Hayes said as they drove off the property. “My dad?” Minette asked, turning her head briefly to meet Hayes’s irritated eyes. “No. His enforcer. Lassiter.” “Oh. I thought he was rather charming,” she remarked. “Charming. Like a snake with a haircut.” She burst out laughing. “Hayes!” He sighed. “Well, maybe that’s not the best description I could have come up with. But you get my meaning. He’s very slick.” “Very smart, too.” She glanced at him. “And he’s not the only one,” she added when he looked even more irritated. “Black holes? Dark matter? Vortex mathematics?” “I subscribe to two science magazines,” Hayes confessed. “I don’t have a degree in physics, but I do love the subject. Well, that and quantum mechanics.” “Over my head,”