Chapter Nine #3
He mirrored Jude, leaning his elbows on his knees.
“There’s also your reputation to think about.
Two different streamers filming documentaries on Freddy Henley right now.
They would love to dig into your psyche.
The beautiful woman who sweet-talked a serial killer into giving up his secrets has a corrupt daddy who terrorized a small town? ”
“None of those vultures has ever put it together that Gerald Clifton is my father.”
“You’re back home now, Jude. Things get out.”
She couldn’t worry about herself. Emmy had worshipped Gerald. If even a hint of scandal tarnished his reputation, it would finish her off. “Giglio lists are very specific. What was my father accused of?”
“Allison didn’t provide that information.”
“I’ve never known the FBI to get excited about one cop offering one name.”
“It’s a really big name.” Samuel sat back in his chair. Crossed his legs. “Allison was willing to testify. You know how rare it is for a cop to turn on other cops. We knew she wasn’t bluffing.”
Jude could tell he was still holding back, and not just because he’d changed into a defensive posture. “What about the ten other names? Who else was she offering?”
“Allison was keeping them in her back pocket, but we know she consulted for three of the four agencies in Clifton County. She could easily get her hands on a lot of information.”
“But she never consulted for the sheriff’s office,” Jude guessed. “How do you know the Giglio list is legitimate?”
“We don’t.” He shrugged, but she wasn’t buying it. “Jude, this lead on Allison Vickery was very early days. I put Foley on to it since he’s in Atlanta. He met with her once. She told him she had proof of a conspiracy that went to the highest levels.”
“The highest levels of what?”
“She never said, but Foley believed she was sitting on something explosive.”
“I’ve had periods that lasted longer than Foley’s tenure at the agency.”
“He’s got good instincts. I believed him.” Samuel sounded very sure of himself, which reinforced the fact that he was sitting on a lot of information he was choosing not to share. “Allison was supposed to meet with Foley in Atlanta two days ago. She was going to bring him concrete proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“I assume the fully unredacted Giglio list with supporting evidence that all of the cops were involved in a conspiracy to commit crimes.”
“Drugs?” Jude guessed. “Trafficking?”
“As I said, Allison never showed for the meeting. Your photo of the photo is from yesterday. Foley drove down to North Falls to find out why she missed it. That’s the emergency signal they set up.
If he left an X, she was supposed to meet him at a rest stop near the Albany exit the following morning at nine.
That was today. I guess we know why she wasn’t there. ”
Jude thought about the scattered paperwork in Allison’s dining room. The killer had been searching for the proof. “Any ideas about the cash that was found in Allison’s house?”
“In my experience—in your experience—dirty cops know about dirty cops because they’re all dirty.”
Jude could’ve flown a Zeppelin through the giant holes in his story. “What was Allison’s signal to Foley if there was an emergency?”
“She wouldn’t establish one. Didn’t trust electronics. Wouldn’t talk on the phone. She told him if she had an emergency, she could take care of herself.”
Jude remembered the packed suitcases. “Who else at the agency knows about this?”
“I’ve kept it in a tight circle.”
Jude noticed the past tense. “But now?”
“A member of the public who reported police corruption to the FBI was murdered in her home. We have to bring the full force of the agency down on this.”
Jude knew where they’d start: the Clifton County Sheriff’s Department. “So you send down a bunch of Reid Foleys with their two-dollar haircuts and six-hundred-dollar shoes. They all come back with jack shit because nobody will talk to them.”
“You know it works, Jude. Somebody always talks.”
“A retired police officer and her child were shot in their own home because she talked to the FBI. Who’s gonna line up for one of your Reid Foleys after that?”
His silence told her that he knew she was right.
“You’re not in a good place here, Samuel.
This is very messy for the agency. You couldn’t keep a whistleblower safe.
” She knew there was something that mattered to him even more.
“You’ve got a lot of friends on Capitol Hill, but you’ve made a lot of enemies in this building.
They’d be happy to let you take the fall for Allison’s murder. ”
He drew out his response. “What are you proposing?”
“Exactly what you wanted me to propose the second you heard I got on that plane at Warner Robins.” Jude had been slow, but she was not stupid.
“I’ll quarterback the investigation into what happened at Allison’s house today.
Anything I find out about a conspiracy involving bad cops will go directly to you. ”
“What if the conspiracy leads back to your sister?” He paused again for effect. “By all accounts, Gerald Clifton only confided in one person on the force.”
“My oath to the Constitution didn’t retire when I did. Ask Freddy Henley about the lengths I’ll go to in order to close an investigation.”
Silence filled the room. Jude knew he had already made his decision.
Men like Samuel didn’t rise up the ranks based on character and fairness.
They crawled their way to the top over bodies they’d sacrificed along the way.
The second that he’d learned about Allison’s murder, he’d started strategizing a plan for someone else to absorb blowback.
“All right.” Samuel finally nodded. “I want daily updates.”
“I’m not your dog on a leash. I’ll call you by the end of next week.” She stood up, slung her purse strap over her shoulder. “I should get to the airport.”
She walked out of his office, her boots hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
Bile came into her mouth. She felt her jaw clench when she saw the NAT waiting for her at the end of the hallway.
Jude forced herself back into small talk as she was escorted to the elevators, led to the lobby, shown the front doors.
Outside, frigid air swirled Jude’s hair into her face.
Sweat broke out on her skin. She walked past her rental car, headed to the edge of the almost empty parking lot.
She looked at the river in the distance.
The sharp breeze coming off the Potomac stung her eyes.
Her hands were shaking as badly as Emmy’s.
Jude had thirty-nine years and three and a half months of sobriety under her belt, but if someone had offered her a drink right now, she would’ve had to think about it.
She shook her head, silently cursing herself for being so easily shaken.
This was no time to slip away into oblivion.
She forced herself to look at solid things that would fix her back in place.
The patch of grass edging the parking lot.
The spindly trees with leaves already falling.
The cracks in the concrete beneath her feet.
She kept orienting herself until her heartbeat returned to normal.
Her breathing took on a steady in and out.
She turned back toward the parking lot. Kept her pace steady.
Her eyes on the path in front of her. Samuel was worried that Jude would be blinded by sibling loyalty, but she was confident that none of this would lead back to her sister.
Jude didn’t even have a sister.
Emmy Lou Clifton was her daughter.