Fatal Jeopardy

by Marie Force

  “Absolutely. Whatever I can do.”

  “Thanks. Things happen faster there when you guys ask than when we ask.”

  “Speaking of things moving faster, my cyber squad is close to the source of the video and photos. We’ve isolated the IP address, and now they’re working on identifying the physical location.”

  “That’s great. Thank you so much for pushing that through.”

  “No problem. The lab has the laptop and iPad with orders to expedite.”

  “Excellent.” While she talked with Avery, Sam was acutely aware of Nick sitting next to her and could only imagine what he was thinking as the favors she owed Avery continued to pile up. When the doorbell rang again, she wanted to sing “Hallelujah.”

  She swung open the door to find Lieutenant Archelotta there, holding a folder under his arm. Fabulous! Now she had one guy who had a crush on her and another she’d actually slept with, both here at the same time in the home she shared with her husband.

  “Hi, Archie. Come on in.”

  “Heard you were rounding up the troops and thought I might be able to help.” He handed her the file. “The dump on your niece’s phone.”

  “Thanks. Have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “You know Agent Hill and my husband, Nick.”

  Archie shook hands with Hill and Nick. “Senator.”

  “Lieutenant.”

  Sam was enormously thankful for the fact that she’d never told Nick she’d dated Archie for a while after her divorce from Peter—although their relationship had less to do with dating than it did with sex. Nick really didn’t need to know that.

  Where in the name of hell was the rest of her team? She dashed off a text to Freddie and Gonzo. Coming?

  Ten minutes out, Freddie replied.

  Fantastic. Sam took advantage of the uncomfortable silence in her living room to sift through the report Archie had given her. When all the numbers and letters ran together in an unreadable hodgepodge, Sam wanted to wail with frustration. Her dyslexia tended to rear its ugly head when she was tired, and she was as tired right now as she’d been in a long time.

  Tuning in to her dismay, Nick took the report from her and flipped through the pages. “Here,” he said, pointing. “Text messages between Brooke and Hoda, planning the whole get-out-of-jail scheme.”

  Without a thought to the two other men in the room with them, Sam said, “Read them to me.”

  “Davey snuck into his father’s office and notarized the note. Do you think it’ll work? It’ll be busy with people leaving for the holiday. They won’t look as closely. Hope you’re right. My mom will freak if I’m not here when they come to pick me up. You’ll be there.”

  “So they intended to get her back there that night,” Sam said. “How were they hoping to do that when they were drunk and stoned?”

  “Maybe they had a designated driver?” Archie asked.

  “That might be giving these kids a bit more credit than they deserve,” Sam said. “Including my niece.”

  “Is the brass giving you grief about the connection to your niece?” Archie asked.

  “Some, but we’ve ruled her out as a suspect in the MacArthur murders, and her case is being overseen by SVU.”

  “That makes sense. I heard Springer was making a stink about you not being on the case. He said he wants the best, and Lieutenant Holland is the best.”

  “Well, that is true,” Sam said, and all three men laughed, which went a long way toward easing the tension.

  Freddie and Gonzo arrived a few minutes later, followed shortly by McBride, Tyrone, Arnold, Carlucci and Dominguez. When everyone was settled, Sam brought them up to date on the decision she and the chief had made earlier. “But before we go any further, Gonzo, I’m dying to know what happened in court today.”

  A smile stretched across his face. “Full and permanent custody.”

  “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re relieved and thrilled for you and Christina,” Sam said sincerely.

  “Thank you, LT.”

  “Chief Farnsworth and I agreed that even though I’ll be helping out on the MacArthur case, you’ll still be running the show.”

  “Oh,” Gonzo said, sitting up a little straighter. “Okay.”

  Sam filled them in on what she’d done that day and the information she’d brought back from Brooke’s school. When she was finished, she nodded to Gonzo, encouraging him to take over the meeting.

  “Let’s hear what everyone else has,” he said.

  The doorbell rang again, and Sam got up to admit Lindsey McNamara and Terry O’Connor.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Lindsey said. “We were out grabbing some dinner when I got your message.”

  “I don’t have to stay if it’s not appropriate,” Terry said.

  “Come in,” Sam said. “It’s fine.”

  When Nick saw his deputy chief of staff, he got up slowly from the sofa to shake Terry’s hand. Nick gestured toward the kitchen. “I was just about to get a soda. Can I get you one?”

  “I won’t say no to that,” Terry said as he followed Nick from the room. He seemed as anxious as Nick to relocate away from the room full of cops.

  “Cruz,” Gonzo said. “What’ve you got?”

  Freddie referred to his notes. “A list of all our victims, to begin with. Hugo Springer, age eighteen, lived in the house. Michael Chastain, age seventeen, and Todd Brantley, age eighteen, both Wilson High School seniors. Kevin Corrigan, age eighteen, graduated from Wilson this year. The girls were Lacey Morrison, age sixteen, Kelsey Lewis, age fifteen, Julia Pelse, age seventeen, Maura McHugh, age seventeen, and Shana Gilford, age sixteen. Lacy, Kelsey and Julia are students at Roosevelt. Maura and Shana went to Sidwell Friends with Hugo Springer. All the parents have been notified, but we’ve kept the crime scene details from the parents and out of the reports and the press thus far.”

  “So the parents don’t know there were drugs and booze and sex involved,” Sam said.

  “Right,” Freddie replied. “All three of the schools have brought in therapists to help the other students as needed.”

  “We’ll have to meet with the parents at some point to tell them how it went down,” Gonzo said.

  “Agreed,” Sam said. “Perhaps we can bring them in together when we know more.” She told the others what Scotty had witnessed the night before when Brooke was brought to their house. “If possible, I’d like to keep him out of the official investigation because he didn’t see anything that identified the people who made the drop or the car. However, he was able to put the drop at some time around eleven-forty. He said two people got out of the backseat with Brooke while another waited in the car. The two carried Brooke up the ramp, left her there and ran back to the car, which took off the second they were both inside. So we can assume that in addition to the nine who were killed, at least four other people were at the Springer house, including Brooke and Hoda. I’d like to know if there were more.”

  “The neighbors told us there were a lot of cars there throughout the night,” Jeannie said. “Lots of coming and going.”

  “Dr. McNamara,” Gonzo said. “What’ve you got on the autopsies?”

  “All the victims died from stab wounds and blood loss. We’re awaiting the full toxicology results. The lab was completely overwhelmed today, so it’s taking a while, but the smell of alcohol was pervasive. We’ve established time of death for all the victims between eleven and eleven-fifteen.”

  “So the whole thing went down over the span of fifteen minutes,” Gonzo said.

  Lindsey nodded in agreement. “All of them had engaged in or were in the process of engaging in some form of sexual activity at the time of death.”

  “Agent Hill?” Gonzo said. “Anything to add?”


  “My cyber team is getting close to isolating the physical location of the IP address from which the photos and video of Brooke Hogan’s assault found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram originated. I’ll pass along that information as soon as we have it. We’re also processing the laptop and iPad retrieved from Brooke’s room at her school in Virginia to see what we can find out about the party planning and other people she may have heard from in reference to the party.”

  “We appreciate the assist,” Gonzo said.

  “Happy to help.”

  “Until we’re able to speak to Brooke and track down her friend Hoda, I think we should split up the victims and go back to the parents to try to get some insight on who else might’ve been at the party,” Gonzo said. He went down the list, dividing the victims among the detectives. “Try to get a handle on their other friends with addresses and phone numbers and then follow up to see if you can find anyone else who was there. Ask about boyfriends, girlfriends, exes, anyone who had a beef with one of them. We also need more info about who had easy access to the Springers’ house. Arnold and I will take that angle and look into the maid’s story to make sure her alibi checks out.”

  Sam and Freddie were assigned Todd Brantley and Kelsey Lewis. Sam’s stomach turned at the thought of knocking on the doors of grieving families in search of information. It had to be done, but she hated doing it and knew the others did too.

  “I suggest we keep an eye on social media,” Archie said. “These kids love to air it out online. I can put some of my people on monitoring what’s being said about the party and the murders. We can also mine the victims’ individual accounts for people expressing condolences and making comments on their walls.” As he spoke, Archie was typing into his phone, no doubt issuing orders to his IT detectives.

  “Excellent,” Gonzo said. “I expect that we’ll end up with a long list of people to follow up with, so everyone should work their own lists and keep me apprised of anything you uncover.” He glanced at Sam. “Anything to add, LT?”

  “This is a tough one,” Sam said thoughtfully. “If you need help, ask for it. It’s not the time to act like it’s not getting to you if it is.”

  “Agreed,” Gonzo said. “We all know our cases are much more difficult when there’re kids involved, so reach out if you need anything. Let’s reconnect tomorrow at sixteen thirty at HQ. Dominguez and Carlucci, stay on the lab overnight and report in to me at zero six hundred. Everyone else go home and get some sleep. We’ve got another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Even though he’d much rather have another beer, Nick poured sodas for himself and Terry, a recovering alcoholic.

  “I don’t know how they deal with this shit day in and day out,” Terry said as he accepted the icy glass from Nick. “It makes what we do look like preschool.”

  “A lot of times, the Senate feels like an overgrown preschool,” Nick said with a chuckle as he sat at the table with Terry.

  “True. Still... Do you ever worry about Sam breaking under the strain of what she sees every day?”

  “I worry more about things like stray bullets flying around her.”

  “Yeah, I suppose that’d be a bigger deal than the emotional fallout.”

  “That’s a concern, too, but she tends to roll with it all pretty well. This one is tougher than most, though. Her niece Brooke was at the party at some point, and turned up here, naked and bloody and wrapped up in a sheet on our doorstep.”

  “Oh my God. Is she okay?”

  “She will be. We hope.”

  Terry shook his head and blew out a deep breath. “Tracy and Mike seem like nice people.”

  “They are. They’re reeling.”

  “Not the vacation you’ve been anticipating, huh?”

  “Not hardly. But family is family, and you do what you’ve got to do.”

  “Yes, you do.” Terry eyed Nick as if there was something else he wanted to say.

  “Something on your mind?”

  “Just an odd little rumor I heard at the DNC meeting earlier today.”

  “What kind of rumor?” Nick asked, though he feared he might already know what Terry was going to say.

  “Something about you replacing Gooding as VP.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Is it true?”

  “It’s true that Nelson asked me. It’s not true that it’s happening.”

  Terry stared at him, mouth agape. “Nelson asked you to be VP, and you turned him down?”

  “Yeah, I turned him down.”

  “Why?”

  Laughing, Nick said, “You sound just like your dad did when I told him I said no.”

  “I can only imagine his reaction. This is Nelson handing you the nomination in four years if you want it. You realize that, don’t you?”

  “I get it.”

  “So again I ask, why?”

  “Think about it, Terry.” Nick gestured to the kitchen door, which was the only thing between them and the team of cops in his living room. “You know why.”

  “Because of Sam. And her job.”

  “And Scotty, who’s only been with us a few months and has made a very smooth transition. Everything would change, and I like things the way they are.” He thought of the interrupted vacation. “Most of the time.”

  “But... It’s vice president...of the United States.”

  “I know,” Nick said with a smile. “It’s just not the right time.”

  Terry looked like he wanted to cry as he took a drink of his soda.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Nick asked him.

  Terry dabbed at his eyes dramatically. “In time. Maybe.”

  “You and your dad,” Nick said, laughing. “Cut from the same political cloth. He nearly had an embolism when I told him I turned down Nelson’s offer.”

  “I’m surprised that’s all he almost had. From what I heard, Nelson hasn’t given up on you yet.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I said no.”

  Terry shrugged. “You’re still his first choice. I think you can expect the White House to play some hardball before he moves on. You might want to talk to Derek and get his take.”

  Nick’s friend Derek Kavanaugh had recently returned to his post as Nelson’s deputy chief of staff, months after his wife, Victoria, was murdered. Derek was easing back to work, but he’d certainly have the scoop on Nelson’s vice presidential deliberations. “I’ll see what he has to say, but I’m not changing my mind.”

  “What does Sam think of it?”

  “She wasn’t happy to have heard about it through the grapevine. She won’t tell me how she heard it, but I think one of the reporter-stalkers told her.”

  “You didn’t tell her?”

  “What was the point in bringing it up? He asked, I said no, thank you, Mr. President, and that was the end of it.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’m just wondering what she had to say about being kept in the dark about your conversation with Mr. President.”

  “She wasn’t pleased that I didn’t tell her, but she gets why I said no. Can you imagine her as second lady?”

  “Umm...” Terry’s lips quivered.

  “It’s okay to laugh. The thought of it cracks me up too.”

  They shared a laugh, and Nick was thankful to have something to laugh about after the brutal night and day they’d just endured.

  “She’d do it for you, you know.”

  “Yes,” Nick said with a sigh. “She would, and she’d hate every minute of it. That’s not what I want for her—or for us. And speaking of choices made with the best interest of family in mind... Christina has let me know she’s resigning after Christmas to spend more time with Tommy and A
lex.”

  “She is? For real? Wow, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Neither did I, but I get it. Kids are only little for a short time, and she wants to be with Alex. I think she’d like to have a baby of her own too. She knows my door is always open to her if she wants to come back to work.” He paused, contemplating the man he’d known for twenty years who’d finally become a close friend in the last six months. “Of course her departure leaves me in need of a chief of staff. Are you interested in a promotion?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Dead seriously.”

  “I, um...” When his eyes filled, Terry looked away until he had regained his composure. “I’d be honored.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you. When I think about where I was a year ago and where I am now... It’s overwhelming, and I have you to thank for taking a huge chance on me when you had no good reason to.”

  “I had every good reason to. I knew this Terry was still in there somewhere, and it’s been a pleasure to have him by my side this year.”

  “I hate that my brother had to die for me to get a clue and get my life together.”

  “He’d be proud of how far you’ve come. He used to worry about you a lot.”

  “He did?”

  Nick nodded. “It pained him that he ended up where he was due to your misfortune. He never wanted it in the first place, but he certainly didn’t want it at your expense.”

  “He and I... We weren’t as close as we could’ve been, which is another of my many regrets.”

  “He’d love the changes you’ve made,” Nick assured him. “As much as the rest of us do. And he’d love to see you so happy with Lindsey.”

  “I hope so. I miss him. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year.”

  “I know. I find that hard to believe too. And what a year it’s been. He wouldn’t recognize any of us if he came strolling in here right now.”

  “No kidding, right?” Terry said with a smile. “You married, me sober and in a stable relationship for the first time in my adult life, Christina leaving the rat race to help raise her fiancé’s kid. Who are these people, and what have we done with his friends and family?”