Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sam slapped the phone closed. “We need to go to Rock Creek Park. Police there have uncovered a campsite that might belong to Peckham.” To Freddie, she said, “Malone texted you a pin for the campsite.”
“Where is he?” Vernon asked.
“They spotted him, but he got away.”
“I can’t let you go in there knowing there’s an armed and dangerous felon on the loose.”
“Vernon… We have a deal.”
“This might be a bridge too far, my friend. How do I let you go in there, knowing there’s an armed and extremely dangerous man in the park?”
“That’s my job, and you agreed to let me do my job.”
“I could lose mine for letting you do this.”
“Don’t say that! Come on. The place will be crawling with cops. Besides, he’s probably long gone from there by now.”
“I don’t like it.”
“So noted, and I’m sorry to stretch the boundaries of what’s acceptable for you under normal circumstances, but nothing about my job is normal by Secret Service standards.”
“No, really?”
She loved his sarcasm. Absolutely loved it.
“We’re blazing a whole new trail, you and me.”
“Oh, joy.”
Freddie used his phone to direct them to the campsite as Sam watched from the next seat.
“That’s pretty cool how you can do that,” she said.
“That’s why they call it a smartphone, dummy.”
“You’re full of beans today, young Freddie.”
“Whatever that means.”
They arrived at the campsite, which was overrun by Park and Metro PD officers. She hoped they hadn’t compromised what could be a crime scene.
She got out of the car and greeted a young Park Police officer, showing him her badge. “Lieutenant Holland, MPD. Do you mind if I take a look?”
“I, uh, um… Sure, ma’am. Go right ahead.”
“The correct answer would be, ‘Not until we secure what could be a crime scene.’”
“But you… You’re…”
“For fuck’s sake. I don’t care who I am. Protect that scene.”
“Y-yes, ma’am.” The officer scurried off, shouting orders at other officers who were getting too close to the ragtag tent and other items that looked like they’d been abandoned.
Lieutenant Haggerty joined her. “I see you’re making friends and spreading joy.”
“My mission in life. What the hell is wrong with people?”
“Am I expected to answer that question?”
“It was rhetorical.”
He gestured to the tent. “Who is this guy?”
“We’re looking at him for the Forrester and Hill shootings. We believe he’s got his eye on a federal judge next. Time is of the essence.”
“We’re on it.”
“Harlan Peckham’s prints are in the system, so I need to know ASAP if this is him.”
“Will do. It’s nice to get a break from working at Stahl’s.”
“How’re you and your team holding up?”
“Toughest scene we’ve ever worked. It’s taking a toll on all of us.”
“You’re talking to Trulo?”
“Daily, and I’ve got my team seeing him, too.”
“Good.”
“It’s just hard to fathom this kind of depravity from a guy we worked with, saw every day… All that time, he was hiding behind the badge as he became one of the most prolific serial killers we’ve ever seen. People will be studying this case forever.”
Sam felt the impact of his words in the deepest part of her soul. She understood Stahl’s depravity better than most, and even knowing what she already did about him, these new revelations were unbearable.
“The damage to the department will reverberate for years, too,” Haggerty added.
“Yeah.”
“I was thinking… I know you hate seeking publicity of any kind, but you’re in a unique position to put a human face to this, to make people understand how much it hurts those of us who work hard every day to keep our community safe.” He shrugged. “Just a thought.”
“It’s a good thought, and I’ll take it under advisement.”
“Better get to it with this.” He gestured toward the campsite. “Another day, another monster.”
He called to his team to follow him to process the scene.
As she took a walk around the perimeter of the campsite, Sam couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said. Another day, another monster.
If that didn’t sum up her life, she wasn’t sure what ever would.
With the scene under the control of Haggerty and his team, Sam returned to the SUV.
Vernon and Jimmy had stayed close to her the entire time she was out of the vehicle. As she was accompanied by highly trained police officers everywhere she went, usually one of the agents stayed back, so it said a lot about their level of discomfort that they’d both come with her.
Vernon was visibly relieved as he held the back door for her.
“Let’s go to church, gentlemen.”
They were toldthey’d find Eleanor Simpson in a small office located in the back of an open, airy sanctuary that didn’t resemble any church Sam had ever attended. It had a contemporary vibe, with white walls and wood accents.
“Nice place.”
“I’ve heard great things about this church,” Freddie said. “They do a ton of work in the community.”
Sam liked knowing there were places like this where people could come together to worship and then spread the good word to people in need.
Eleanor was petite, with blonde curls, blue eyes and a friendly, welcoming smile. “Are my eyes deceiving me? Is the first lady at my door?”
She said that with such disbelief that Sam couldn’t help but smile as she showed her badge. “I’m undercover at the moment as Lieutenant Holland, Metro PD. I wondered if I might have a moment of your time.”
“Please, come in.”
“This is my partner, Detective Cruz.”
“Of course I know of him, too.”
Judging by his goofy grin, the comment pleased Freddie tremendously.
“Don’t tell him that. I’m trying to raise him with humility.”
While Freddie scowled, Eleanor laughed.
“It’s such a tough job to raise them humble.”
“You know it.”
“I understand you investigate homicides. I’m not sure what I can do for you.”
“We’re investigating the murder of U.S. Attorney Tom Forrester and the attempted murder of FBI Agent Avery Hill.”
“I read about both of those shootings.” Her light seemed to dim somewhat as she said that. “Gun violence is such a scourge on our society.”
“It is indeed.”
“What does your case have to do with me?”
“We believe the person who shot Tom and Avery is coming next for Judge Corrinne Sawyer, who presided over the trial of his family.”
“Oh no. Not Cori! She’s the loveliest person.”
“Yes, she is. She’s agreed to allow us to basically use her as bait to lure this guy out of hiding.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Our goal is to get him before he can get to her.”
“What does that have to do with me and the church?”
“We’d like to stage the operation around her attendance at this Sunday’s service.”
“Oh, I don’t know… I couldn’t possibly endanger my congregation that way. More than two hundred people attend the ten o’clock service on Sunday.”
“We have a plan for that. As the service is ending, you’d ask the congregation to exit through the back door, while Corrinne will exit out the front, accompanied by plainclothes officers acting as fellow churchgoers. We’d have people stationed all around the building to ensure a smooth departure for the rest of the congregation while we take care of business out front.”
Eleanor bit on her thumbnail. “Why do you have to use my church for this? Isn’t there another option?”
“When we first conceived of this idea, we knew it needed to happen somewhere that Cori goes regularly and predictably. We needed a place that has a wide perimeter to allow us to provide as much security as possible. The church checks all our boxes.”
“If it wasn’t for the rest of the congregation being in the dark, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.”
Sam glanced at Freddie, looking for his input.
“We could tell them,” Freddie said. “It’s not like they know the guy we’re after.”
“How can we ensure they’ll keep a lid on it, though?” Sam asked him.
Eleanor thought about that for a second before she replied, “If we explain it to them in the starkest possible terms, that people’s lives are at stake, and if they choose to stay away, we respect that, but we’d ask them not to tell anyone what’s going on.”
“Do you trust them to keep it quiet? If one person tells someone, and it gets out on social media or wherever, it’s a bust.”
“We could work together to craft a message to the congregation that would make the stakes very clear.”
“Does that mean you’re willing to work with us on this?”
“I won’t lie to you… I’m scared of something terrible happening at our doorstep. But if it would get this guy before he can harm Cori, well, then I’m willing to do whatever I can to help.”
“I promise you we’ll do everything we can to ensure no one is harmed.”
Eleanor nodded, but her trepidation was obvious and understandable.
Even the best of intentions couldn’t prevent tragedy. The plan was risky, and everyone involved needed to know that.
“If you write down your contact info, we’ll be in touch about the message to your congregation and other details.”
Eleanor took the notebook from Sam and wrote down the requested info.
“We might have a problem,” Freddie said as he looked up from his phone.
“What problem?”
He showed her a social media message questioning why the first lady was visiting Citizens Community Church.
“Shit.”
How she yearned for the days when she ran around anonymously with no one giving a flying fuck where she was or what she was doing.
“What do we do?”
“Spin it as a first lady thing,” Freddie said. “A quick stop to reach out to community leaders about an initiative you’re heading up.”
“Great idea.”
“Let’s take a photo of you with Eleanor and have your White House office post it.”
“He’s good at this,” Eleanor said.
“Yes, he sure is.”
They posed for the photo that Freddie took.
“Thank you again for this, Eleanor. We sincerely appreciate what you’re doing to help us.”
“I just hope it works.”
“Me, too.”
Back in the SUV,Sam called Roni Connolly, her director of communications at the White House.
“Hi, Sam, what’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
“What can I do?”
Sam explained the situation with the church and the operation involving the federal judge. “We were still there when Freddie noticed someone on social media asking why I was there. He took a picture of me with the pastor, Eleanor Simpson, and we were hoping you could post it under my first lady accounts with a caption about me reaching out to community leaders, to throw people off the scent of something going on there.”
“Have him send it to me. I’ll post it right away.”
“Please let Lilia know, too, so she’s aware.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, Roni.”
“No problem.”
Sam slapped her phone closed. “Can you text her the photo?”
“What’s her cell number?”
Sam opened her phone and poked around. “How do I find it?”
“For God’s sake. Give it to me.”
She handed over the phone with a big grin. “My hero.”
“It’s a wonder you can function in this world.”
“Even though you’re insulting me, I want to say that was quick thinking back there with the first lady thing.”
“Who knew that you being the first lady would actually come in handy?”
“It’s because I’m the ding-dang first lady that we had a problem in the first place.”
“When you put it that way…”
“God, I miss being anonymous. I yearn for the ease of that life.”
“But you don’t yearn for life before Nick.”
“Not one bit. The tradeoff is definitely worth it. He’s worth it.”
“He sure is.”
Sam looked over at him. “I hope you know I mean that. There’re times when the enormous changes in our lives are truly overwhelming. Days like yesterday when we’re hosting a freaking state dinner, of all things… And to be raising three incredible kids and guiding another into young adulthood. But I’m always thankful to be married to him and to be on this incredible journey with him and our kids.”
“I know that, Sam. We all do.”
“I hope he does, too.”
“He does. For sure.”
“Hey, do me a favor, will you? Get with Archie to put together a summary of the Peckham case for the meeting in the morning so we can quickly bring everyone up to speed on who these people are and who we’re looking for.”
“Yep. I’ll text him right now and get on it when we’re back at the house.”
“Thank you.”
The secure BlackBerry she used to communicate with Nick buzzed with a text from the man himself. Can you talk?
Sam put through a call to him.
“Hey, babe. Sorry to bother you when you’re busy.”
“Please bother me.”
“Are you having a day?”
“Every day is a day around here. How about you?”
“Same. I just had a call from Cox.”
“Let me guess. He wants you to rein in your wife.”
“Something like that. He’s extremely upset about your team requesting a warrant for his nephew’s phone. What’s up with that?”
Sam thought for a long moment about what she ought to say.
“Sam?”
“I believe this is something we shouldn’t talk about. For both our sakes.”
“Do I have a problem there?”
“Possibly. That’s all I’m willing to say right now.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? Really?”
“Of course I do. We both have jobs to do, and you don’t need me or anyone who works for me interfering with your work. I told him I expected him to cooperate fully with the investigation into the murder of one of our U.S. Attorneys and to be forthright in all his dealings with you and the MPD.”
“You said that?”
“Yes, I said that.”
Sam fanned her face, not that he could see that. “I’m extremely turned on right now.”
“Oh my hell,” Freddie said loud enough for Nick to hear.
They laughed.
“Poor Freddie,” Nick said. “He’ll never recover from working with you or being friends with us.”
“I know. We ought to start a therapy fund for him.”
“Yes, you really should,” Freddie said.
“Anyway, back to important stuff. Thank you for your support. You shall be richly rewarded later.”
“Is that right? Do tell.”
“Not now, Mr. President. The children are listening.”
Freddie groaned and put his hands over his ears.
“Got to go. Thanks for the call and for reminding your arrogant AG who he works for.”
“Oh, he knows. Believe me, and I’m quite sure he doesn’t like it, which will need to be dealt with at some point.”
“Power looks sexy on you.”
“Freddie is going to leave you.”
“Nah, he’s stuck with me, and he knows it. I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t wait. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Sam ended the call and put the BlackBerry in her pocket. “Phew. I need a cold shower.”
“Make it stop.”
“He told Cox to cooperate with us, to remember his place and not to hassle the first lady.”
“Wow, that is sexy.”
“Told you.”
“I guess they found out about the warrant for Henry’s cell data.”
“Yep.”
Sam’s cell rang with a private number. While a normal person could ignore calls like that, she never did. “Lieutenant Holland.”
“Reginald Cox.”
Sam mouthed the word Cox to Freddie. That thought nearly had her laughing again.
“What can I do for you?”
“I understand your team has requested a warrant for my assistant’s phone data.”
“Your assistant who’s also your nephew, but no one is supposed to know that? Yes, we did.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to know what he was doing when Tom Forrester was killed.” Cox didn’t need to know they had another suspect.
“What? Are you insane? You’re looking at my assistant as a person of interest in a murder investigation?”
“Did I say that?”
“Why else would you want his phone data?”
“To rule him out as a suspect? Have you ever done anything like this before, General Cox?”
“Don’t be snide with me.”
“It was an honest question. You’ve given me reason to wonder if you know how these things work.”
“I’m going to tell you this in the plainest possible language—leave Henry alone.”
“Or else what?”
“That’s all I’m going to say.”
The line went dead.
“Um, I think the Attorney General of the United States just threatened me.”
“No way,” Freddie said, eyes gone wide.
“What did he say?” Vernon asked.
Sam repeated the conversation back to them.
“That needs to be immediately reported to your superiors and mine,” Vernon said.
“I’ll agree to report it to my superiors, but let’s not bring yours into it.”
“I have no choice, Sam. You’ve been threatened. I have to report that.”
She wished she hadn’t said anything. The AG had been spouting off, flexing his muscles, whatever you want to call it. She didn’t believe he would dare to harm her. He’d be a fool to come anywhere near her.
When they returned to HQ, Sam went through the conversation with Cox again for Malone and then a second time when he asked her to tell it to the chief.
“I can’t believe he’d have the stones to threaten you,” Farnsworth said.
“He’s used to being able to push people around. He doesn’t like being pushed back.”
“Still, that’s no reason for him to threaten a police officer.”
“What do we even do about it? It’s not like we can report him to his higher-ups. His boss is my husband, and the last thing either of us needs is to be caught in the middle of something like this.”
The BlackBerry rang.
“Speak of the devil.”