Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Talk to me about Judge Sawyer,” Sam said to Freddie as Vernon drove them to E Street.
He clicked around on his phone. “She graduated from Stanford—undergrad and law school. She came up through the ranks as a local prosecutor in Marin County, California, followed by ten years with the state Attorney General before she was tapped to be a federal district court judge. She was elevated to the DC Court of Appeals two years ago.”
“What an impressive career.”
“No kidding.”
“Her husband is a trauma surgeon, and they have six children, ages thirteen to twenty-five.”
“Wow. Now I’m even more impressed.”
“She’s got nothing on you.”
“Shut up already.”
Vernon and Jimmy chuckled.
At the courthouse, they surrendered their weapons and went through security before being shown to the judge’s chambers, where a deputy stood watch outside the door.
Though he recognized them, he studied their badges carefully. Then he knocked on the door and opened it for them.
Judge Sawyer rose to greet them. She was tall, with brown skin, long curly hair and a warm smile. She shook hands with Sam. “What a pleasure it is to meet you. I’ve admired your career for years, long before the latest developments.”
Sam liked her immediately. “‘Latest developments.’ That’s one way to put it.”
The judge laughed and gestured for them to take seats at the small conference table.
“This is my partner, Detective Cruz.”
“He’s almost as famous as you are.”
That earned her a big grin from Freddie.
“Don’t tell him that. He’s incorrigible.”
Freddie scowled at her.
“It’s so difficult to raise kids these days, isn’t it?” Sam asked.
“Incredibly challenging.”
“I can hear you,” Freddie said.
The two women shared a laugh.
“As wonderful as it is to meet you in person,” Sawyer said, “I know this isn’t a social call.”
“No, it isn’t. You’ve been made aware of our direction on the Forrester murder and Hill shooting investigation?”
“I have, and it’s appalling. I remember the Peckham case. I’ve rarely encountered people who were more devoid of basic human decency, and that’s saying something with the people I meet in this job.”
“That’s a very good description of them. ‘Devoid of basic human decency.’” It applied to Stahl as well, Sam realized. “Your security has been increased here and at home?”
“It has, and I appreciated the heads-up. I just can’t believe retribution would be their first priority after being released from years in prison.”
“We believe their son Harlan could be responsible for Tom’s murder and Avery’s shooting.”
“He’s the one who got off on a technicality, right?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
She frowned. “Such a travesty. He was as guilty as the rest of them.”
“From what Agent Hill and his stepmother told us, he was forever trying to get his father’s approval. Apparently, he was the smallest of their sons, and his father teased him mercilessly about being the runt of the litter. So he turned himself into the most lethal and meanest of them all, and now it seems he’s taking care of his father’s list of grievances.”
“What an accomplishment.”
“I like you,” Sam said, smiling.
“She doesn’t like anyone.”
“Hush, Freddie. Don’t tell all my secrets on the first meeting.”
The judge laughed. “I feel you. I hate people, too.”
“We see the worst of them in our line of work.”
“Yes, we do, and the older I get, the more I crave peace, quiet and time with my loved ones. Anything else is so far down the list of priorities, it’s like it doesn’t exist.”
“I think we might be sisters from another mister.”
“I would love to be your sister from another mister. My friends will die when I tell them I met you.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“She has no idea how cool she is,” Freddie said.
“I’m going to mute him.”
“You two are entertaining.”
“We’ve been told that a time or two.”
“I can see why.”
“So, listen, Your Honor…”
“Call me Cori. I think we’re going to be friends.”
“I’d like that, Cori. But you may not want to be friends with me after you hear what I’ve come to ask you.”
“Lay it on me.”
Sam liked everything about her, which was such a rare thing that it took her by surprise. “Harlan Peckham is a professional criminal, described by his stepmother as ruthless and violent. He has no cell phone, has never had one, and knows how to stay out of sight until he sees his chance to come for you.”
Cori swallowed hard. “Are you trying to ensure I won’t sleep tonight?”
“Not at all, and I’m sorry to have to scare you, but this guy is legit.”
“So what do you want to ask me?”
“How would you feel about being the center of an operation to draw him out of hiding?”
“Are you asking me to be the bait in this operation of yours?”
“‘Bait’ is not the word I’d use…”
“What word would you use?”
“The incentive?”
“The bait.”
“Okay, yes. You’d be the bait.”
Cori seemed to mull over the idea. “How would it work?”
“I don’t have the details yet. First, I wanted to know if you’d be willing to work with us on this. Harlan has shown himself to be a patient man. Probably on his father’s orders, he waited years for the opportunity to make the people who he thinks ruined his family pay for what they did. We believe he waited until his father failed to get to Avery Hill through the invasion at his home, and then he took over where Willy left off. In just a few days, he managed to kill Tom and seriously injure Agent Hill. There’s no doubt in our minds that he’s coming for you next. Our goal is to grab him before anyone else gets hurt.”
“How would you ensure my safety? I have children… I’m not looking to do anything foolish that would leave them without their mother.”
“I understand, and while we’d do everything possible to keep you safe, there’re no guarantees that we’d succeed.”
Cori crossed her hands and kept her gaze trained on the table. “I haven’t been able to think about anything else since I heard the Peckhams were suspects in the Forrester and Hill cases. Before my clerk could tell me the full story, I knew what she was going to say. That I’m in danger because I presided over the case and ordered the longest possible sentences for each of them. Even as I sent them away for years, I knew it wouldn’t matter. As soon as they were released, they’d be up to their old games again. I even told Tom that I feared what they’d learn in prison would make them more effective the second time around.
“They’re the kind of people who blame everyone else for their problems, who lack any form of self-reflection or contrition. I looked into what Harlan has been up to while his family was in prison. He’s has been allowed to run free for years, presiding over their enterprises while his father and siblings were locked up. From what my sources report, he’s become even more ruthless than he was before, if that’s possible.” She shifted her gaze up to look at them. “I want this guy off the streets and locked up for the rest of his miserable life. I’ll do whatever I can to help make that happen.”
“We appreciate your assistance.”
“As one woman to another in a field dominated by men, I believe in you. I trust you to do this right.”
Sam was honored by her trust, but intimidated, too. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. They spent the next thirty minutes going through Sawyer’s weekly schedule.
Freddie wrote down the addresses of Sawyer’s home, her children’s schools, her favorite coffee shop, gym and church.
When they had what they needed, Sam stood. “I’ll be back in touch as soon as I’ve had the chance to formulate a plan with our team. We’ll most likely be working with the FBI on this.”
Sawyer got up to walk them out. “I’ll be ready whenever you are.”
“Thank you, Cori.”
She hugged Sam. “It was such an honor to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“Wow,” Freddie said when they were in the elevator. “Never seen you take such an instant liking to someone before.”
“She was awesome. I loved her.”
“I could tell.”
“My dad used to say that people either get it or they don’t. She gets it, and I appreciate that in a person, especially when I’m asking her to be the bait in a plan to lure a ruthless killer.”
“I’m worried about how we’ll keep her safe.”
“I am, too, but we’ll take that up with the team we’ll assemble to get this done and make her safety our top priority. Text George and tell him what we’re planning and that we need their help.”
Freddie sent the text. “He said to let him know what they can do.”
“Tell him to meet us at HQ at eight in the morning, and we’ll get to work on forming a plan.”
“Done.” He looked up from his phone. “Eric Davies was ordered released from prison, and he’s holding a press conference on the courthouse stairs.”
“Can we watch it?”
Freddie tapped on the screen and held the phone so she could see.
“I want to thank my legal team for never giving up on me. From the very beginning, they believed me when I told them I’d never met Tiffany Jones, let alone raped her. Leonard Stahl framed me after I complained about his behavior during a traffic stop years ago. He set me up to take a mighty fall, and I’ve paid for that with sixteen years in prison.
“My new life begins today. I plan to use every minute I have left focused on bringing truth to power, to identifying dirty cops and getting them off the streets and out of our communities. That’s my mission now, and that mission begins today with a wrongful-imprisonment lawsuit against the Metro PD and the District of Columbia, which is being filed as we speak. I’m going to make them pay for what they allowed him to do to me and others.”
“That’s just great,” Sam said. “Not that he doesn’t deserve all the money in the world for what Stahl did to him. It just sucks that the rest of us will get dragged through the mud as a result of Stahl’s sins.”
Her phone rang with a call from Darren Tabor.
“What’s up, Darren?”
“Have you seen the Davies presser?”
“Just now. Yes.”
“Do you have a comment about the lawsuit or his new mission in life?”
“Anything on that will need to come from the chief, as I’m sure you know by now.”
“You can’t give me a little something?”
“No, Darren, I can’t.”
“I’m hearing rumors about what’s being found at Stahl’s house. Confirm or deny?”
“Later.” She slapped her phone closed. “He said he’s hearing rumors about what’s being found at Stahl’s house.”
“The rest of that story will blow up at any second, right as Davies files the lawsuit that he’ll win.”
Sam’s phone rang again. This time, it was Captain Malone. “Hey, Cap. What’s up?”
“I assume you heard about Davies.”
“I did.”
“His is the second lawsuit filed against us today.”
“Who was first?”
“Ramsey, asserting the wrongful death of his son by everyone involved in the park that day, including you.”
“Awesome.”
“Tell me you’ve got some good news for me.”
“I’m fairly confident I know who killed Tom and shot Avery, and I’ve got a plan coming together to smoke him out that involves using a federal judge as bait.”
“I asked for good news.”
“That is good news.”
“Is the judge on board?”
“She is. I’ve just come from seeing her, and she’s willing to participate if it means getting this guy thrown in jail for the rest of his life.”
“We’ll need to run this by the chief.”
“He’s aware that I was speaking to her. I’ll update him when I get back to the house. I’m putting together a meeting at eight in the morning to bring all the players together to make this happen. Can you be there?”
“Yep. Who else are you asking?”
“I want my squad, Lucas and Archie to start, and I’ve invited George Terrell and his team as well.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there.”
Sam closed her phone. “Ramsey filed suit over his son’s shooting.” Shane Ramsey had been shot by an MPD sharpshooter in Rock Creek Park after he took a woman hostage. In addition, he’d been tied to several rapes and murders.
“That won’t go anywhere. Despite what his father might believe, if Shane hadn’t been killed, he would’ve spent the rest of his life in prison. We had him nailed every which way. I doubt that lawsuit will make it past the preliminary stages.”
“I doubt Ramsey cares about winning. He wants to make us look bad by piling onto what’s happening with Stahl and Davies and the rest of it.” Prior to learning that Stahl was a serial killer, they’d uncovered irregularities in most of his earlier cases. He’d failed to do even the most rudimentary investigations.
“Yeah, that’s probably true. Remember what your dad used to say.”
“Which pearls of wisdom are you referring to?”
“No matter what’s happening at the moment, it’ll pass, and something else will come along that’ll take everyone’s attention off the thing that has us so worried.”
“He was right, most of the time. But I don’t think this thing with Stahl will blow over quickly or easily.”
“Probably not.”
“What else is going on in the outside world?” she asked.
“Are you sure I can’t interest you in a smartphone of your very own?”
“Why do I need that when I have you and yours?”
“God, I walked right into that one.”
“She does have a point, Detective,” Vernon said.
“Don’t tell her that.”
Sam gave him a smug smile. “I love being right.”
“See what you did, Vernon?”
“I see, and I’m sorry.”
“You were racking up the points, Vernon,” Sam said. “Don’t ruin it now.”
When they arrived back in the pit, Malone and Farnsworth were waiting.
Sam gestured for them to lead the way to the conference room.
“I understand you’ve spoken to Judge Sawyer.”
“We have, and she’s agreed to participate.”
“How do you see this going down?”
“If Harlan Peckham has been watching her, he’s begun to know her routine. He’d know when she leaves the house, when she leaves the office, when she goes to one of her kids’ games or when she goes to church or whatever else she does. I suggest we zero in on one of those events and make her a sitting duck who’d be surrounded by every form of protection we can provide, including sharpshooters on every nearby roof. I’m thinking church could be our best bet, with the other churchgoers being plainclothes officers who’d surround her coming and going.”
“What do we do with the rest of the congregation?”
“I haven’t gotten that far yet. Maybe we ask them to exit through another door while Cori and the officers leave through the main door?”
“I’d want to see the layout of the church you plan to use and to figure out whether it’s conducive to something like this. We’d have to involve the pastor and the judge’s security as well.”
“I’ll figure out the details and have a better plan in place by tomorrow morning.”
“I want Emergency Response brought in on this,” Farnsworth said. “Leave nothing to chance.”
“Yes, sir. The FBI will be assisting as well.”
“If a federal judge is killed in an operation we organized, it’ll be the end of all of us in this business.”
Sam swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t let that happen.”
After he left the room, Malone said, “He’s not exaggerating. If you don’t think you can make this happen smoothly and with no harm coming to the judge, don’t do it. We’ll find another way to get this guy.”
“I don’t know how we’ll ever find him. By now, he probably knows we have his stepmother in custody, which means he realizes we’re taking a hard look at his family and at him. This is a guy who knows how to get gone. If we don’t find a way to draw him out, we’ll never find him.”
“I tend to agree, which is the only reason I’m going along with this.”
“I understand the stakes, Cap. We’ll run through all the contingencies and game it out every which way. We’ll be ready.”
“What’s your next move?”
“I’m going to church.”