Reasonable Doubt

by Carsen Taite

  He was right. As much as she wanted to see for herself what was up, absolutely no good could come from her showing up and confronting the agents searching her home. Public protestations of innocence would hardly help when she didn’t have a clue what she was accused of doing. Right now, she needed to be somewhere she could take a breath and think. Someplace quiet and out of sight. “Okay, I’ll get a room at the Melrose. Do you have your laptop with you?”

  “It’s in my suitcase. Take the whole thing. It’ll make you look less conspicuous. Once I have a handle on what’s going on, I’ll meet you there.”

  A few minutes later, Ellery pulled into the parking lot at the Melrose hotel. She hopped out of the truck and grabbed her dad’s suitcase while he walked around the truck to climb into the driver’s seat. She lingered for a moment while he adjusted the seat and mirrors, but he seemed more intent on getting where he was going than discussing the matter any further. “Call me as soon as you know something,” she said.

  “Count on it.” He pointed at the hotel. “Get a room and stay put. I’ll be in touch.” Seconds later, he was gone.

  Ellery watched until the truck was out of sight, then she climbed the steps to the hotel. There wasn’t a wait at the reception desk and she approached the man behind the counter and waited for him to get off the phone.

  “Welcome to the Melrose,” he said. “Do you have a reservation?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t, but I’m hoping you have something available.”

  “You have good timing. We were all booked up for tonight, but I just got off the phone with a cancellation. It’s for the Presidential Suite, though. Will that work for you? If not, I can make a couple of recommendations for nearby accommodations.”

  A few years ago, she would’ve thought nothing of dropping the extra cash on an extravagant suite. She’d changed since then, and the luxury and the expense felt out of sync with the rest of the choices she’d made, but right now she needed to feel safe and that meant not trolling around the city looking for a hotel room. “I’ll take it.”

  The bellman seemed mystified at her one small suitcase, but he dutifully showed her around the suite. Ellery had been to many community events at this historic hotel, but she’d only stayed overnight a few times and, even then she’d usually booked a regular suite. The Presidential suite had three rooms, including a dining room with a table designed to accommodate eight guests. Maybe I’ll invite the media and hold my own press conference. Too bad, I don’t have a clue what I’d say since I don’t have any idea what brought this fresh hell down on my head.

  Time to remedy that. She opened her dad’s suitcase and pulled out his laptop. She used the hotspot on her cell to log on the Internet, not wanting to take a chance on the hotel’s unsecured WiFi connection. She started with a few simple searches including her name and the names of a few federal agencies as search terms. Her efforts returned over a dozen hits from various news sources, but each one was basically the same story from the AP wire, repeated over and over again, with no more detail than the local radio channels she’d heard in the car.

  She glanced at her cell phone, willing her father to call with some information, but she realized he’d barely had time to get to her house, let alone assess what was going on. She had no idea how she was going to endure the wait and was considering ignoring her promise to stay put when the phone rang. She looked at the screen. Meg. She rushed to answer. “What did you find out?”

  “Ellery?”

  “Yes. What’s going on? Did you find out anything?”

  “Is Gordon there?”

  “Yes. I mean no. I mean he’s here in town, but he’s not with me right now.” Ellery fumbled for words as she tried to process Meg’s stilted tone. “If there’s something I need to know, just tell me.”

  Meg sighed. “I think I should talk to Gordon.”

  “Dammit, Meg.” She wished she could make her stop calling her father Gordon. It suggested they had a relationship outside of her. “If you know something, tell me.”

  “I don’t, Ellery. I don’t know anything about why you’re in so much trouble. But I do know that if things are as bad as these agents seem to think, then you need a lawyer and anyone who touches this case is tainted. Nothing like an early morning raid to send all our clients packing. I’m going to be the laughing stock of the courthouse tomorrow.”

  “You? What about me?”

  “What about you? You don’t go to the courthouse anymore, remember? And they may be looking for files with your name on them, but I’m the one who’s left behind to sort it all out. Guilt by association.”

  Ellery’s temper flared. “Except I’m not guilty of anything.” Meg’s last words triggered an idea. “Can we dial this down a notch? You may be on to something with the guilt by association. Maybe they’re looking into one of my former clients. Has anything they’ve said given you a clue about the focus of their investigation?”

  “They’re pretty tight-lipped. I don’t know that we’re going to get any information until we get the affidavit for the search warrant and it’s probably under seal.”

  Ellery sighed. Meg was probably right. In order to get a search warrant, agents would have to swear out an affidavit to a judge stating specific information about why they wanted to search and what exactly they were looking to find. Usually, the affidavit was a roadmap of the case, but in cases like this, where national security might be involved, the affidavit was often placed under seal and only available to the accused when they were officially charged with a crime. In the meantime, she’d have to find another way to figure out what in the hell was going on.

  A beep signaled she had another call coming in. She asked Meg to hold and switched over to find her dad on the line. “Where are you? What have you found out?”

  “I’m at your house. They want to take your computers and the warrant allows it, but I think if I give them access, they’ll copy the hard drives instead.”

  Ellery’s gut clenched at the invasion of her privacy, but she knew she didn’t really have a choice. At least if she kept her computer, she could have the hard drives copied as well to make sure she knew exactly what the feds were getting. She read off her passwords and then said, “Have you gotten any more information?”

  “Not much, but they think you were a valuable resource to the group that bombed the arena. What exactly that means, I don’t know yet. I’m working on it. Frankly, I think they don’t really know anything and they are just fishing for evidence.”

  “There’s nothing for them to find. I don’t have a clue what they’re thinking.”

  A few seconds of silence passed and he said, “I called Lena. I want you to see her today.”

  “I told you not to call her. Besides, I don’t have time to meet with her today. I have a show tonight, remember?”

  “I know you did, but I don’t think you understand the scope of this. You’re going to need an entire team in place to handle the fallout, and Lena’s just one piece. I’ll finish up here and then meet you at your hotel and we can make a plan.”

  Ellery tried to ignore the hint of excitement in his tone and gave him her room number. She switched back to the other line, but Meg had either hung up or been disconnected. Either way, she was alone and it didn’t matter what her father said about an entire team, she was going to have to figure this out for herself.

  *

  Sarah burst through the double doors and practically ran down the hall. She’d been trapped in court for the last three hours, watching a young assistant US attorney haggle with a seasoned criminal defense lawyer. Liz was the agent assigned to this case, but Mason had sent her instead because he needed Liz on another project. As promised, she hadn’t had to actually do anything, since the hearing was primarily about evidentiary issues, but the AUSA had wanted someone on hand just in case. Worse than realizing she’d never get back the last few hours of her life, Sarah dreaded ever having to work with this particular AUSA since she was in completely over her h
ead and she wasn’t smart enough to know it.

  As she walked to her car, she switched her phone back on, relieved to be reconnected with the outside world. She had three missed calls and one voice message, all from Danny. She didn’t bother checking the message, instead punching Danny’s number. When she answered, Sarah said, “You must really miss me to call that many times. Aren’t we supposed to see each other tonight?”

  “Haven’t you heard?”

  “Heard what?”

  “And here I thought you federal agents were on top of everything. Or are you playing dumb because you can’t talk about it?”

  Sarah unlocked the ’Vette and slid inside. “I give up. I have no clue what you’re talking about. Care to share?”

  “Ellery Durant? Search warrants? Terrorism? Stop me when something rings a bell.”

  The joy at hearing Ellery’s name went dark at the word terrorism. And search warrants? Sarah gripped the phone tightly. “Okay, I know nothing, but you obviously do. Spill.”

  “Sorry, pal, I thought you would know, but I guess that’s silly. It’s not like all you feds work at the same place.”

  “Uh, Danny, get to it.”

  “Sorry. HSI executed a search warrant at Ellery’s old firm this morning and her house. Rumor has it she has ties to the group that was responsible for the bombing.”

  “No way.” Sarah hit her free hand against the steering wheel. “No fucking way.”

  “Hey, don’t yell at me. I’m just telling you what’s on the news. HSI is also searching some charity’s headquarters, WHI, Welcome Home Institute or something like that.”

  “International. Welcome Home International.” Sarah spoke the words as if in a trance. She simply couldn’t believe all of this was going down right now.

  Danny’s voice switched to a softer tone. “Is everything okay? Did you really not know about this?”

  Sarah switched the phone to Bluetooth and started her car. She needed to get somewhere, do something to stave off the strong feeling of helplessness she felt. The office was the obvious first place to start, but something cautioned her against it. She found it difficult to believe HSI would have suddenly developed information on who exactly was responsible for the bombing and Trip wouldn’t have clued her in. What she needed was a computer where she could find out exactly what was going on. “I’ve been in court all morning. Didn’t have a clue. Hey, can I call you back later? I have to run down some information.”

  “Sure. Do you think we’re still on for tonight?”

  The show. Damn. Was Ellery under arrest? Surely, HSI wouldn’t be beating down the door of a lawyer without some very damning information to back up their investigation. “I don’t have a clue.”

  “Are you going to call her?”

  “What?” Sarah had heard Danny’s words, but she was stalling. Her first instinct had been to call Ellery, but years of experience kicked in and she knew she should get more information before she talked to the suspect. Suspect. If Ellery really was a suspect, then they were done. No way could she socialize with her, even casually. She should rely on her training and steer clear of anything to do with Ellery Durant.

  Except it’s your years of law enforcement work that’s kept you from meeting anyone in the first place. As the thought echoed in her head, Danny’s voice came through on the line.

  “Sarah, are you okay?”

  She shook off the inner voices. “I’m fine.” She was, considering an hour ago she’d been excited about the prospect of seeing Ellery again. She looked at the clock on her dashboard. It was not even noon. She had a full day to find out what was going on with Ellery before she had to make a decision about her plans for the evening. If she couldn’t get the information she needed in that amount of time, she should turn in her badge. “I’ll be at your place at seven. If it’s a no-go, we’ll grab dinner out. My treat.”

  After she hung up with Danny, Sarah considered her options. She was expected back at the office this afternoon. She could only imagine the atmosphere there. Despite the fact that another agency was conducting this search, the fact that there was a break in the bombing case would send a ripple of anticipation through all the federal agencies in town. That one of the suspects was a former high profile adversary would only add to the excitement. She didn’t think she could handle being part of the celebration until she was convinced her own gut instincts about Ellery were wrong.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, she dialed the number to the office. When Bev answered, she feigned illness, said she was headed home, but would be available on her cell. Bev seemed distracted, but said she’d let Mason know and Sarah got off the line as quickly as possible to avoid having to add details to her lie.

  That settled, Sarah punched the accelerator on the ’Vette and headed for home, glad she’d had the foresight to keep her copies of the records HSI had carted away earlier that week.

  *

  The knock on the door brought Ellery out of deep thought. She glanced at her watch. She’d only been in the hotel room for an hour, but it felt like much longer. Hoping her father had arrived, she closed the distance to the door in long, quick strides.

  The man standing outside wasn’t her father but, judging by the nameplate, he was an employee of the hotel. She swung the door open.

  “Ms. Durant?”

  “Yes?”

  “May I come in?”

  She looked over his shoulder. Another man, one of the hotel bellmen, stood at the end of the hall, and a prickly sensation traveled up her spine. Something was up. “Actually, I was about to get some much needed sleep. I’ll give you a call when I wake up.” She started to shut the door, but he placed his palm against the heavy wood.

  “I promise I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important.”

  His tone was authoritative, but his eyes implored her not to cause a scene. Since a scene was the last thing she needed on this crazy day, she waved him in, offering a tiny salute to the bellman as she shut the door. “What is it?”

  “We ran your credit card for incidentals when you checked in, but the credit card company just called back and let us know they would be declining all charges.”

  Ellery shrugged. She had no idea why her credit was declined. She walked over to the desk and picked up her wallet. “I have other cards.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t—”

  She cut him off before he had to deal with the unpleasantness of telling her he didn’t want to run another card. “Cash then. You have an ATM in the hotel?”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Durant, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I shouldn’t have booked the room. It appears there is a conflict. Again, please accept my apologies. I have a bellman waiting to help you with your things.”

  Ellery watched him closely as he looked around the room. She read the suspicious glint in his eyes, as he assessed that she didn’t really have much in the way of “things” and she realized the only conflict about the room was the fact that he wished he hadn’t given it to her in the first place. She walked over to the desk, picked up her phone and wallet, and shoved the laptop into her father’s small carryon. “I think I can handle it on my own, Mr.…” She squinted at his name tag. “Ross. Let your friend down the hall know he’s off the hook.” She shouldered past Ross and walked down the hall, past the bellman, and punched the button for the elevator. Ross and the bellman joined her in the car when it arrived and followed her to the exit. She didn’t look back as she pushed through the doors, ignoring the valet who offered to fetch her car. She didn’t have a car, she didn’t have a place to stay, and she didn’t have a clue what she was going to do next except clear her name.

  Chapter Eight

  Sarah waited through the rings, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor, until Trip answered. “We need to talk,” she said. “Is this a good time?”

  “For you, it’s always a good time, but I need to call you back. The battery’s about
to go out on my cell.” He clicked off the line and Sarah went back to foot tapping until her phone rang again. She answered on the first ring. “You should keep that thing charged. Whatever happened to always being prepared?”

  “My battery was fine, but I didn’t trust the line. How did those names I sent you pan out?”

  “One of the names, Sadeem, is a well-known commodity here in Dallas, but by all accounts he’s a great guy, solid businessman and philanthropist. But obviously there’s more to it than that. I was hoping maybe you’d have some intel to share.”

  “What makes you think there’s more to him?”

  “Well, he has family and business connections to a charity our unit’s been looking at for potential fraud. That by itself doesn’t tell me anything since my boss appears to be casting a wide net after all the crap in the news about the IRS not cracking down on pseudo nonprofits. But here’s the deal. The minute I started looking closer, the files got snatched from me by HSI and I’d bet my car they think he or his cousin had something to do with the bombing.”

  “They may be right. What’s the charity?”

  “Welcome Home International. His cousin is Amir Khan.”

  “Holy shit. HSI is searching his attorney’s offices today.”

  Sarah’s gut clenched. “Wait a minute. Ellery Durant was Amir’s attorney?”

  “That’s what I’ve been told. Was your office involved in the search?”

  “Didn’t even know it was going down. Since when does HSI work with other agencies? I saw it on the news, just like everyone else.”

  “Smart move, taking down these guys’ structure first. If they didn’t have help setting up networks here in the US, they’d have a much harder time getting their operations off the ground.”