The First Councel

“And what does that have to do with anything anyway?”

“Nothing-nothing at all,” Adenauer says. “I’m just talking some current events with a White House employee. This isn’t even in my log as an interrogation.” Watching me carefully, he puts the picture of Vaughn away and shuts the folder. “Now let’s get back to your story. You were fighting with Caroline before you found the body?”

“Yeah, she was-” I cut myself short. Son of a bitch. I never told Adenauer that Caroline and I were fighting. He’s walking all over me.

A true Virginian, though, he doesn’t gloat about it. “I meant what I said-I’m not here to accuse you,” he explains. “Someone in the hallway heard you yelling. I just want to know what it was about.” Before I can answer, he adds, “The truth this time, Michael.”

There’s no way around it. My eyes are locked on Adenauer’s red folder. Like before, he doesn’t take notes, he just reads my word balloons. Hoping to drown out the white noise with a deep breath, I tell him about my father, his criminal record, and the conflict with his benefits.

Adenauer listens without interrupting.

“I didn’t think I did anything illegal, but Caroline thought I should’ve recused myself. She saw it as a conflict of interest.”

He studies me, looking for a hole in the story. “And that’s all that happened? When she wouldn’t listen, you walked out and went back to your office?”

“That’s it. When I came back, she was dead.”

“How long were you gone?”

“Ten minutes-fifteen, max.”

“Any stops in between?”

I shake my head.

“Are you sure?” he asks suspiciously. Again, I get the feeling he knows something.

“That’s all that happened,” I insist.

He shoots me a long look, giving me every opportunity to change my story. When I don’t, he picks up his file and stands from his seat.

“I swear, I’m not lying-that’s the tru-”

“Michael, were you being blackmailed by Caroline?”

“What?” I ask, forcing a laugh. “Is that what you think?”

“You don’t want to know what I think,” he says. “Now help me out with this one. This wasn’t the first time she pulled your file, was it?”

My body’s frozen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s right here!” he shouts, pointing to the file. He flips it open and shows me the Request Log stapled to the inside cover. From the two signatures in the Out column, I can see Caroline’s pulled mine twice: Last week. And six months after I started work. “Care to tell what the first one’s about?”

“I have no idea.”

“The more you lie, the more it’s going to hurt.”

“I’m telling you, I have no idea.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Believe what you want-I’m giving you the truth. I mean, if I killed her, why didn’t I remove my own file? Or at least take the money?”

“Listen, son, I once had a suspect shove a kitchen knife through his own lung-twice-just to take the suspicion off himself. There’re no boundaries when it comes to covering up.”

“I’m not covering anything up!” I shout. “She had a heart attack! Why can’t you just accept that?”

“Because she died with thirty thousand dollars in her safe. And more important, because it wasn’t a heart attack.”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw the autopsy myself. She had a stroke.”

I tighten my jaw and put on my bravest face. “That doesn’t mean she was murdered.”

“But it does mean it wasn’t a heart attack,” Adenauer points out, studying my reaction. “Don’t worry, Michael-when the tox reports come back, we’ll know what caused it. Now it’s just a matter of time.”

That’s what Adenauer was hiding; waiting to see what I’d give up. He’s not sure it’s a murder, but he’s not sure it’s not. “What about the press?” I ask.

“That depends on you. Of course, I’m not letting them trample this investigation-especially considering how close we are.” He throws me another of his concerned glances. “Wouldn’t you and your girlfriend agree?”

I look at him, but I’m lost in the white noise. My head’s throbbing. If the reports come back with bad news, and this gets out… All this time, I was worried they were going to try and nail me for murder… but the way he was teasing me about Nora… and linking her to Vaughn… I can’t help but think he’s got his sights on something bigger.

Doing my best not to panic, I go with my best alternative-the one thing I know can’t be traced back to me. “Have you checked Simon’s bank accounts?”

“Why would we want to do that?”

“Just check ’em,” I say, hoping it’ll buy some time.

“Anything else you want to tell me?” Adenauer asks.

“No, that’s it.” I have to get out of here. Leaving Adenauer where he is, I climb to my feet and stagger toward the door.

“I’ll call you when we get the tox reports,” he says, finally starting to gloat. He brought me here to test my reaction. And now that he’s got it, he wants to see what I’ll do. “It shouldn’t be too long,” he adds.

I don’t even pause to turn around. The less I see of him, the better. The only thing I want to do now is find out if there’s a connection between Nora and Patrick Vaughn.

CHAPTER 13

So how do you think the FBI found out?” Trey asks from the chair opposite my desk.