents who guarded the White House.

“You have been summoned to the Treasury Department,” Freddie said to Philip. Then he moved farther into the room and closed the door, revealing Luke hiding behind it. “You too.”

Luke gave his Cheshire cat’s smile. “Who wants to see us at Treasury?”

“John Wilkie. Chief of the Secret Service. He’s long suspected someone was running their own investigations out of this office.”

Luke swiveled an accusatory glance at her. “Is this Romeo’s doing?”

“I told you he planned to tell Wilkie. And I’m afraid he operates very much by the book. The only details I gave him were that you suspected corruption in the military and were working for the very best of people. And, Philip, I was being generous by characterizing you that way.”

Philip looked annoyed. “I’ve always suspected the Secret Service was spying on me.”

Caroline shifted in her seat. Over the past year, while she had been praying for Luke, she’d never thought any further than getting him safely back home. Now she was forced to confront the uncomfortable prospect that her daredevil brother and the straitlaced Nathaniel might have difficulty seeing eye to eye.

She was about to find out.

Caroline entered Wilkie’s office with Luke and Philip twenty minutes later. Nathaniel stood in the corner, dressed in one of his plain black suits. His expression was all business, but when he saw her, he gave her one of those closed-mouthed smiles that always made her weak in the knees, especially since this time it reached all the way to his eyes.

“Have a seat,” Wilkie said as he gestured to a cluster of chairs facing his desk. They all sat except for Nathaniel, who remained watching from his position leaning against the far wall.

“I’d like to hear about this investigation into military corruption,” Wilkie began in a silky voice.

Philip fidgeted in his chair, reverting to his Philip the Meek persona. “I don’t know what you’re talking about or why I’m here. My old college roommate is back in town, and we were just touching base.”

Nathaniel wasn’t buying it. “You’re engaged in undercover operations at the behest of the vice president, who had no authority to authorize such actions. It’s a travesty, and probably illegal.”

Philip immediately shifted tacks. He’d been caught and flashed a roguish smile. “It actually wasn’t technically illegal,” he said. “There is no law against asking an old friend to go to Cuba to sniff out suspected criminal activity.”