Drawn in Blood (Burbank and Parker 2)

Matthew looked startled. “Meili? That’s a name I didn’t expect to hear again.”

“Then you know her?” Now it was Sloane who was surprised.

“We met once. As for knowing her, for several years, she’s all Wallace talked about.”

Wallace.

Sloane’s theory was beginning to seem a lot less far-fetched.

“Were they romantically involved?” she asked.

Matthew glanced uneasily at the door. “Can we have this conversation later? I feel uncomfortable isolating ourselves in the office when Phil’s wake is taking place right outside. Actually, I feel uncomfortable having this conversation at all—especially with my daughter.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. We can’t delay this talk,” Sloane surprised her father by saying. “As for feeling uncomfortable, pretend I’m an agent, not your daughter. The information you give me might be crucial. So I need to know. Tell me everything you recall about Meili. After that, I promise we’ll go right back in and rejoin the others.”

Puzzled, Matthew drew a deep breath, mentally backtracking six years. “Yes, Wallace and she were romantically involved. After Sophie was born, Wallace’s marriage went rapidly down the drain. His and Beatrice’s fidelity to each other went with it. Wallace had a slew of affairs. Then when Sophie was almost two years old, Wallace met Meili. He called her his free-spirited angel—beautiful, lighthearted, filled with laughter, and refreshingly impulsive.”

“And was she?”

“I suppose. She was also half Wallace’s age, so she saw life through very different eyes. But she was just what Wallace needed at the time. So, if anything, her youth was part of her charm.”

“And how did you happen to meet her?”

“The same way Wallace did. She tried to sell the group of us a painting. An early Rothberg, actually. Not one of his more valuable ones, but still, a Rothberg.”

“When did this happen?”

“July 2002. I remember because it was the first time since Cai Wen’s murder that Leo, Phil, and I took the risk of setting foot in Hong Kong. And we only went because we were negotiating a major deal with a Hong Kong gallery owner who insisted on meeting all five of us in person. This young woman—Meili—spotted Wallace during one of his solo visits to the gallery and followed him back to our hotel. She brought the Rothberg with her. She was clearly desperate for money.”

“And?”

“And she ended up selling it elsewhere.”

Sloane’s eyes narrowed. “You lowballed her.”

“We tried to make a healthy profit. That’s what the art-dealing business is about.”

“I’m not naive, Dad. And it doesn’t matter whether or not I approve. I’m just trying to establish the facts.”

“The facts are, yes, we lowballed her. Wallace was against the decision. After the deal fell through, he got in touch with her and took her to dinner. By the time we left Hong Kong, he was already head over heels in love. His feelings only got stronger each time he visited. Which was often. Wallace did a lot of traveling in his previous life. Especially to the Far East. So there was lots of opportunity for him to be with Meili. The rest of us ribbed the hell out of him. We were already calling him Casanova Johnson. This just gave us more ammunition. One night in August…” Matthew broke off, his neck turning red. He was visibly embarrassed by getting into this story with his daughter.

“Go on,” Sloane prompted. “I don’t shock easily. And remember, I’m FBI, not your little Sloane.”

“Okay,” Matthew conceded. “One night in August, during a weekly poker game that involved way too much alcohol, we actually set up a pool on how long it would take Wallace to get Meili into bed. The idea was Ben’s, of course. He was always the clown—and the instigator. Look, we all acted like juvenile asses, and we knew it. It was just one of those stupid, throwback-to-college days.”

“Who won the pool?”

“Actually, Ben did. He counted on Wallace being gallant. And he was right. Wallace held off until November. The ironic part is that Meili didn’t want to go slowly. But Wallace has that decent streak in him. He was so afraid of hurting her.”

“He obviously got over it.”

“Not without a huge surge of guilt,” Matthew assured Sloane. “Trust me, this wasn’t just a fling or even an affair. It lasted three years. And it was serious. Too serious.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that Wallace’s marriage might not have been a priority, but his daughter was. He would never, ever have left Sophie. And Meili would never have left Hong Kong. So the relationship wasn’t going anywhere. But Wallace couldn’t let it go. He bought Meili jewelry, expensive clothes, you name it. And he visited her every chance he could.”

“What happened?”