Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
S am and Freddie were in the Secret Service SUV on the way to see Elaine’s brother when Faith Miller called again. Shit. Sam had forgotten to return her earlier call.
“Hey, Faith. Sorry I missed you before. Crazy day.”
“No worries. I told Leslie Forrester I’d check in with you about the funeral on Wednesday.”
Shit. Fuck. Damn. Hell. She was scheduled to speak at Tom’s funeral and hadn’t given it a thought. “Yes, it’s on the calendar.”
“It’s at ten a.m. at the National Cathedral.”
“I’ll be there.”
At the thought of speaking in front of much of official Washington at the esteemed cathedral, her anxiety kicked into high gear.
“How’re you all holding up?” she asked Faith.
“Minute to minute. It’s still so hard to believe he’s really gone. He was such a life-force.”
“I know. I’m so sorry for everyone who worked so closely with him and loved him.”
“He was one of the good guys. He’ll definitely be missed.”
“I heard they’re already moving forward with a new USA,” Sam said .
“Yeah, and about that… Not sure how you feel about getting involved in an official act of your husband’s, but her reputation precedes her.”
For a second, Sam didn’t compute what Faith was saying—until she realized Faith was referring to Catherine McDermott, Tom’s potential replacement. Anxiety was replaced by surprise and disappointment. “I wouldn’t feel right talking to him about that, Faith.”
“I had a feeling you might say that. Read up on her so you’ll know what we’re in for if she’s approved by the Senate.”
“I’ll do that.”
“I’m sorry to be inappropriate or to take advantage of our friendship. Grief is making me stupid.”
“Don’t think anything of it.”
“How’re you making out with the Myerson case?”
“Slow going so far, but we’re doing what we do. Pulling the threads. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you Wednesday, if not before.”
“See you then.”
Sam slapped the phone closed and immediately opened it again to call Roni Connolly, her communications director at the White House.
“Hey,” Roni said. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going. I was just reminded that I have to deliver a eulogy for U.S. Attorney Tom Forrester on Wednesday morning, and I could use some help with that.”
“I heard you were speaking and started some notes in case you asked for help.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
Roni laughed. “Likewise.”
“Oh, I’m a real treat. A gift that keeps on giving.”
Roni and Freddie both laughed at that while Sam gave her partner the side-eye. He wasn’t allowed to agree with her.
“I’ll put something together for you. I assume you want the focus on your professional relationship with him as well as his accomplishments as the USA.”
“You assume correctly. We had a close working relationship that was full of respect and admiration—at least from me to him. Sometimes, I think he wanted to smack me.”
“We’ll leave that part out.”
“Probably for the best.”
“I’ll be in touch shortly.”
“Thank you again for this.”
“My pleasure.”
She closed the phone. “Thank God for qualified people who know what they’re doing.”
“And who make you look good,” Freddie said.
“That, too. I feel kind of guilty outsourcing such a personal thing.”
“I have no doubt you’ll put your own personal spin on whatever she comes up with.”
“I will for sure.”
“Don’t feel guilty, Sam. You can only do so much.”
“I’ve been having a bit of an existential crisis since Sunday.”
“What? Why?”
“Me, sitting in the comms truck while the rest of you were on the front lines. Doesn’t sit well.”
“You came up with the idea, put the whole thing together and ended up making the arrest. We’d still be looking for him without you leading our team.”
“That’s nice of you to say, but asking you guys to take risks I can no longer take myself gives me a pit in the stomach.”
“Don’t let it. No one is thinking a thing of it.”
“I am. Ruiz had plenty to say about it, too.”
“Who cares what she thinks? The team that surrounds you doesn’t give a rat’s ass about her opinion.”
She gave him a scandalized look. “Are you swearing , young Freddie?”
“You drive me to it. ”
Vernon grunted with laughter. “You should listen to your grasshopper, Sam. He’s wiser than you give him credit for being.”
“Thank you, Vernon,” Freddie said.
“I appreciate your support, as always, but can you guys understand why it feels wrong, as a commander, to be behind the front lines, safely locked away while the people you supervise are putting their lives on the line?”
“I’d feel the same way,” Vernon said, “but I also agree with Freddie that the only people whose opinions matter are the ones under your command. If you ask me, they’d rather have you in the trailer than anyone else leading them.”
Freddie pointed to Vernon. “What he said.”
“That’s nice of you to say, Vernon.”
“I’m not trying to be nice. It’s the truth.”
“Yes, it is,” Freddie said. “We have an amazing team, led by an inspirational commander who we’re all honored to work with and for. You’re looking for problems where there are none.”
“Inspirational, huh?”
“I said what I said.”
“Excellent sucking up.”
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Nope. I appreciate what you said, and I’ll take it to heart. When we first got the call about Nelson passing away, one of my first thoughts was about how I’d manage to keep my job while Nick was president. I figured not much would change for me between him being VP and POTUS. I was wrong about that, and it weighs on me that my higher profile could put you guys in danger.”
“That’s fair, but we all know who and what you are on and off the job, and we have a choice about whether we want to continue to work with you. No one is heading for the door.”
Sam hadn’t really considered the fact that they had a choice about whether to stay or go. Any one of them could request reassignment at any time. Those requests were often taken seriously by the department. “That’s true.”
“Our eyes are wide open. Don’t worry about us.”
That was like telling her not to breathe, but she kept that thought to herself. “It helped me to talk about this, so thanks.”
“Any time,” Freddie said. “You might want to also consider how cool our friends and family think we are because we get to work with you.”
“I am a treat.”
He snorted. “You sure are.”
“So Faith was kind of weird just now.”
“How so?”
“She asked me to mention to Nick that the woman he’s planning to nominate as the new USA could be a nightmare for us.”
“Oh damn. Will you do that?”
“I think I should probably stay out of that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
“Except I keep thinking that if she does turn out to be a nightmare, I might’ve been able to prevent that. If I asked him to, he might reconsider the nomination.”
“That’s a very slippery slope. What if it got out that you were involved in picking the new USA?”
Everything in her recoiled from that potential scandal. “Yeah, that’d be a disaster.”
“Then you’ve answered your own question.”
They pulled up to a raised-ranch-style home in Manassas a few minutes later. As there were several cars in the driveway, Sam was hopeful they’d find Chuck Corrigan at home.
The woman who came to the door seemed to go stupid in the head when she saw Sam standing on the doorstep. “Oh my God,” she said. “Is the first lady working on Elaine’s case?” Her eyes got even bigger when she spotted the Secret Service SUV at the curb.
Sam wanted to bitch-slap her, but instead she showed her badge. “I’m Lieutenant Holland, and this is my partner, Detective Cruz. We’re looking for Chuck Corrigan. Is he at home?”
“Uh… He’s here, but this isn’t a great time.”
“We’re sorry for the intrusion, but every minute matters in a homicide investigation. We’d like to see him, please.”
“Um, come in. I’ll see if he’s available.”
Sam didn’t respond to the “available” comment. When cops came to your door, you were always available. This woman would find that out soon enough if she didn’t produce Chuck.
They were shown to a small living room.
“I’ll be right back.”
“You showed nice restraint there. Our little girl is growing up.”
Sam snorted. “Easy, grasshopper.”
“The first lady reaction is always entertaining to those of us who get the pleasure of witnessing it.”
“Glad you’re entertained. That’s what really matters here.”
“We see eye-to-eye on that.”
Smiling, she looked over at him, next to her on a floral sofa. “Thanks for this, for what you said before, for all of it.”
“I do what I can for you.”
“That’s trademarked.”
“No, you doing what you can for the people is trademarked. My comment is not.”
She scowled at him. “Semantics.”
The sound of footsteps approaching had them snapping out of the banter and back into professional mode. Sam was relieved to see a heavyset middle-aged man with gray hair accompanying the woman who’d met them at the door. She so didn’t want to have to fight with grieving people today.
Sam stood. “Chuck Corrigan?”
“That’s me.”
“Lieutenant Holland with the Metro PD. This is my partner, Detective Cruz. ”
“This is about Elaine,” Chuck said.
“Yes, sir,” Sam said as she returned to her seat.
He sat across from them in an upholstered chair.
The woman hovered nervously.
Sam gave her a look as if to say, Get lost , hoping she could read between the lines.
“Give us a minute, Jane.”
She scurried from the room.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
Sam was glad she’d left without her having to ask. “We’re very sorry about your sister.”
“Thank you. It’s hard to believe this could happen again.”
“We heard about your sister Sarah being murdered and were wondering if you could tell us more about that case.”
“It was a long time ago,” he said with a sigh. “A lifetime ago.”
“Whatever you can tell us about what happened then might help us to solve Elaine’s case.”
He gasped in shock. “You’re not suggesting they’re related, are you?”
“We’re not suggesting anything. We’re looking for information from someone with ties to both cases. Can you tell us what happened to Sarah?”
He leaned forward, elbows on knees. “I can’t believe how hard it is to talk about her, even after all this time. She was the sweetest girl. We all adored her.”
“You were older?”
Nodding, he said, “Five years older than Elaine and eight years older than Sarah. She’d gone to hang out at a friend’s house down the street. She was only, like, six blocks from home. It was spring, and the sun was setting later. My mom told her to be home by eight, before it got dark. Eight came and went. Sarah was known for being a bit absent-minded at times, so we didn’t think anything of it. Mom sent me to get her at her friend’s house. I was about halfway there when I saw her backpack on the sidewalk. I’m not sure how I knew not to touch it, but I backed away from it and started screaming for help. One of the neighbors came out, and I think she’s the one who called the police.”
“You would’ve been twenty-five then?”
“Yes, I’d gotten home a few days earlier after getting my master’s degree in Ohio.”
“What happened after the police arrived?”
“I told them what I knew, which wasn’t much except for where she’d been and how I’d found her backpack on the sidewalk. I ran home to get my parents, and we searched for her all night while the police went to the friend’s house. The friend’s mother reported that Sarah had left about half an hour before I spotted the backpack.”
“Did the police ever suspect the friend and her family of involvement?”
“God, no, never. They were as distraught as we were.”
“Were there any suspects?”
“Not that we ever heard. The police worked the case hard from the beginning and are still on it. The detective in charge refuses to retire as long as Sarah’s case is active.”
“His name?”
“William Truehart. The name says it all. He’s remained faithful to Sarah and our family for all these years. Since my parents passed away, he still checks in with me and with Elaine monthly to keep us abreast of any developments, not that there have been many. But he’s never forgotten us or her.”
“She was later found, correct?”
“Yes,” he said with another sigh. “About six weeks later, naked in a ravine out by Clifton, about ten miles from our house. The autopsy showed that she’d only been dead a short time when she was found.”
The implications of the kidnapper abusing her for six weeks were horrific to imagine .
“I’m very sorry for the terrible ordeal your family has endured and that you’ve now lost Elaine, too.”
“I can’t believe it. I’ve been in complete shock since Frank called yesterday.”
“Were you close to her?”
“I mean… We had our own lives, but we stayed in touch. Talked every couple of weeks. Had dinner a few times a year. Even though we didn’t see each other often, it was a comfort to me to know she was there, and I think she felt the same about me. When you go through something like we did with Sarah… It forms a bond, but it’s also painful to be together when there’s always someone missing.”
“Did you know of any problems she was having?”
“Her daughters were driving her crazy, but it was the usual teenager stuff.”
“Both daughters?”
“Yeah, she had challenges with both of them.”
Sam found it interesting that nothing had been said before about Jada being at odds with her mother. “Frank and the girls told us Elaine was extremely strict with them because of what happened to Sarah. Were you aware of that?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that from Frank and the girls over the years, and I understood her position better than most.”
“Do you have children?”
“No.”
“Did she share her concerns about her girls in relation to what’d happened to Sarah?”
“Not specifically, but there was no doubt Elaine was traumatized by the experience, as we all were. If I’d had kids, I probably would’ve been the same way. When someone you love is snatched from your life in broad daylight… It changes your perceptions of safety and security and… well… everything.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us that might be relevant to Elaine’s case? ”
“Not that I can think of. I’ve been away on vacation the last few weeks, so I hadn’t spoken to her in a while. I feel bad about that now. I can’t believe I’ll never again pick up the phone to call her. It’s so strange. My entire immediate family is gone now. There’s just me left.”
“We’re very sorry for your loss.”
Sam couldn’t conceive of a life without her sisters. It was bad enough moving on without her dad, but losing them… Nope. Not going there.
“Thank you again for taking the time to talk to us.”
“I wish there was more I could do to help.”
Sam left him with her card and the usual instructions to call if he thought of anything else that might be relevant.
“I don’t know about you,” Sam said to Freddie when they were outside, “but I want to see Detective William Truehart.”
“You read my mind.”