Cloister of Secrets

Chapter 2: In the Closet

Burke Townhouse. Monday, November 14, 2005.

"Have you found out anything about Alicia?"

El sighed at Henry's disembodied voice as she reached for the cayenne. She'd put him on speaker so she could finish the chili. Peter was due home any minute. This wasn't a convenient time for a matchmaker consultation. "I asked Peter a few days ago, and he said Neal never mentions her."

"That confirms my suspicions," he said. The satisfaction in his voice was blended with a gloomy undertone.

"What suspicions?"

"The undercover stings are over. The Mansfelds and Vincent Adler are all in prison. There's only one reason that makes any sense for Neal to continue hiding Alicia from you and Peter, not to mention his best friend and trusted confidant. She must be an acquaintance from the years before he joined the FBI."

"You think she's a thief?"

"I know it. I saw them together Saturday night, and she had cat burglar written all over her."

El frowned at the phone. "Henry, are you following Neal?"

"Of course not—just an occasional surveillance."

She raised a brow at Satchmo who was sprawled on the floor next to the butcher block table. He agreed with her. This wouldn't end well. "What did Neal say when you spoke to him about it?"

Silence for a moment. "I didn't ask him."

"Yesterday, you were together all afternoon and you didn't bring it up?"

"Neal didn't know I was there on Saturday night," Henry said, a hint of defensiveness in his voice. "He would have jumped to the wrong conclusion just like you did."

It was the right conclusion, she mouthed silently to Satchmo.

"I'd suspected Alicia is actually Alex, and this proves it."

"Are you sure she's a thief?"

"I'm positive. Neal met her when he was in Europe. He wouldn't talk about her to me, and that must mean he's hiding something—like her occupation. I dug back in my notes and discovered he'd mentioned her in connection with a trip he'd made to Greece. This was in 2002. I called on Win-Win's contact in Greece."

Henry keeps notes of their conversations? El tried to keep her sigh from being audible. "Was this the man who helped monitor Adler's retreat in Albania?"

"That's right. Yannis Pavlou. He mentioned that there was a female thief who'd been suspected of pulling a heist in Athens that year named Alex Hunter. I bet that's the same person. Win-Win doesn't have any information about her. I was thinking of asking Travis to search the FBI records. What do you—Hey, stop that, Splash!"

She heard puppy growls in the background. "Sounds to me like you should be playing with Splash rather than worrying about Neal."

"She's gnawing my shoe!"

"She's a puppy, Henry. You better get used to it. I need to go, anyway. Peter's car just rolled up."

"Let me know if you find out anything. Splash, come back with that shoe!"

El chuckled as she tapped the end-call button. "Good boy, Satchmo. Henry thought borrowing you for a day would be adequate preparation for what it was like to have a puppy. He should have borrowed you a few years ago. How many shoes did you go through?"

"Eight as I recall," Peter supplied, walking into the kitchen. "I gather that was Henry on the phone?"

She set down her spoon to kiss him. "He's experiencing the joy of fatherhood."