Jack took the opportunity of the break in the conversation to whisper in my ear, “I think we’ll be fine here, Aerin. Everything she’s said checks out. I think you should be able to ask a few questions about Harley if you want to.”

I blew out a sigh of relief.

As Allegra walked back to the sofa and resumed sitting, though, her face had assumed a serious look.

She addressed Jack. “Jack, you’re showing up at an opportune time, actually.   There’s something that’s going down tomorrow night, and I think we can use Miss Palmer’s request here to position a couple of operatives in a part of the VIP section where a target who has been tracked by several agencies for a few years now is likely to show up. We know that Miss Palmer has tickets to a VIP section, and since the concert organizer is a client, I can get those tickets switched to the section we’re observing.”

Jack stiffened and held his hands out while shaking his head. “Wait, wait a second! Miss Palmer only wants go see a concert, alright, and maybe attend a few parties?”

I could see that Jack must have seen some advantage to maintaining my cover story. So I pressed it. “Although you’d thought earlier that I had no friends or contacts here in Vegas, I have a friend who used to be based in Vegas. Used to work for you, actually.”

Allegra was in the midst of framing a response to Jack, but she snapped her head around to look sharply at me.

“A redhead, good with figures …um, really pretty. Beautiful, actually,” I continued. It occurred to me that I didn’t know if Harley had used her real name while working for Allegra.

Her assistant and the men around tensed up and looked at me more attentively.

Jack felt the tension around us rise also and laid a protective hand on my shoulder.

“This friend of yours … does she have a friend named Annie?” Allegra asked slowly.

I licked my lips nervously. I considered the odds. If I admitted that, would that inadvertently reveal more about Harley that would ultimately be a disadvantage for her?

When I didn’t answer right away, Allegra looked at Jack. “If it’s the same woman, this would be a very curious coincidence all the way around, Jack. First, I heard from a certain Annie asking about her, and now Miss Palmer here is asking about her also.”