Chapter Fourteen #2
“That means the world.” After a deep sigh, he said, “I should’ve listened to you and your legendary gut.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I don’t know. It’s such a fucking mess. I guess you could help figure out who killed him so we can get some answers on that.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“You might hear from the Russian Embassy. I’m not sure if they’ll want him back.”
“They can’t have him back until we’re finished with him. Do you think they had anything to do with him being killed?”
“I mean… I wouldn’t put it past them, as he was a major thorn in Petrov’s side. He was constantly organizing dissent with a goal of overthrowing the regime. If they knew he was hanging out with the U.S. VP, which I’m sure they did, that might be motive.”
“Am I allowed to say that it sounds like he was one of the good guys?”
“He was, all things considered, but the fact that my vice president was secretly meeting with him is problematic in so many ways, I can’t even begin to articulate them.”
“Why would she do that?”
“She claims she was just hanging out with an old friend, but it astounds me that she wouldn’t understand the optics of the vice president of the United States meeting with a friend who’s also the Russian opposition leader.”
“You know I didn’t really trust her, but I never thought she was stupid. There’s got to be more to it than what she’s told you.”
“Possibly, but in reality, it doesn’t matter what more there is to it.
She’s created a diplomatic nightmare for me.
It’s only a matter of time before Petrov accuses the United States of colluding with his most outspoken critic to overthrow his government, which I’d love to do, but that’s not happening. ”
“I wish I was there to hug you.”
“I’ll take a rain check on the hug for when I see you. Don’t worry about me. We’ll figure it out, the way we always do. I can’t believe people actually spend years running to hold this office. If they only knew…”
“Right? I’ll be home as soon as I can. Invited the Hills to dinner. Hope that’s okay.”
“That’ll be fun. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Same, babe. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Be safe out there.”
“I always am.”
Sam went to the door of her office and asked Detective Green for a word.
“What’s up, LT?”
“I need you to find out everything you can about the Russian opposition leader Sergei Ivanov. No detail is too small.”
“I’m on it.”
“Thank you, Cam.”
After he went back to his desk, Sam gave herself a few more minutes to get her head together and shift back into work mode before she went to see what Freddie had found out about Bingham.
“Anything?” she asked
“Nothing helpful.”
“Why did I know you were going to say that. I want to tell Amara her mother corroborated her story.”
Between that difficult case, the dead Russian and what was going on with Nick, Sam felt overwhelmed as they walked to the morgue. Amara was right where Sam had left her, scrolling on her phone while Lindsey assisted Byron with Sergei’s autopsy in the next room.
Sam sat next to Amara while Freddie remained standing.
Amara’s gaze darted between them. “Is everything okay?”
“We spoke to your mother, and she corroborated your story.”
Amara’s eyes went wide with surprise. “She actually admitted it?”
“She did. She understands the situation she’s in.”
“Did you tell her I was the one who reported what they did?”
“Yes.”
“Was she… Did she say anything?”
“She was surprised to hear you’d witnessed it.”
Amara seemed to be processing the information.
“Do you know anything about Louis’s past from before he met your mother?”
“Not much. He has two older kids who were in college when they got married. They never came around, so I just figured he treated them like he did us. He has a couple of brothers and a sister I met a couple of times. They’re not local, so they weren’t around that often.”
“Was there anything else from his past that came up? Like what he did for work?”
“At one time, he was a teacher, but he hated that. He said the kids were brats, and the parents were monsters.”
“You said he was often unkind to you and King, but did he ever physically abuse either of you before his attack on King?”
She shook her head. “Like I said, he preferred to wound with his words. He mostly left us alone when he wasn’t railing about something one of us had done.”
“Before his death, did King undergo any unexplained changes in his personality? Did he become inexplicably sullen or angry, for instance?”
“He was angry all the time because of Louis’s bullshit, but there was nothing different about him in the last few weeks or months that I noticed.”
“This is very helpful,” Sam said. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Whatever I can do to help make him pay for what he did to King. Can I ask you… Will my mother be charged with murder, too?”
“I’m not sure yet how her case will be handled. That’ll be up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. We collect all the evidence, and then they make prosecution decisions based on whether they think they can secure a conviction in court.”
“I see.”
“If you think of anything else that might be relevant, you’ve got my number,” Sam said.
Amara nodded. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be in touch with next steps.”
“Okay.”
Sam and Freddie left the morgue to return to the pit.
“Do you believe her?” Sam asked.
“I do, but anything is possible.”