Chapter 24 Beck
BECK
There’s no hurt on Selene’s face when she speaks about her husband being in love with another woman.
Only shock. Like she can’t imagine the man being capable of that depth of emotion.
I can’t imagine it either though I suspect he did love Selene once.
As much as a narcissistic asshole can love someone besides themselves, anyway.
He must have been damn good at playing the part to have convinced her to bear him a son and stick by his side for so many years.
But now his mask is off, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the sudden alienation of affection he subjected Selene to because it very well may have saved her life.
Monique taps the board with her nail repeatedly, eyes lit with excitement because of Selene’s sudden realization. “Exactly,” she exclaims. “Aubrey was in love with Sutton and someone used her to hurt him.”
Selene slips out from under Cal’s arm, striding over to the board. “Not to hurt him,” she murmurs, picking up one of the markers and circling the ‘military base’ sticky note three times. “To get him back in line.”
Cal snaps his fingers. “Of course. The news broke about him pulling out of talks for the Qatar base on the day of the State Dinner.”
“But that was just when it was announced publicly,” I add. “He met with the Cabinet to notify them two weeks prior. I remember because Cordelia was pissed. No one else seemed to think it was a good idea anyway, so they didn’t care.”
“That’s right,” Cal says. “She did that whole ‘I implore you to reconsider’ thing that she always does when he tells her no. It’s weird. Like she’s genuinely offended that he would disobey her.”
“I don’t think it’s weird at all.” Selene tosses the words over her shoulder as she writes a list of dates and events on the board.
“Before Aubrey was elected, Cordelia essentially told me he would be the head of the operation, but she would be the neck, turning it in whatever direction she likes. She thinks she owns him.”
Monique passes behind Selene, grabbing another marker from the cup on one of the end tables. “Maybe she does.”
I rub my chin, considering the theory. There’s a definite imbalance of power at the heart of Aubrey and Cordelia’s relationship. She obviously holds more influence over him than he does over her, but I’m not quite ready to accept that she’s the person at the heart of all of this.
“What do you know about serial killer teams?”
Everything in the room stops. Monique and Selene gawk at me, their hands hovering above the board where a timeline that starts in February and ends on the day Sutton died is starting to fill out. Cal, who’s standing beside me watching the ladies work, cuts an eye at me.
“Where are you going with this, Beckham?”
“Okay. This isn’t going to be a perfect analogy,” I warn them, gazing heavenward to gather my thoughts. “Most of the time, serial killers work alone. In fact, teams are usually more likely to get caught because internal dynamics and shifting power structures can lead to instability and betrayal.”
“Why team up if you have a better chance of getting away with your crimes if you work alone?” Monique asks.
“For the same reason anyone joins a team,” Selene says. “To gain something you couldn’t achieve on your own.”
“Cordelia wanted the power of the Oval, but she failed to convince her party that she was a viable candidate. They cheat her out of the nomination and put up Sanders, probably making it clear that she won’t ever have their full support.”
Selene taps her lips with the marker, considering my point. “She takes Aubrey under her wing, promises to help him achieve his lifelong dream of becoming the first President with true bi-partisan support. They kill Sanders when he poses a threat to their shared goal.”
Cal shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Was he an actual threat though? I mean dropping those last photos of Aubrey and Sutton after the debate seemed like a last ditch effort to me. It wasn’t going to secure the election for him.”
Something sparks in Selene’s eyes, a memory she hasn’t shared.
“They weren’t even upset about the photos,” she says.
“I mean, not really. Aubrey screamed at me over them, accusing me of giving them to Sanders to destroy him, but Jordan calmed him down, telling him the pictures hadn’t changed anything on our front.
He seemed content after that, like everything was settled, but I just kept wondering what would happen when Sanders realized the photos didn’t have the intended effect and decided to keep digging. ”
Cal studies her, concern furrowing his brows at the faraway look in Selene’s eyes. “Did you ask them?”
Selene nods. “Jordan said there was nothing left to find, but when she said it, Aubrey and Cordelia shared this look that made me think that wasn’t true.
Not too long after, Sanders was dead.” Her eyes fly to mine, wide and panicked.
“Did I get that man killed? I mean, if I hadn’t asked the question, if I had just let them think it was settled—”
I rush to reassure her. “They would have came to the conclusion that he needed to die anyway because the two of them are hiding something bigger than an affair. Something dark enough to warrant the assassination of a President.”
Silence envelops the room, and we all sit in it, letting our minds wander. After a full minute passes by, Monique clasps her fingers and lifts her arms, resting them on top of her head.
“So, they worked together to kill Sanders to protect some big secret, but just a few months later, they’re so far out of alignment Cordelia has Sutton killed to bring Aubrey back in line?”
Her question brings me back to the original point I was trying to make when I brought up serial killer teams. Duos are already unstable, but the dynamics that deteriorate the quickest are triads.
When a third person is added into an already chaotic mix, what was once a relationship based on symbiosis and shared, but imbalanced, power becomes a dysfunctional hierarchy where alliances between two of the members leaves the other floundering to find their place in the organization.
I’ve seen Cordelia bide her time, waiting Aubrey out until he eventually comes around.
She did it a few months ago when they were at odds about the AI-enhanced video cameras in schools.
Cal witnessed their disagreement, but I was the one in his office when he finally folded.
If she knew giving him some time to see things her way was a successful approach, why would Cordelia go to such extreme lengths where the military base is concerned?
The simple answer is, she wouldn’t.
“I don’t think Cordelia had Sutton killed.”
Everyone looks at me like I’ve lost it, but by the time I finish explaining that impatience and strong arming isn’t Cordelia’s M.O., we’re all in agreement.
“There’s someone else involved,” Selene says, sinking back into the spot she abandoned on the couch.
Monique takes a seat too, laying her head in Selene’s lap.
They both look exhausted, and I can’t say that I feel any different.
It’s taken a lot of mental space to connect these dots, and we’re still not certain of anything.
It’s all just conjecture, nothing concrete enough to take Aubrey down but more than enough to keep the target on our backs.
Cal and I remain standing. He’s at the board, taking a closer look at the timeline Selene and Monique put together, while I look at things from afar.
Despite the stakes being high and the problem hitting so close to home, there’s the familiar thrum of excited energy running between us.
It’s been present in every investigation we’ve ever run together, guiding us through obstacle after obstacle until we found the answers we needed.
This investigation will be no different.
I step to the board, shoulder brushing his as I begin reading off the dates.
“February 3rd, an article is published detailing Aubrey’s January 29th meeting at the Embassy of the State of Qatar.
He speaks with Ambassador Moustafa, and it’s rumored that Emir Karim attends via video.
Jordan confirms the military base was the topic of discussion in a press conference later that day. ”
Racking my brain for any further details and coming up empty, I move on to the next date which is all the way in May.
“May 26th, morning news reports that Aubrey has officially dropped out of talks with Qatar about the military base, returning to his original stance about foreign forces on U.S soil.”
Cal picks up a marker, drawing a small line between the February and May dates. “May 12th, Aubrey notifies his Cabinet of the decision. Cordelia urges him to reconsider.”
“Somewhere around that time, maybe a few days later, Langham arrives in Kentucky and begins following Sutton,” Selene calls from the couch. “She takes a photo of him on the street on the 20th.”
He adds that date too, and then another, explaining his reasoning as he does. “May 23rd, Cordelia shows up at Dahlia’s with a group of unidentified men. Aubrey is clearly afraid of them.”
“Which makes sense if they were there to shake him down. A final warning to fall in line before they had Langham pull the proverbial trigger on Sutton.”
“Does that mean he was there?” Cal asks me, tilting his head to the side. “I mean he had to have been right? Cordelia wouldn’t have needed muscle to threaten Aubrey. She could have done that on her own.”
“It’s possible. If he was there, his presence wasn’t enough to sway Aubrey.”
Cal shakes his head. “Dumb motherfucker. He gets in bed with these people and then thinks he can just say no whenever he wants? What did he think was going to happen?”