“Have you heard from Harry?” she asked. She’d stopped calling her father Dad on her thirteenth birthday. She was Charley, he was Harry and her mother was perpetually horrified by the both of them.

“Not yet.”

“You left a message—”

“At the restaurant. And just a bit ago on his cell phone. It went automatically to voicemail.”

He was delayed, still in transit. “You didn’t tell him—”

He squeezed her fingers again. “Just that we were here. To call on my cell. I left my number.”

She swallowed past the sudden rush of tears. “Mother?” she managed.

“No answer, home or cell.”

“Ms. Middleton?”

They turned. Two men stood in the doorway, expressions solemn. Both men, dressed in dark suits, were pin neat and pressed, despite the hour. She wasn’t surprised when they introduced themselves as federal officers. “We need to ask you a few questions.”

“Now?” Perez asked as he stood. “Here?”

“It’s about your father,” the taller of the two said, producing his Department of Justice ID.

“About Harry?”

“Harold Middleton, yes. When’s the last time you spoke with him?”

The hair on the back of her neck prickled. “Before he left for Europe. A week or so before.”

“Did he seem himself?”

“Yes. But why—”

“Did he express any concerns about the trip? Any anxiety? Unexpected excitement?”

“My father was a seasoned traveler, Agent—”

“Smith,” he offered. “Did you get the sense this trip was different from others he’s taken?”

“None at all.”

“You planned to meet last evening? At the Ritz dining room?”

“Yes . . . But how—” She didn’t finish the thought. The feds could find out anything. Harry had taught her that. “For a late supper. I didn’t make it.”

Her throat closed over the words. The agents seemed unmoved by her pain. “We’re sorry for your loss, Ms. Middleton, but—”

“Mrs. Perez,” her husband corrected, voice tight. “As I said, this is not a good time. Either tell us why you’re here or leave.”

Agent Smith looked Perez in the eyes. “Perez is a well known name down in Louisiana.”

Perez frowned. “Meaning what?”

“It’s a name we’re familiar with, that’s all.”

Jack August Perez. His family, descendants of the original Spaniards that settled the New Orleans area, wielded both political and economic influence. In the era of Huey P. Long, they had exerted that power with an iron fist, nowadays with business savvy and brilliant connections.

Angry color stained Perez’s cheeks. “What are you getting at?”

Don’t let him get to you, she thought. Emotions lead to mistakes. Ones that could prove deadly. Another of Harry’s pearls.

What the hell was going on?

She touched her husband’s clenched hand. “It’s all right, sweetheart. It’s just a couple of questions.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Perez. Has your father contacted you in the past twenty-four hours?”