Chapter Thirty-Five
As Jesse drove into the small town of Lewisburg, he looked for the flower shop on Main Street.
The town was tiny, with a small downtown area, but the combined flower and coffee shop stood out with a bright yellow awning and a line of cars parked outside.
He didn’t even know yet if Jordan was the owner of that shop, but it made him happy to see it doing a robust business.
“Here we are,” he said to Memphis.
“What’s the plan?” They’d talked about everything except what would happen when they got there, and now that the moment was upon him, he was struck with indecision about how best to proceed.
“I guess I’ll just go in there and check the place out and see if she’s there.”
“And if she is?”
“I suppose I’ll ask if I could have a word with her.”
“Are you sure that’s the best way to approach her?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Something a little less public, maybe? If she recognizes you, there’s apt to be a strong reaction. She might not want that to happen in front of her employees and customers.”
“That’s true. So what do I do?”
“How about I go in and talk to her?”
In truth, he wanted to barge in there himself, take one look at her and know in his gut whether she was his long-lost sister. But Memphis had a point about taking her by surprise in public, not to mention her place of business.
“I suppose that would be okay,” he said. “Let me help you.”
He got out of the car and went around to the passenger side, opened the door and held out his hands to help her out. As she’d been on all their stops, she was stiff from sitting so long and grimaced when her leg fought back against the movement.
“Take your time,” he said.
“Don’t have much choice about that,” she replied with a wince.
He kept his hands on her shoulders until he was certain she was steady enough to stand on her own, and then he retrieved her cane from the back seat, which she used only when she was walking by herself. Otherwise, she’d leaned on him, and he’d joked about being her human cane.
“Don’t tell her who I am. I want to see if she recognizes me.”
“Got it.”
“Are you sure you feel up to this?” he asked.
She gave him a withering look that was in keeping with her usual sassy self. “Do I need to remind you that I, too, am a U.S. Marshal and more than capable of walking into a public place and asking a few questions?”
“No, you don’t need to remind me,” he said in a testy tone that was all about his emotions running rampant. “Go on ahead, then, and if you wouldn’t mind, hurry up about it.”
She grimaced. “You should’ve gotten a more able assistant if you want me to hurry.”
“You’ll do just fine.”
“Gee, thanks.” She reached out to put a hand on his face. “Keep breathing, okay? You’ll know soon enough if it’s her.”
“I’ll try. Thanks for taking one for the team.”
“You got it.”
He leaned against the car, arms crossed, and as he watched her slowly cross the street, she reminded him of the story about the tortoise and the hare. While she was normally the hare, right now she was making the tortoise look like an Olympic sprinter.
Thinking of stupid things like tortoises and hares helped to keep him from rushing past her and barging into the flower shop to take care of business for himself. He supposed she hadn’t asked about the plan of attack because she’d been busy formulating one on her own.
When Memphis finally reached the door, a young couple who were coming out of the shop held the door for her and waited patiently for her to make her way inside.
Jesse could barely breathe while he waited. It’d been twenty-six years, and these next few minutes would be the longest of them all.
He stared at the facade of the cheerful-looking store without blinking, afraid to miss anything. By the time Memphis finally appeared at the door twelve minutes later, he’d been about to go in after her.
His heart nearly stopped when he saw she wasn’t alone.
A tall blonde woman followed her out the door, and Jesse could see that Carolyn Waters looked exactly like the age-progressed photo of Jordan.
Memphis used her chin to point to Jesse standing across the street.
For a long moment, Carolyn stared at him with a bewildered expression.
Memphis took a few steps until she stood next to Carolyn and said something to her that Jesse couldn’t hear.
Carolyn continued to stare, her gaze crashing into his and sending a jolt down his spine when he realized her eyes were familiar. He was walking across the street to her before he decided to go, stopping a foot from where she stood on the sidewalk, wanting a better look at her eyes.
“Do you know who I am?” He studied her intently and let out a choked sound when he noticed a mole on her neck that mirrored one he remembered on Jordan’s.
“Jesse?” she whispered.
He reached for her at the same second she reached for him. Jesse held her so tightly, he feared he might hurt her, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go now that he’d finally found her.
“What is happening?” she asked. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been looking for you for twenty-six years.”
“Looking for me? How do I know you? I’m so confused.”
Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he took a step back so he could see her face. “I’m your brother. Jesse Best. Your name is Jordan Best, and you were abducted from the home of our grandparents in West Virginia twenty-six years ago.”
“Abducted? What’re you talking about?”
“Is there somewhere we could go and talk?” Memphis asked.
“I… I don’t know what to say.”
“I know this is a shock,” Jesse said, “but I swear to God, I’m telling you the truth. Please give me a few minutes to explain.”
While he waited for her to say something, his heart beat so hard, he feared it might burst from his chest. Here, after all these years, was his Jordan.
He’d finally found her. For the first time in all the years she’d been gone, he could at least confirm she was still alive. What happened next was anyone’s guess.
“Carolyn,” Memphis said gently, “you should hear what Jesse has to say. It’s very important. Could we go somewhere to speak privately?”
She gave a quick nod and led the way into the coffee shop, which was closed for the day, while the flower side remained open.
Jesse helped Memphis into a chair and then sat next to her while Carolyn sat across from them.
“How do you know who I am?” Carolyn asked.
“I had an age-progressed photo of my missing sister done by an artist, and I’ve publicized the photo.
I received a tip that someone who looks like the person in the picture lived here in Lewisburg.
So I came here to see if you were Jordan.
I honestly wasn’t sure until I saw your eyes, which haven’t changed, and the mole on your neck right there.
” He pointed to his own neck to indicate where hers was.
“It’s in the exact same spot as Jordan’s.
She always hated that mole. She said it looked like a—”
They both said “polka dot” at the same time.
“I know you, but I don’t know you. I don’t understand any of this.”
“Is there someone you could call to be with you while we explain?” Memphis asked.
Jesse was incredibly grateful for her presence as he navigated this surreal situation. All he wanted to do was stare at Jordan, but he forced himself not to do that lest he scare her off with his intensity.
“My husband. I’ll text him.”
“We can wait for him to get here,” Memphis said.
Carolyn took her cell phone from her pocket and sent the text. “He’s on his way to pick up the kids at his parents’ house, but he’ll stop here.” Her hands trembled as she held the phone, then she placed it on the table and put her hands between her knees.
“Could I show you some photos while we wait?” Jesse asked.
Carolyn nodded, seeming hesitant but curious.
He called up childhood photos of them and their grandparents on his phone and handed it to her.
She scrolled through them, stopping on one of them. “Bandit.”
“Our grandparents’ dog.”
“How do I know his name?”
“The same way you knew mine. Once upon a time, you loved us both.”
A handsome man with dark hair and a serious expression came through the door and stopped short when he saw Carolyn, Jesse and Memphis.
She held out a hand to him. “This is my husband, Kane.”
Jesse stood to shake his hand. “I’m Jesse Best, and this is Memphis Rose Costello.”
“What do you want?” Kane asked.
“I believe your wife is my sister, Jordan, who’s been missing for twenty-six years.”
Sam had been close to home when she’d had to ask Vernon to divert to HQ. “So sorry, guys.”
“It’s fine,” Vernon said. “Nature of the job, just like it is for you.”
“The nature of the job often sucks,” Sam said.
They laughed.
“Sure does,” Vernon said. “But most of the time, it’s pretty cool. At least people at parties think it is when they find out I work with you all day long.”
“Are you using me to impress your friends?”
“Every chance I get.”
“Haha,” Sam said. “I’m sure they’re bored senseless hearing about me.”
“Um, no, they’re not. Granted, they get only the high-level ‘I work on the first lady’s detail’ details, because what happens in the SUV stays in the SUV.”
“Thank God for that.”
“No kidding,” Vernon said, grinning at her in the mirror.
“If people knew the truth…”
“They’d still be impressed.”
“Sure they would.”
Vernon pulled into a parking space outside the morgue entrance.
“Hopefully, I won’t be long,” she said when he held the door for her.
“Take your time,” he said as he walked her to the door.
They’d compromised on him not coming inside with her, even though she knew he would prefer to keep her in sight at all times.
Her pit was deserted when she cut through on the way to Malone’s office, where Archie was waiting to show her the video.
They had it cued up on Malone’s computer.
Sam stood behind the captain’s chair to watch the playback that showed Curtis Henderson and Sergei Ivanov walking along a well-lit path, both talking and gesturing as they went.
“Watch this,” Archie said.
Three people dressed in black materialized out of the shadows and took both men into chokeholds.
One of them injected something into Curtis’s neck, while the other two grabbed Ivanov and took off in the opposite direction.
The third one left an unconscious Curtis on the ground before chasing after the others.
“Do we have film from the other side of the park?” Sam asked as she buzzed with adrenaline. There was nothing better than catching murdering scumbags.
“We do.” When Archie pressed a few keys and brought the second video up on Malone’s monitor, they watched the three men load Ivanov into the back of a black SUV and drive away.
Archie zoomed in on the back of the SUV to show her a clear image of the diplomatic plate. “We traced that back to the Russian Embassy.”
“Holy shit,” Sam said. “Make it make sense, though. They grabbed Ivanov and killed him, dumped him in the street and then bombed us to get his body back. Why’d they dump him only to risk a war by setting off a bomb that killed people?”
“The only explanation I can think of,” Malone said, “is Petrov ordered him killed but didn’t give clear instructions about the body. The goons dumped him, thinking that’s what he’d want, and freaked out when they found out otherwise, and plotted the bombing to get him back.”
“So they were never supposed to dump him, and once they did, that opened up a whole other can of worms,” Sam said.
Malone nodded. “Exactly. The Kremlin probably flipped out about losing custody of the body that could be used to further undermine Petrov’s regime and ordered them to get it back. Apparently, they didn’t specifically say not to bomb MPD headquarters.”
“What do we have on how they killed him?”
“The theory is some sort of poison,” Malone said, “but we haven’t gotten anything conclusive on that yet.”
“What do we do with this theory of ours?” Sam asked.
“I did some research on that very question and found that we should turn over everything we’ve got to the Diplomatic Security Service at State and the Office of International Affairs at Justice,” Malone said.
“Apparently, the president negotiated with Petrov to waive any immunity in the bombing portion so the perpetrators can be prosecuted here, which takes the temperature down substantially. I’m not sure what they’ll do about Sergei’s murderers, but that’s not our problem since we can prove the Russians did it. ”
“I love how you speak of the president like he isn’t her husband,” Archie said with a grin.
“How else should I talk about him?” Malone asked.
“Just like that,” Sam said. “So that’s it? Off our plates?”
“That’s it,” Malone said. “Great work to both your teams in getting to the facts of the case, which we can now present to our federal partners for next steps, and they can figure out exactly how Ivanov was killed.”
“Is it okay to say that sometimes I like it when we have to involve the Feds?” Sam asked.
Archie laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”
“My mother used to love to give us stuff from her house,” Malone said. “She’d say, ‘Out of my house and into yours,’ every time. Became a joke between her, me and Val, who wanted nothing to do with any of it.”
“That’s funny,” Sam said. “I’m with Val on that one. We’ve all got enough of our own crap.”
“That’s what we said, too. So, let’s send this case, locked and loaded, out of our house and into theirs.”
“We’ll get the reports taken care of tomorrow.” Sam took a look around. “Did we just close two cases, or is that my imagination?”
“I believe we just closed two cases,” Malone said.
“Hot damn!” Sam wished she’d gone on the trip with Nick. “I’m going home.”
“Before you go,” Malone said, “do you want to give Thelma Robinson the news that she’ll be charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report a crime and released?”
“I’d love to tell her that, plus let her know that Louis will be charged with first-degree murder.”
Sam left his office and took the stairs to lockup in the basement, nodding to the sergeant on duty. “We’re springing Thelma Robinson,” she told the officer.
“Got it.” He followed her to Thelma’s cell and unlocked the door.
Thelma perked up when she saw Sam.
“Let’s go,” Sam said.
Thelma’s expression was wary. “Where to?”
“How does home sound?”
“Really?”
Sam nodded. “You’ll be charged on a misdemeanor count of failing to report a crime and will be required to testify against Louis, but that’s it.”
Thelma let out a cry that was equal parts joy and anguish and threw herself at Sam, who hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you so, so much.”
“I hope you and Amara can find your way toward a peaceful future,” Sam said.
“She’ll want nothing to do with me.”
“I’m not so sure. She’s a strong, capable young woman who knows exactly who the villain of this story was and who his victims were.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
“I’ll be rooting for both of you.”