Chapter Fifteen
Shelby told herself that her only goal was to hold it together, no matter what was waiting for her at the hospital. The possibility that Avery could be…
No.
No.
No.
She would not let her mind go there.
With baby Maisie strapped into her car seat next to her in the back of an FBI SUV, Shelby focused on breathing and staying as calm as she possibly could.
“Is there any word?” she asked George when they were stopped in traffic.
“Only that they’re working on him.”
What would she do if he died? How would she survive without the love of her life after waiting so long to find him? When she glanced at her baby girl and pondered the possibility of her and Noah growing up without the daddy who loved them so…
Stop it, Shelby Faircloth Hill. Just stop that.
George had apparently decided he’d had enough of the traffic and turned on the siren that had cars moving out of their way to let them through.
They pulled up to the Emergency entrance at GW a few minutes later.
George turned to her. “Let me go in and figure out what’s going on. I’ll be right back for you.”
Shelby appreciated him doing what he could to make this horrific situation easier for her. “Thank you.”
For the rest of her life, she’d never forget opening the door to their third-floor suite to find one of the White House ushers and George at her door. Her knees had turned liquid when she’d had a second to register George’s presence as well as his tormented expression.
“Avery’s been shot,” he’d said.
Shelby had nearly blacked out from the sudden wave of adrenaline that had overtaken her entire system.
George had reached out to steady her. He’d been steadfast as she’d gathered the baby and what she needed to take with her to the hospital, which was the last place she’d wanted to bring a newborn. But she’d had no breast milk pumped or anything prepared to leave her with someone else.
Celia, having heard the news, had come running to help, offering to keep the baby for her, but Shelby hadn’t wanted to have to leave Avery to come home to feed her. So she’d asked Celia to take over from the nanny with Noah that afternoon so she could stay put for as long as she’d need to be at the hospital.
She wasn’t sure how she’d thought so clearly, but all that had mattered was getting to Avery, telling him she loved him and that he had to be okay.
Tears filled her eyes, but she fought them off. If she started crying, she might never stop.
George opened the back door to the SUV. “They’ve got him stabilized and are taking him up to surgery. They said you could see him, but we need to be quick.”
Shelby unclipped the baby from the car seat, gathered her into her arms and followed George inside.
They took her directly to a cubicle where it looked as if a war had been fought. The sight of blood had her feeling faint for a second before she forced herself to move to her husband’s bedside.
Oh God, he looked awful. Pale and pasty with tubes coming from all over. A massive, blood-soaked bandage covered his right shoulder.
“This is Mrs. Hill,” George said to the doctor, who stood on the other side of the bed.
“How… how is he?”
“He suffered a gunshot wound to the upper chest that narrowly missed his aorta. We’re taking him to surgery to retrieve the bullet and clean up the damage.”
“So he… he’s going to be okay?”
“He should make a full recovery, but it’ll take some time.”
Full recoverywere the only words she wanted to hear.
She turned to George and handed over the baby.
He seemed flustered for a second before he accepted the tiny bundle into his arms.
Shelby leaned over the bed rail to kiss her husband’s cheek and to brush the hair back from his forehead. “You need to do whatever they tell you to because we love you and need you. Noah and Maisie need their daddy, and I need my love.”
“We should go,” the doctor said.
Shelby kissed Avery’s cool lips and forced herself to pull back, to let him go so the doctors could do whatever was needed to return him to her healthy and whole.
After she stepped back, they whisked him away with urgency that shattered her nerves, even with the optimistic prognosis. She retrieved the baby from George.
“They said the surgery will take about three hours. Do you want to go home to wait?”
She thought about that for a second. “No, I’ll stay here so I can be there when he comes out.”
A nurse told them where the OR waiting room was.
“I’m going to move the SUV, and then I’ll find you there.”
“Thank you for everything, George.”
“No problem.”
Shelby walked to the elevators and found the waiting room. At the reception desk, she was given a number to watch for updates from the OR on a digital board.
Just as she settled into a chair, the baby woke with a gasp and a hungry cry.
As she took off her coat and worked to situate the baby to breastfeed, Shelby hoped that George remembered to bring the diaper bag she’d left in the back seat in her haste to get to Avery.
What was she doing in an OR waiting room anyway?
Her phone was vibrating in her coat pocket with one text after another from concerned family and friends. She’d texted Avery’s parents and her own sisters on the way to the hospital and would update them as soon as she got the baby fed and changed.
Juggling a newborn in a hospital waiting room would make for a very long day, but she wouldn’t be anywhere else while her love was in surgery.
“He’s going to be just fine,” she whispered to the baby, who was covered by the pink cashmere scarf Avery had given her for Christmas. “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for us. He’ll fight so hard to come home.”
Tears slid down her cheeks despite her intense desire to hold it together.
She thought she was seeing things when her sister Ginger came rushing into the room and took the seat next to Shelby.
“I came as fast as I could. How is he?”
“He’s in surgery. They said he should make a full recovery, but it was a close call.”
Ginger put her arm around Shelby, who leaned into the support.
“Thank you for coming.”
“I’m here for as long as you need me.”
Cox madethem wait fifteen minutes past nine thirty.
Fuming, Sam was about to leave when a young male assistant, whose voice she recognized from the phone calls, came to get them.
“We’re sorry for the delay. General Cox had to deal with an emergency.”
Sam wondered if that emergency had anything to do with the shooting of FBI Agent Avery Hill.
They were led into a wood-paneled office with shelves full of books and awards of every imaginable kind.
Cox stood behind a massive desk and gestured for them to have a seat in leather chairs. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. One of our federal agents was shot this morning, and needless to say, it’s thrown a wrench into the day.”
“Agent Hill is a good friend of ours,” Sam said.
“Yes, of course. I understand he and his family have been staying with you at the White House.”
“Yes.” The details of their arrangement were none of his business. “What’re you hearing about his condition?”
“He has a gunshot wound to the upper chest and is in surgery now. They’re saying he should make a full recovery.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“Indeed. So soon after welcoming a baby, too.”
“You asked us to come in, General Cox. What can we do for you?”
“After we spoke the other day, it occurred to me that in my shock, I failed to mention my decades-long friendship with Tom Forrester.”
“We’re aware of it.”
He seemed surprised to hear that.
“What I’d like to know is how you could’ve failed to mention such a relevant detail to us when we met the first time.”
His amiable expression instantly hardened. “As I said, I was in shock the first time we met. You’ll have to excuse the oversight.”
“You’ve been around a long time.”
“Much longer than you have.”
And he was petty, too. “Long enough to know what information is important to an investigation, especially one as high-profile as this one. I must be honest when I tell you I was shocked to hear that you and Forrester go all the way back to college. And knowing the stakes of this investigation, why, I wondered, wouldn’t you have told us that yourself?”
For a long moment, he simply stared at her, as if he couldn’t believe she’d had the audacity to speak to him that way. Apparently, that didn’t happen very often.
“I can only blame my lack of clarity on shock. Losing Tom is like losing a member of my immediate family.”
“Tell me the truth about his investigation of Bryant. The one that was kept off the books while the two of you continued to socialize with him and his girlfriend, JoAnn.”
Again, Cox seemed flabbergasted that she’d have the audacity to ask such a thing. Or maybe it was because she was so well-informed. “I told you before that I can’t speak about confidential investigations.”
“Even if that investigation might’ve gotten someone who was like a member of your immediate family murdered?”
“That’s not what happened.”
“You sound rather certain of that. Do you know what did happen?”
“Of course I don’t! If I did, I would say so.”
“You issued an all-hands email to Justice Department employees.”
He looked stunned. “How do you know about a confidential in-house message?”
“How many people work for the DOJ?”
“Uh, around a hundred and fifteen thousand.”
“You sent a message to a hundred and fifteen thousand people and expected that to stay confidential?” She looked at Freddie. “I mean, I don’t know anything about being the AG, but I know people, and most of them can’t keep their mouth shut about anything. I could’ve heard about that message from any one of them.”
“You can be certain I’ll launch a full investigation into who leaked that message.”
“Knock yourself out. In the meantime, maybe you can tell me why you suspect someone inside the department in Tom’s murder.”
“I never said that!”
“Your message said that.”
“No, it didn’t. It said that anyone who knows anything should come forward.”
“In other words, ‘I suspect someone in this department knows something.’”
“You read it wrong, but it wasn’t intended for you, was it?”
Sam’s frustration with him was about to boil over. “I feel like we’re talking in circles here. Why did you ask us to come in?”
“I wanted to be forthright about my long relationship with Tom and offer the resources of the Justice Department to your investigation.”
“Thanks. We’re good.”
Cox shifted his gaze to Freddie. “I saw your press briefing this morning.”
“What about it?” Sam asked.
“It looked to me—and I could be wrong, of course—that you don’t know anything more today about what happened to Tom than you did the day he was killed.”
Sam wished she could throat-punch the man. “When you’re running an intense investigation, do you go before the media and tell them everything you know? You’ve overseen a criminal investigation before, right? Oh wait, that was a hundred years ago for you. So maybe you don’t know. I’d be happy to educate you if that would help you understand.”
His expression was thunderous. “This meeting is over.”
“Since you may not be clear on how these things work, if you know something about what happened to Tom, it’s in your best interest to tell us now. If we find out later that you obstructed our investigation, you’ll be charged.”
“Get out.”
Sam and Freddie got up and left the room. They walked past the young man at the desk outside the AG’s office and were headed for the elevators when Sam turned back to speak to the admin. He was of average build with thinning brown hair and eyes that might’ve been hazel. It was hard to tell, as he wore glasses. “Are you the one who called me to set up this meeting?”
“I am.”
“What’s your name?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters because I say it matters.”
He seemed to scoff at that.
“We could take this downtown to my office if it’s too difficult for you to answer my question here.”
“You can’t just arrest people.”
She glanced at Freddie. “Can I just arrest people?”
“If the person is hampering a homicide investigation, you absolutely can.”
“How am I hampering a homicide investigation?”
“You’re failing to answer the most basic of questions. Let’s try this one more time… What is your name?”
“Tell her,” Cox said from the doorway to his office.
Sam hadn’t noticed him there.
“Henry Allston.”
“How long have you worked for General Cox?”
Henry glanced at his employer, who gestured for him to tell her.
“Eight years.”
“Thank you. I hope that wasn’t too difficult for you. Let’s go, Detective Cruz.”
“That was amazing,” Freddie whispered while they waited for the elevator.
“What was?”
“You. In there and then with the assistant. Face-to-face with the AG with no effs to give.”
“Did you just kinda swear?”
“Maybe, but damn, Sam. I wish we’d recorded that.”
“Don’t be too impressed. I just made a powerful enemy of a man who answers to my husband, not to mention he could cause big trouble for us and the department.”
They stepped into the elevator. “Why’d you do it?”
Sam pressed the L for Lobby. “Because I wanted to know if he was feeding us a load of bullshit.”
“And?”
“He isn’t telling us everything he knows. That’s for sure.”
“Wouldn’t it be in his best interest to help figure out who killed one of his USAs as fast as we can?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”
“Did you tell Nick you were meeting with him?”
“He knew, but we didn’t talk details. We’re keeping it separate.”
“I suppose that’s for the best. What’re you thinking with the assistant?”
“I’m not sure, but him not being willing to share his name put up some red flags.”
“I’ll take a look at him later today.”
“That was going to be my next request.”
At security, they reclaimed their weapons and headed outside, where a squad of Secret Service agents kept about thirty reporters from pouncing on them. The minute they saw Sam, they started screaming questions at her.
“Why are you meeting with Cox?”
“Is he implicated in the Forrester murder?”
“What did he tell you?”
“Who shot your friend Hill?”
“Who killed Forrester?”
“Was it the same guy?”
Vernon hustled them into the SUV.
“Other than that mess,” Sam said to Vernon, using her chin to gesture to the media, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“You look extra vigilant.”
“A USA was murdered, and an FBI agent was shot. You’re meeting with the AG, which has the media going wild. Calls for extra vigilance.”
“I guess so.”
“Any word on Agent Hill?”
“He’s in surgery and expected to survive.” Sam thought about her next move and decided she wanted to see Shelby, even if just for a minute. “Let’s stop at GW on the way to Gaithersburg.” It wasn’t technically on the way, but she couldn’t stay away when one of her closest friends needed all the support she could get.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sam would’ve scowled at him for calling her that, but the door closed before she could. He couldn’t help himself. While Vernon drove them to the hospital, Sam called Malone.
“How’d it go with Cox?”
“Not great.” She filled him in on what’d transpired. “Needless to say, he’s not happy with me, but I still feel like he’s not telling me everything he knows.”
“What’s your next move where he’s concerned?”
“I don’t have one. I doubt he’d willingly speak to me again. We had media outside Justice when we were leaving. One of them asked if the same shooter did Forrester and Hill.”
“We’ll get to work on the ballistics once we have Avery’s bullet.”
“Thanks, Cap. That feels like a long shot, but we have to cross the T’s. Next stop is to talk to Forrester’s neighbor.”
“Let me know how that goes.”
“Will do.” She closed her phone. “I feel guilty about the hospital stop.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Freddie said. “He wouldn’t care.”
“He told me to stay focused on the case, and he’s right. That’s what I need to do, especially when I have to leave early today.”
“If Avery’s shooting turns out to be somehow related to Forrester’s, then you’re focusing on the case by going to the hospital.”
Sam spun in her seat to stare at him.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s official.”
“What is?”
“I’ve thoroughly corrupted you.”
Vernon and Jimmy laughed.
Freddie scoffed. “Whatever.”
“It’s true! You just produced a plausible justification for me defying a direct order from the captain. That’s impressive.”
“A normal boss would say, ‘Freddie, don’t help me defy the big boss.’ Mine gives me props for helping her to skirt a direct order.”
“You’re damned right she does.”
“On another note, can we stop at the cafeteria while we’re at GW? I’m starving, and they have the best pizza there.”
“Do you think about anything other than food?”
“I think about sex. A lot.”
“Cripes, I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
Vernon cracked up. “Y’all are funny.”
“I’m funny,” Sam said. “He’s coming along nicely.”
She loved Freddie so, so much. And more than anything, she loved bickering and bantering with him. Her relationship with him was one of her favorite things in life. She was almost certain he felt the same way. Most of the time, anyway.
“So is that a yes to the pizza?”
“We’ll see if we can squeeze it in.”
“Do you guys want food?” Freddie asked the agents.
“Nah, we’re good,” Vernon answered for both of them.
At the hospital, Vernon turned to them. “Give me five minutes to clear a path.”
“I don’t have much more to spare.”
“I’ll be quick.”
“Thank you, Vernon.” After he walked away, she glanced at Freddie. “I’m afraid to look at my watch.”
“Almost ten thirty.”
“Ugh. We’ve got to get in and out, get to Gaithersburg and then to the meeting with Conlon.” It would be tight.
“Since I’m not under Secret Service protection, perhaps I could procure lunch while you wait for Vernon to deliver you to Shelby. To save time, that is.”
She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead.”
“What do you want?”
“I guess I’ll have some of that pizza you raved about because it’s all I can think about since you mentioned it. And a bottle of water.” She pulled out her wallet and handed him her debit card. “My treat.”
“Wow, my lucky day.”
“Don’t push it. Get going and hurry up.”
“I’m hurrying.”