State of Affairs

by Marie Force

  It wasn’t a full confession, but it was enough to charge him. “You’re under the arrest for the murder of Calvin Worthington.”

  Javier sat up straighter. “What about my deal?”

  “I won’t charge you for Carter’s murder.”

  “That ain’t no deal if I’m still in here.”

  “It’s not my fault that you murdered Calvin fifteen years ago and participated in the gang rape of a woman. Nothing I can do about either of those things, so you might want to get comfortable, Javier. You’re going to be here awhile.”

  “You fucking cunt cop bitch.”

  “Awww, are you upset, Javier? Imagine how upset Calvin’s mother has been for fifteen years with her son buried in the ground while you were out living your life?”

  When he had nothing to say to that, Sam decided the interview was over. He hadn’t fully copped to the murder, but he’d given her enough to proceed with charges. She left the room and met up with Faith and Malone in the hallway.

  “Well done, Lieutenant,” Malone said.

  “I’ll take care of filing the capital murder charge for Calvin Worthington,” Faith said.

  “I was hoping it was enough.”

  “It was enough, but I want you to interview the friends after the fact and see if you can get anyone on record as a witness, and I want a warrant to search Javier’s house. Maybe he still has the gun he used to kill Calvin. We want to make sure we’ve got it sewn up for trial.”

  “I’ll have my team take care of that tomorrow.”

  “I assume you’ll let Mrs. Worthington know we’ve made an arrest in her son’s case?” Malone asked.

  “I’ll do it on the way home.” As she returned to the pit, her elation from closing the case was tempered by despair that the answers Lenore had craved had been right there all along. It had only taken someone asking the questions.

  “How’d it go?” Freddie asked.

  “We charged him with Calvin Worthington’s murder.”

  “That’s awesome, Lieutenant. Congratulations.”

  “It was a team effort. Thank you all for the help. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to review every one of Detective Stahl’s unsolved cases to find out what other corners he cut. You all can get busy pulling the files while I go tell Lenore that we solved Calvin’s case in one afternoon. I’m not sure whether to be elated or mortified.”

  “It’s okay to be a little of both, LT,” Green said. “At the end of the day, you got her the answers she’s needed for a long time, even if it should’ve happened so much sooner.”

  Sam nodded, appreciating the support of her colleagues even as her heart ached for Lenore, Ayana, Clarissa, D’Andre and all the people who’d loved and lost Calvin over something so pointless. Suddenly, she wanted out of there. She wanted to go home and see her kids and Nick and cleanse her soul of these two painful cases. “I’m going to talk to Lenore and then head home. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

  “Have a good night, Lieutenant,” Green said for all of them.

  “You too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Since Lindsey wasn’t in her office when she went by the morgue, Sam kept walking until she was outside. Lindsey and everyone else would hear soon enough that they’d arrested Javier for Calvin’s murder. In the car, she called Lenore.

  “Hi there,” Lenore said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.”

  “We’ve had a break in the case.”

  “Already?”

  “Yes. Is Ayana still there with you?”

  “No, she took the kids to a friend’s house.”

  “Would you ask her to come back without the kids?”

  “Sam…”

  “Please, Lenore? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll call her.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Sam forced herself to pay attention, to drive the car, to do what needed to be done even as she ached with regrets and recriminations that had nothing to do with Stahl. She should’ve reopened this case the minute she took command of Homicide. An emotional tsunami wanted to overtake her, but she fought it off so she could meet with Lenore. There’d be time for emotion after the job was done.

  Naturally, traffic was a bear, which only drew out the agony that much longer. As Sam pulled up to Lenore’s house, Ayana was getting out of a car across the street. Sam met up with her on the sidewalk, noting that Vernon and Jimmy had parked behind her and were watching.

  “What’s going on?” Ayana asked, clearly on guard.

  “Let’s go in, and I’ll update you and your mom.”

  Ayana led the way up the stairs and into the house. Lenore was seated at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a mug of tea.

  “Can I get you anything?” she asked.

  “No, thank you.” Sam sat with them at the table. While they looked at her expectantly, Sam said, “We’ve made an arrest in Calvin’s case.”

  Lenore gasped and covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

  “Before I say anything else, I want to extend my personal apology that you were forced to wait this long for answers. That never should’ve happened, and I hold myself and others responsible for dropping balls that never should’ve been dropped.” She took a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. “We’ve arrested a man named Javier Lopez, who was a year ahead of Calvin at Ballou.”

  “Why do I recognize that name?” Lenore asked her daughter.

  “He was the one Cal had the fight with when he got suspended.”

  “That’s right.” Sam took them through the series of events, from Calvin calling out Javier for his treatment of Maisy, to the fight that led to Calvin’s suspension and Javier’s expulsion, to Javier’s rage at Calvin disrespecting him in front of his friends. “Javier admitted he shot at Calvin. He said he didn’t intend to kill him but just wanted to scare him. He said enough for us to charge him, and he said what he did in front of the Assistant U.S. Attorney who’ll prosecute him. We believe we have a very good case against him that’ll hold up in court. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he spends the rest of his life in jail for what he did to Calvin and for his role in the gang rape of a young woman earlier this week.”

  Lenore broke down into sobs.

  Ayana put her arms around her mother and held on tight.

  “It’s all so pointless,” Lenore said sometime later, after she’d recovered the ability to speak.

  “You can be proud of the way he stood up for his friend and called out a bully.”

  “Even if that cost him his life?” Lenore asked.

  “You raised a very good boy who would’ve become a very fine man. I never knew him, but I’m proud of what he did.”

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “Please don’t thank me. This case should’ve been closed years ago. We’re going to be reopening every one of Detective Stahl’s unsolved cases and taking another look at them. Because of you and because of Calvin, other families might get long-overdue justice as well. But I don’t put all the blame on that detective. I could’ve done something about this two years ago when I took command of Homicide, and I’ll always be sorry I didn’t.”

  “I don’t blame you. I blame him. He was the one who could’ve solved this case in an afternoon, the way you did.”

  “Still… I should’ve revisited it before now.”

  “What matters to me is that you gave me something I’ve wanted for fifteen years—answers. I needed to know why, and now I do. It doesn’t bring Calvin back, but it does bring a measure of peace I haven’t had before now.”

  Sam nodded, taking comfort in Lenore’s words. “I want you to know that we’re going to learn from this. I swear to you, we’re going to do better in memory of Calvin.”

  “Thank you for caring. It means the world to me.”

  Lenore and Ayana walked Sam to the door. She hugged them both. “I’ll keep you apprised as the cas
e proceeds.”

  “I’d appreciate that. I plan to attend every hearing.”

  Sam started out the door, but turned back to Lenore. “I hope if I’m ever faced with such a devastating loss that I’d handle myself with the same class and dignity you’ve shown from the beginning. I admire you more than I could ever tell you.”

  “Being admired by someone like you is an honor, Lieutenant.”

  “Thank you.” Sam left the house feeling as if she’d done her job but hollowed out on the inside over the many ways she and the department had let this family down. In the days ahead, she would do what she could to root out other cases like Calvin’s. Knowing Leonard Stahl the way she did, Sam had no doubt there would be more.

  “Enough,” she said as she drove home to Capitol Hill. “That’s enough for today.”

  They spent most of Wednesday hunting down high school friends of Javier’s. By midafternoon, they had two who were willing to testify to Javier’s rage at Calvin after the incident at school. They’d also talked to the ex-girlfriend of one of Javier’s friends who was willing to testify that being expelled for fighting with Calvin had only added to Javier’s rage, which strengthened the motive in their growing case. Apparently, he’d never expected the school to actually kick him out.

  And when they sent Crime Scene detectives into Javier’s home, they uncovered a nine-millimeter handgun, which was the gun they believed was used to kill Calvin.

  Sam hoped the lab would be able to tie the bullet that killed Calvin to Javier’s gun. They had enough without it, but connecting the gun would seal the deal.

  At four o’clock, she left her team with a long to-do list for the next two days and went home to change for the Nelson viewing at the Capitol. While she’d rather be at work than attending a funeral and moving to the White House over the next few days, at least she got to spend those days with her husband.

  “I won’t make you late,” was the first thing she said to Nick when she landed in the bedroom they shared to find him straightening his tie in the mirror. Like the entire downstairs, the room was full of packing boxes.

  He smiled at her in the mirror. “It never occurred to me that you would.”

  “Don’t stand there and lie to my face.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  She ran for the shower, put her hair in an elegant twist and applied enough makeup to make herself presentable, giving extra attention to covering the still-colorful bruise on her face. Out of deference to the agents all over the house, she put on a robe and headed for the closet across the hall, where almost everything had been packed except for a gorgeous black suit with a ruffle lapel that had her squealing like a girl.

  Until she remembered admonishing Lindsey for the same thing. Badass cops didn’t squeal, except over gorgeous silk suits. The designer had left notes and underwear to go with the two outfits. For tomorrow, she had a black dress made of the same fabric. As she got dressed, she tried not to be too excited about the clothes, since she was preparing for a funeral, after all.

  When she was dressed, she put on her black Louboutins, donned her engagement ring and diamond key necklace, spritzed on perfume and headed downstairs carrying the black-and-white plaid coat the designer had sent to complete her ensemble. Tomorrow’s coat was all black for the funeral. It was so nice to have someone taking the guesswork out of things like this for her.

  Downstairs, she found Nick and Scotty dressed for the viewing and gave Nick a curious look.

  “He wanted to come. I don’t see a problem with it.”

  “I knew him a little,” Scotty said. “I want to pay my respects.”

  “Of course you should come. I was just wondering whose idea it was. Now I know.”

  Nick held her coat for her. “You look gorgeous, babe.”

  “No kissing,” Scotty said. “It’s not respectful to the deceased.”

  Sam laughed. “Whatever you say, buster. Where are my Littles?”

  “At the park with Shelby and Noah,” Nick said. “I told them we’d be home in time to have dinner with them. The Secret Service told me this is an in-and-out thing for us.”

  With Scotty having already headed for the door and out of earshot, Sam said, “That’s our favorite kind of thing.”

  Nick’s laughter followed her out of the house and into The Beast. There were at least twenty other vehicles in the motorcade, which Sam thought was overkill, but no one had asked her opinion.

  “I gotta say that there are some benefits to being driven places,” Sam said as she snuggled up to Nick.

  He put his arm around her and held her close. “Yes, there sure are.”

  Sitting across from them, Scotty rolled his eyes. “So what happens at this thing, anyway?”

  Sam detected a note of uncertainty in his voice that she found endearing.

  “The president is lying in state at the Capitol, which is an honor given to very few people,” Nick said.

  “What does it mean to lie in state?”

  “He’s being honored in the seat of the United States government, and after the VIPs come through, the Capitol will be opened to the public so they can pay their respects. After the funeral, we’ll fly him home on Air Force One, and he’ll lie in state in the South Dakota State Capitol before he’s buried in Pierre. Here’s a piece of interesting presidential trivia for you. When we get to the Capitol, the coffin will be situated in the Great Rotunda under the dome. It’ll be placed on top of what’s called a catafalque, which is a fancy word for a stand. It’s the same catafalque that was used for Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy when they died in office.”

  “That’s really cool,” Scotty said. “How do you know this stuff?”

  “It was in the briefing documents I received about the funeral.”

  “Oh good. For a minute there, I was afraid you learned that in school a hundred years ago and actually remembered it.”

  Both his parents got a good laugh out of that.

  “Nope. I heard about that earlier today.”

  “That’s a relief. I knew you were crazy smart, but that’d be too damned much.”

  “I agree, Scotty,” Sam said, earning her a playful glare from her husband.

  “When we get to the Capitol, we’ll be the first to greet the Nelson family,” Nick said. “After us will come past presidents, members of Congress, the Supreme Court justices, President Nelson’s staff and cabinet as well as visiting dignitaries from other countries. I’m hosting a breakfast reception for the VIPs and the Nelson family at the White House tomorrow before the funeral.”

  “Thankfully, you don’t have to do the cooking,” Sam said.

  “You said it, babe. We just have to show up, shake some hands and eat.”

  “I’m really worried about getting used to White House-level service,” Sam said. “How will we ever go back to taking care of ourselves after that?”

  “It won’t be easy,” Nick said. “I’ve read about how past presidents miss the residence staff more than any of the other perks when they leave office.”

  “We don’t even officially live there yet, and I believe it.”

  At the Capitol, they were taken inside with the sort of efficiency the Secret Service specialized in.

  Gloria hugged them all and introduced them to her family, each of whom shook hands with them and made them feel welcome.

  Sam wondered how they felt about their brother Christopher, who was in prison for killing Sam’s ex-husband, among other crimes. After they greeted the family and expressed their condolences, Sam, Nick and Scotty stood before the flag-draped coffin while photographers took pictures that would be online in a matter of minutes and on the front page of every paper in the world tomorrow. Those photos were part of the imagery that signified the peaceful transition of power.

  Since she didn’t want to think about being in papers around the world, she reflected on her encounters with David Nelson, beginning at John O’Connor’s funeral and continuing throughout Nick’s tenure as Nelson’
s second vice president. Despite the differences she’d had with him, Sam was sad that his life had ended prematurely.

  Nick gave her healing hand a gentle squeeze, which brought her right back to the man who was her present and her future. He put his other hand on Scotty’s back to guide him toward the exit where Brant waited to lead them back to the car. In all, they’d been there about twenty minutes. Not too bad.

  As they left the Capitol, Nick drew their attention to the long lines of people waiting to pay their respects to their late president. Even though they couldn’t be seen inside The Beast, people waved to them as they went by.

  “That was cool,” Scotty said. “Thanks for letting me go.”

  “You’re witnessing history,” Nick said. “You’re welcome to attend the funeral tomorrow if you’d like to.”

  Scotty thought about that for a minute. “As much as I love any excuse to miss school, if it’s okay with you, I think I’ll pass on that. It’s kinda soon after Gramps and everything.”

  “You’re right, buddy,” Nick said. “It is.”

  “Will you be okay, Mom?”

  How blessed they were to have such a sweet, sensitive son. “I’ll be fine, pal. Don’t worry. But thanks for asking.”

  At home, they had dinner with the twins and played Candy Land with them until they couldn’t stay awake any longer. Sam and Nick each carried one of them up the stairs to bed and tucked them in. They were so tired, they didn’t even ask for a story.

  “Shelby will be here with you and Scotty in the morning,” Nick reminded them.

  “And we might not be back until after you’re asleep tomorrow night, but we’ll sneak in and give you kisses while you sleep,” Sam said. “Scotty will be here, and Celia is coming too. We’ll call you after school to see how your day was, okay?”

  Aubrey nodded. “Okay.” She turned on her side and snuggled up to her brother.

  “I hate to miss a whole day with them,” Sam said after they left the room.

  “Me too. But we have to do this.”

  “I know, but we don’t have to like it. What time do I need to be presentable tomorrow?”