It was registered with the State Department and protected under diplomatic protocols.

Legally, it functioned as an extension of US federal property.

And my parents had just sold it for cash to a property flipper.

I returned to the living room.

Dad was showing Richard something on his phone, probably closing paperwork. Mom was bragging to Natalie about her negotiating skills.

Nobody looked up.

“Everything okay?” Natalie asked absently.

“Not really,” I said, sitting down. “That call was from the State Department. About the house.”

“The State Department?” Dad finally looked up. “Why would State be calling about a private real estate transaction?”

“Because it’s not private real estate,” I said calmly. “It’s diplomatic property registered with the federal government, part of my security protocol.”

Silence swallowed the room.

“What are you talking about?” Mom asked slowly.

“I don’t work in consulting,” I explained. “I’m the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Vienna. I’m the second highest ranking American diplomat in Austria. The Spring Valley property isn’t my personal residence. It’s my designated diplomatic housing for when I’m in Washington. It’s registered with the State Department as protected diplomatic property.”

“That’s absurd,” Dad said, though his confidence had disappeared. “You would have told us if you worked for the State Department.”

“I’ve been telling you for 4 years,” I said quietly. “Every time you asked what I do, I said I work with international organizations on diplomatic relations. You assumed I meant consulting. I corrected you multiple times. You didn’t listen.”

“But diplomatic property?” Mom had gone pale. “That means—”

“That means you just sold federal property without authorization,” I said. “The Diplomatic Security Service is treating this as a security breach. They’re investigating how diplomatic property ended up being sold to a private buyer.”

“We didn’t know,” Natalie protested. “How could we know?”

“The designation is in the property records,” I said. “Anyone doing proper due diligence would have seen it. There’s a notation that the property is registered with the State Department under diplomatic protocols. You didn’t check because you assumed you knew better than me what the property was.”

Dad’s phone rang.

His face shifted from annoyance to confusion, then fear.

“Yes, this is Thomas Peton,” he said. “What? Oh, I—yes, I understand. When?”

He paused.

“They’re already here.”

The doorbell rang.

Outside the front window were three black SUVs.

Men and women in dark suits approached the house, their badges clearly visible.

Dad ended the call and stared at me, his face gray.

“That was my lawyer. The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service is here. They want to talk to us about the property sale.”

“I know,” I said. “I told you they were coming.”

Mom shot to her feet.

“This is a mistake. We’ll explain that we didn’t know. They’ll understand.”

“They’ll understand that you sold diplomatic property without authorization,” I said. “Whether you knew or not doesn’t change what you did.”

The bell rang again, harder.

Richard walked toward the door, all his usual swagger gone.

Five people in suits stood outside.

“Thomas and Barbara Peton,” the lead agent, a sharp-eyed woman in her 40s, addressed my parents. “I’m Special Agent Jennifer Walsh, Diplomatic Security Service. We need to discuss the unauthorized sale of property located at 4750 Springland Lane.”

“There must be some mistake,” Dad started.

“There’s no mistake, sir,” Agent Walsh said firmly. “That property is registered as a diplomatic residence under State Department protocols. It cannot be sold, transferred, or altered without federal authorization. You executed a sale yesterday without proper clearance. We need to speak with you about how that happened.”

“We didn’t know it was diplomatic property,” Mom said desperately. “Our daughter never told us.”

“Your daughter is Deputy Chief of Mission Alexis Peton,” Agent Walsh said, consulting her tablet. “She’s held that position for four years. The property was purchased in her name and immediately registered with State as her secured diplomatic residence in the continental United States. The registration is clearly noted in the property records.”