They'll Call It Treason

by Jordon Greene

  “So far, yes.” Jason agreed, “We need something more though. All the other victims were on the national stage, Daniels wasn’t.”

  “But he was pushing anti-fed legislation,” Ethan reminded him. “How far did he get? What type of support was he pulling in?”

  “I’ll have to dig deeper for that,” Jason responded.

  “Ah, shit,” Ethan blurted.

  “What?”

  “Traffic,” Ethan explained, nodding forward at the brake lights glowing bright red and the unending line of cars up the road that were not moving.

  “Oh,” Jason said with a sigh. “We might not make it back to the office by five after all.”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow and huffed. Should have flown back.

  “So,” Ethan said, “What do we have so far? A representative murdered late in the night who was…”

  “Hold up,” Jason interrupted him. “You might find this interesting. Just a month ago Daniels announced he was running for Congress.”

  “Really? Did anyone think he had a chance?” Ethan asked, squinting as he finally had to bring the SUV to complete stop.

  “It looks like the sitting representative was another Republican, Congressman Revels,” Jason explained.

  “And Revels announced what, like three months ago, that she would not be running again after her term was up.” Ethan finished Jason’s thought.

  “Exactly, and if I’m remembering Revels right, I’d have to say that she and Daniels have a bit in common.” Jason went on to explain, “She’s always a major advocate for getting the feds out of the state’s affairs and ending the drug war. Seems like a natural fit, and the district sent her to Congress what, four times?”

  “Yeah, I believe this is her fourth term.” Ethan agreed, seeing a small thread growing between the cases, “So maybe he doesn’t have national presence yet, but someone feared he would have one soon enough?”

  “It’s a guess, that’s for sure.” Jason agreed. “We need more than that though.”

  “You said Benson sent the security camera feeds already, right?” Ethan asked.

  “Yeah, about a half an hour ago.” Jason smirked, “Seems he got right to it once we left.”

  “Well,” Ethan said pointing forward, “we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so let’s take a look.”

  “Good point,” Jason said as he navigated to his e-mail on the tablet. “Here we are.”

  Leaning over, Ethan saw a video loading up on the screen. It was a dark black-and-white image with low clarity.

  “Alright, Benson sent two feeds and was even nice enough to cut them down to five minute clips for us,” Jason jeered, “but he says he is having the full feeds sent to our office. I’m going to try this split screen, hopefully they won’t be too small to see.”

  “Works for me. It’s not like we are going to get high definition from a CCTV feed anyway,” Ethan added.

  “Yeah, let’s see what they did catch then,” Jason said and clicked the play buttons on both, letting them run almost in sync.

  The video on the left of the screen looked up the street toward the recess where Representative Daniels’ had been found while the other looked down Fayetteville Street away from the murder scene in the direction Representative Jacobson said Daniels had come from the Cardinal Club.

  At first the streets were empty. Then a car passed by and a few young kids with sagging pants walked down the opposite side of the street. Another set of cars and more pedestrians moved along the street in view of the cameras as the timer ticked down.

  “There he is,” Jason said pointing to the right feed. On the screen was a man in a suit and tie jogging quickly toward the intersection. “That’s our body right there.”

  Ethan nodded, continuing to watch. On the same feed Ethan watched as another figure, ostensibly a man, walked across the street.

  “What about this guy behind Daniels?” Ethan asked aloud, not really expecting an answer, pointing at the screen.

  In the camera feed they could see Daniels, something in his hand, probably his phone, running down Fayetteville. Trying to get to his son.

  “If that’s our suspect, Ethan, he sure isn’t trying to hide himself,” Jason cocked his head to the side, wondering.

  “I don’t know, I still can’t get a good view of his face with all the shadows,” Ethan stated referring to the trees casting their long shadows across the sidewalk in addition to the pixilated resolution of the feed. He squinted, trying to see some form of detail in the man’s face.

  “Here we go,” Jason thought aloud as the representative suddenly stopped and turned to look at the approaching figure.

  Unfortunately there was no audio, and their lips were not discernible in the low grade feed. A few quick words seemed to be exchanged and then Riley turned and continued his dash down the street while the man turned and walked the other direction.

  “Hm…” Jason huffed. “Looks like…”

  Suddenly a dark grey figure reached out from a shadow down the intersecting street and reeled Daniels backward and off his feet. Jason went quiet. Ethan moved closer to the screen.

  In the video a dark figure grabbed hold of Daniels and tugged him backward, knocking him to the ground. For several moments they watched as Daniels took a beating. Ethan visualized the violent swings catching Daniels in the stomach through the shadows. The bruises on his body becoming more real in Ethan’s mind as he watched the continued beating.

  In the moments that followed, only a faint outline of the two could be seen as the attacker drug Daniels into the recessed doorway. Then nothing, just a dark open doorway and an empty street spanned roughly two minutes of the video feed.

  Jason sat back in his chair, offering a quick commentary, “So, like we thought, Daniels was attacked from behind and pulled into that crevice where he was beaten and murdered.”

  “That much was easy enough to determine from the…”

  Beep, beep!

  Ethan and Jason jerked, looking back up to the road. The cars had moved forward about ten yards and the driver behind them was apparently not happy they were sitting still, flinging his hands up in the air and his mouth was moving quickly, probably calling Ethan and Jason every horrible thing imaginable.

  “Nice,” Ethan commented as he moved the SUV forward almost two car lengths before he had to stop again. “Some people.”

  “Ah look,” Jason said pointing back to the video feeds on his lap, tipping the tablet so Ethan could see again.

  Finally the attacker emerged from the doorway and stopped, checking to make sure there was no one passing by to witness him leaving the scene of the crime. The shadowy figure then walked back down the street the direction he had come. His pace was casual as if nothing had happened. Even with the figure facing the camera the light was too dim to make out any details.

  “Come on, you gotta give us something,” Ethan said to the computer. After four years they still could not positively identify any of the suspects. Like this one, they tended to strike in the shadows or at great distances. They needed something.

  Then, like an answer to his words, a faint glow settled partially on the figure’s face, exposing his left ear, part of his lips and his neck just above the collar for a mere second. Prepared for the light, he turned his face away from the glow and pulled a hood over his head.

  “Freeze that,” Ethan barked.

  Jason tapped the screen and the image froze in place.

  “Zoom in on him… Okay, closer. On his neck,” Ethan sounded like he was on to something.

  Jason obeyed, zooming closer in on the suspect, until only the figure’s neck was visible in the feed. There seemed to be something foreign there, a blot.

  “Can you clear that up any?” Ethan asked, hoping to see what the blot was.

  “Maybe,” Jason said. He tapped a few buttons on the screen and the image gained a little clarity.

  Jason pointed just above the man’s shirt collar at a tattoo. He smiled, glad to have some
positive news, “Well look at that.”

  Ethan saw it, the realization hitting him, “A triple dagger.”

  It was the same tattoo, in the same location, they had glimpsed two years ago when an outspoken journalist for the Washington Post had been murdered in Massachusetts. So far none of their searches had turned up an exact match.

  “Looks like we’ve got our connection,” Ethan said sitting back in his chair.

  NINE MONTHS LATER

  CHAPTER 4

  January 26 at 7:40 p.m. EST

  Virginia Beach, Virginia

  The shrill giggles of elementary school girls carried into the dining room. Kallie's half eaten birthday cake sat at one end of the table along with a scattering of torn wrapping paper.

  Kallie was Jason’s only daughter, his little princess. Her curly brown hair hung just past her shoulders and her green eyes could melt anyone's heart. She was growing up quickly. Tonight was her eighth birthday party. That meant a handful of loud little girls swarming the house. It was one of the few things which made Jason wonder why he had wanted kids.

  Ethan sat at the dining room table with the adults while the kids played in the neighboring room. Jason and his wife Amanda, a petite brunette with a freckled forehead, sat to Ethan’s left. Austin Conway sat directly across from Ethan, quiet as usual. Every strand of his fiery auburn hair was in perfect order above his brown eyes. Austin sat in his usual timid pose like he was waiting for the right moment to talk, but rarely finding it. He was the quiet one, the intellectual, always either too shy to speak or not sure when it was appropriate.

  On Ethan’s right sat a man who had never had that problem, Grayson Whitaker. He was a short guy, but even at his height he was not one to trifle with. His sandy brown hair donned a disheveled look that somehow complemented his pale blue eyes and gruff, muscular features.

  As usual he was talking, this time telling a story from his college days, jokingly punching his friend Dante in the shoulder. Dante Mercer was the clown of the group. At six foot two and packed with over two hundred pounds of muscle his size gave any fool reason to reconsider giving him any trouble. Yet, for those who knew him, he was a comedian.

  “So I was in bed. I think I had to work early the next morning or something,” Grayson explained, his hands moving about in the air as they usually did when he spoke. “My roommates, including Dante here, were all partying it up downstairs though.”

  “Ah… I know where this is going. It’s a lie, all lies,” Dante joked, lowering his head with a smile. He obviously remembered the night Ian was talking about down at Florida State.

  “Ha, sure they are,” Jason laughed.

  “Well, as I was saying. All of a sudden Greg, one of our other roommates,” Grayson noted, “was banging on my bedroom door, hollering for me to get up. Apparently a fight had broken out outside. So I jumped out of bed and ran out on the front porch. The party had ended, or just begun depending on how you look at it, and those idiots were all in a brawl on the front lawn.”

  Dante looked away sheepishly, getting ready for what he knew was about to be told.

  “There were like twenty people duking it out in the yard. The first one I saw was poor little Joe, giving it all he had, but getting the crap beat out of him. He was sore for days afterward. Then Dante over here,” Grayson leaned over and put his arm around Dante giving him a shake, smiling from ear to ear. “I catch him towering over everyone just plowing through like a rhino. He apparently had it covered. Well mostly covered. Somehow during it all, he managed to strip down to just his boxers. I’m just glad he kept those on. I think the vodka may have had something to do with that.”

  They all burst out laughing, Dante caved in and joined them. “Not exactly my shining moment,” Dante admitted.

  “Dante barely avoided assault charges, and almost had an indecent exposure count slapped on him. Apparently someone claimed he was streaking.” Grayson explained between laughs.

  “Which I was not, though I’m sure they would have enjoyed that too,” Dante interrupted.

  “Yeah, and come to find out, after it was all over, the fight was over some guy who hadn’t even been invited. He apparently got a little tipsy and decided to get a bit too frisky with Dante’s girl. Of course, as we know now, that’s a bad idea,” Grayson said emphasizing the sarcasm.

  Ethan had heard this story on at least four prior occasions, but it was still entertaining. He could see Amanda looking behind them through the open doorway into the living room, checking on the kids, who were likely immersed in some new doll or dress-up clothes. Their giggles carried into the dining room.

  “Hey that was the last time he, or anyone else, ever messed with me or my women though,” Dante retorted, still chuckling.

  “Of course it was, we were afraid you’d start stripping again,” Grayson joked.

  “Really Gray, I thought you’d enjoy that sort of thing,” Austin finally spoke, taking a stab at Grayson, his voice a tad bewildered.

  Grayson shot him a look that could kill before letting a smile break through his façade. The table burst into laughter again. Ethan leaned across the table with his fist out toward Austin, “That’s more like it, Austin!”

  Austin took the praise and pounded Ethan’s fist, still cackling with the rest of the group.

  “Whoa, if I wasn’t so surprised, Austin, I think I might actually be mad,” Gray said in amusement.

  “Dante I’ve seen your taste in women,” Amanda jumped in, abandoning her usually passive role without Kate present. “That’s why people don’t mess with your women” feigning air quotes at “women.”

  Dante started to open his mouth when Jason butted in grinning, “Choose your next words wisely, friend.”

  “Well.” Dante seemed to be at a loss for words suddenly. “I think the rest of this table can agree that I have excellent taste. I’d take you out if you weren’t tied to this one,” reaching over the table to slap Jason on the shoulder.

  “Okay,” Jason opened his eyes wide with a gentle laugh. “Not going to happen.”

  With that usual mischievous smile, Dante redirected his attention to Ethan, “Speaking of women, where’s Kate at? She alright?”

  “Oh she’s fine. She’s just back in Cary still. She has that night class every Tuesday now. She couldn’t find anyone to cover for her so she had to stay,” Ethan replied. He wished she could be here. She always enjoyed talking with the guys and taking Amanda’s side during all the clowning. “But if we are talking about women, seeing that Jason here has already beat us all on the whole marriage deal, and I’m at least dating, are you all having problems in that department?”

  Gray jumped at that one. “Hey, now! You all know that I’m not exactly thrilled about this whole long-term relationship thing. You know how well that turned out with the former Mrs. Whitaker. Plus, just ‘cause I’m single doesn’t mean I don’t like to mingle.”

  Ethan chuckled, nodding his head, knowing that much was true. Gray and Dante both had a different method with the women than he did that much was for sure. Deep down, Ethan was an old-fashioned guy. He could now admit that he wanted a long-lasting relationship, though it had taken him a long time to accept it. Gray and Dante, on the other hand, had no problem with a one-night stand here and there.

  Austin defended himself. “I’m just taking it nice and slow…”

  “That’s what she said!” Dante jumped in, almost hollering.

  Ethan and Jason grinned and shook their heads while Amanda rolled her eyes. Gray chuckled, patting Dante on the shoulder approvingly.

  “Man! Seriously?” Austin smirked. It was hard not to find Dante amusing even when you happened to be the center of his attention at the moment.

  “Ah, Dante, come on!” urged Amanda in disgust, “I’m sitting right here.”

  “She’s just overly sensitive,” said Jason, jokingly waving a dismissive hand at his wife. Her forced stern look quickly relaxed into a smile as they laughed. Even Austin could not help but join in.<
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  It was getting late; the frequency of the jokes was enough to tell Ethan that, and he had a phone date with Kate. He shuffled in his chair and decided it was time to head out.

  “Well it’s been good, but I need to get going. Kate is going to be expecting a call in a little bit,” Ethan explained as he got up. “I’m going to go tell Kallie bye and then I’ll be off,” he said, patting Jason on the shoulders.

  Ethan pushed in his chair and exchanged goodbyes with his friends. These guys, and gal, were as good as any family to Ethan. Even with all the teasing that came along with them.

  CHAPTER 5

  January 26 at 9:05 p.m. EST

  Virginia Beach, Virginia

  The living room was littered with shredded wrapping paper, bows and boxes in a vast assortment of colors, often overtaken by shades of pink. A heap of new toys rose up in the corner of the room. Jason wondered how long it would be until they ended up broken or lost in the depths of Kallie’s toy trunk.

  Jason surveyed the room. It looked like a tornado had swept through as his daughter and her friends had been playing and left its trail all over the place. He had expected no less. Still, cleaning up the mess of a bunch of rowdy little girls after a birthday party was inevitably daunting. Luckily, the blue window drapes and Amanda’s pale yellow walls had survived unscathed. The floor, however, had not made it.

  Shutting the door behind him as he waved goodbye to the last of Kallie’s friends and their parents, Jason let out a deep breath. Absently, he slid a hand through his thick brown hair. The cleanup would have to wait until Kallie was in bed.

  Gently guiding Kallie down the hall, Jason bent down to his knees. He met her generous green eyes, her mother’s eyes.

  “So did you have a good birthday?” he asked.

  “Yes daddy, it was great!” Kallie said between tiny giggles, fidgeting a curly lock of nearly black hair.

  “I’m glad,” Jason said, pushing her hair away from her eyes, uncovering another gorgeous emerald. “I’m so proud of you. You’re growing up to be a fine young lady.”