“Yeah, we think he’s meeting with another person of interest, someone who’s been stealing government secrets, we believe, and if this target arranges to procure some of those secrets tomorrow …” SSA Black started to explain.

“Why don’t you just position people in that section, then?” Jack asked. “Why use Miss Palmer?”

“Because she is a credible VIP. We won’t have to dream up a fiction for her. She’s ideal for the event tomorrow. This target’s people would have accumulated background info on everyone booked to be in that box tomorrow, so any background check they run on Miss Palmer will be clean. There won’t be any reason to suspect her. She’ll be accompanied by two “dates,” which, again, won’t be unusual, because this target knows that Allegra sometimes provides that kind of service to her special clients.”

As they talked, I had a brainwave.

“Ok, here’s my proposal, Allegra,” I said turning to the older woman. “I’ll do this thing tomorrow but you will agree to expunge all your records about Alexis. And you and everyone else here will conveniently forget she ever worked here. Anyone who asks about her in the future will go away empty handed. If you renege on this arrangement in the future, I will make sure this operation is exposed in some way, because all of this seems a little shady to me.”

Jack walked around the sofa and kneeled in front of me. He asked gently, “Do you understand what you’re getting into?”

I nodded and swallowed drily. No I didn’t actually, but I didn’t see any other solution to the situation. I wasn’t sure how I could carry out a threat like I’d just made. But this whole arrangement would take care of two issues, as far I could figure out: it would take out this noxious target who’d sworn to go after Harley while rubbing out Harley’s past in Vegas at the same time.

SSA Black was pleased. They would get an advantage through me that they hadn’t expected to gain for very little cost, as far as they were concerned.

“That’s agreeable to us, Miss Palmer. Isn’t it, Allegra?” he asked, turning to look at the Madam, who’d knit her eyebrows together at first, and then nodded.