Wrongfully Accused

by Ana Barrons

  “Your wish is my command,” he murmured into her hair, and guided his cock to the sensitive opening of her vagina and slid inside, expelling a long groan as he filled her completely. But before he could move inside her someone began pounding at the front door and ringing the doorbell, and Bruno was barking his head off.

  “Good Lord,” Kate said, leaning over to look at the digital clock on her nightstand. “Who could that be at six-thirty in the morning?”

  “Stay put,” Gabe said. He kissed her shoulder and slid out of her. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is and be right back. Do not move.”

  She rolled on to her back and smiled up at him. His body was incredible naked. All dark hair and ropy muscles, a perfect male specimen. And he was hers. “I have no desire to go anywhere,” she said.

  Gabe slipped on his jeans and T-shirt and went downstairs barefooted. She heard the front door opening and then men’s voices. Who in the world could it be? She waited, hoping whoever it was would go away quickly, but instead the voices seemed to be getting louder. Anxiety churned in her gut.

  She slid from the bed and pulled on some clothes, then went out to the balcony overlooking the foyer. A familiar voice said, “So basically, you’re off the hook.” It was one of the FBI agents. The taller guy, Mancuso, the one she didn’t like at all. “We’ve got everything we need.”

  “For what?” Gabe said. His voice sounded seriously cold. She knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that voice, and she didn’t envy the agent.

  “To bring Mrs. Franklin in.”

  Kate’s gut seized. Bring her in? What were they talking about?

  “Could you tell her we’re here, please?” Mancuso said.

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

  She started down the stairs. “I’m here, Gabe. It’s okay.” Not really—she was nervous as hell. And why had Mancuso told Gabe he was off the hook? For what? She wanted to stand beside him and take his hand, but something in his body language told her to keep her distance.

  Right. He was investigating the break-in. It might be considered bad form to have a personal relationship with the victim. Still, the look he was giving her was not the look a man would give his lover. Her gut clenched tighter.

  She stood alone, several feet from the two agents. “What’s going on?”

  “Agent Parker, Mrs. Franklin,” the shorter one said.

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “And you remember Agent Mancuso.”

  Kate didn’t respond or acknowledge the tall, rude agent. “What brings you here at six-thirty in the morning?” Jeremy was still sleeping, thank goodness. She’d prefer he not be exposed to this part of her life.

  “As you know, the CVR was retrieved fairly quickly, Mrs. Franklin,” Parker said, then held up a hand. “Excuse me, I’m referring to the ‘black box.’”

  “Cockpit voice recording,” Gabe told her, his tone somber.

  “That’s right. And we’ve analyzed the recording.”

  “So now we know the source of the explosion.” Mancuso smirked, and the knot in her gut pulled tighter still.

  “And?” she asked.

  “It appears to have come from a camera in your husband’s possession.”

  The shock actually caused her to take a step backward, as though someone had hit her. Her pulse pounded in her temples, and she felt suddenly dizzy and nauseous. Gabe came to her side then, and took her upper arms. It wasn’t a particularly warm gesture, more like he was making sure she didn’t fall.

  “You okay?” he said.

  “What’s going on?” she said. “I don’t understand.”

  “Let them explain.” After a couple of seconds he let go of her.

  She wanted to tell him it wasn’t only the FBI agents she didn’t understand, it was also the way he was acting. As though last night hadn’t happened. As though he hadn’t claimed her, body and soul, for himself...

  “What does this mean?” she asked the agents.

  “Do you own a camera, Mrs. Franklin?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can we see it?”

  She hugged herself. “Well...I guess so, but I’m not sure it’s mine.”

  “Is the Congressman’s camera here?”

  She turned to Gabe, but his expression was closed. “Yes. It’s the same kind as mine. A Canon, I think. We took some pictures with it yesterday.”

  “I’ll get it,” Gabe said, and disappeared into the den, then reappeared within a few seconds. Kate followed him with her eyes, feeling helpless. Trapped. He handed the camera to Parker, who proceeded to examine it. Gabe didn’t look at her.

  “How could a camera cause an explosion?” she asked. Oh, but she was cold, so cold. And so completely alone. “Didn’t all the congressmen and their staff go through security?”

  Parker ejected the memory card from the camera and put it in his pocket. To Gabe he said, “This is the one with the sleazy photos of him?”

  “Yeah,” Gabe said.

  Was she hearing him correctly? “You-you told them about those pictures?” she asked. What was going on?

  Parker turned to her. “We’d like you to come down to headquarters with us, Mrs. Franklin, and discuss what was inside the camera your husband took on board that Learjet.”

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Gabe was frowning down at the floor. Goddamn it, why wasn’t he supporting her? Why wasn’t he holding her and telling these men they were full of it? “Gabe?” she asked, and heard the panic in her voice.

  “What was on the cockpit recording?” Gabe asked Parker, still not looking at her.

  “We’ll share the recording once we get Mrs. Franklin to headquarters.”

  Kate looked around wildly. “Are you arresting me?”

  “Not at this time,” Mancuso said.

  “I would have appreciated a little warning,” Gabe growled.

  Kate turned to him. “What’s going on?” But she had a horrible feeling she already knew.

  “We don’t have a warrant for your arrest, Mrs. Franklin,” Parker said with a sharp look at his partner. “Not at this point. We’d simply like to take you in for questioning.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said. “And if I don’t give you the right answers then you’ll arrest me.”

  “For now let’s just say we’re taking a ride to headquarters for a little chat.”

  She stared at the agent for a moment and then whirled on Gabe. “Why are you acting like you don’t know me anymore? What happened to you between last night and this morning? Or should I say, five minutes ago until now?”

  “Let’s go talk for a minute, okay?” He took her elbow and eased her toward the kitchen as he said to the agents, “We’ll be right back.”

  Tears welled up in Kate’s eyes. When they were out of earshot of the agents she turned to him and gazed into his eyes. “Was it all an act, then? Have you been hanging around here to help the FBI?”

  His eyes darted toward the living room, then he took hold of her shoulders. “I have to let them believe I’m helping them, Kate, or they’ll shut me out. Do you understand? I’ll be of no use to you if I’m on the outside.”

  “They told you to spend time with me, didn’t they?” Please say no. “Didn’t they?”

  He raised his eyes to the ceiling and blew out a long puff of air. “Not officially,” he said. “But that’s not what—”

  She backed away from him. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “It was all an act. You do still hate me.”

  “Of course I don’t hate you,” he said, clearly annoyed.

  She put her hands over her ears. “I trusted you. I actually thought you cared. I thought...” She trailed off, her heart so heavy she wasn’t sure she could stay on her feet.

  Gabe kept his voice low. “It wasn’t like that, damn it. I need you to trust me on this.”

  Anger rushed through her. “Trust you? Trust you? You lying son of a bitch!” She backed farther away from him, but continued to shout. “Don�
�t ever come near me again, do you hear me? I never want to see your lying face—”

  “Kate, you don’t understand.”

  “Aunt Kate?”

  Through her tears she saw Jeremy standing there in his pajamas, wide-eyed and frightened. She leaned down and pulled him to her. “Jeremy,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry. Just remember that no matter what happens I love you, and that will never change.”

  Jeremy held on tight. “Why are you crying? Did my dad make you cry?”

  “Kate,” Gabe said. “Listen to me, damn it.”

  She straightened, easing out of Jeremy’s grasp, and met the boy’s gaze. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” she said, running her hand through his snarled brown hair. “You take care of yourself, and don’t let that jerk Jason K. get you in trouble, you hear me?”

  “But where are you going?”

  “Kate,” Gabe said, his tone urgent. “Listen to me.”

  She ignored him and focused on Jeremy. “I have to go talk to those men in there about that plane explosion. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ll email you, okay?” Then, mostly to herself, she said, “I’ll have to get Violetta to pick up Bruno.” As if on cue, Bruno got off his bed and came to her side. She squatted and hugged him tightly, and new tears welled.

  When she stood, Jeremy looked so confused and upset it made her chest ache. “Are they taking you to jail?”

  “No!” Gabe shot back. “I won’t let that happen.”

  Kate bit back a snort. If she lived to be a hundred—which was doubtful under the circumstances. Terrorists got the death penalty, after all. She would never forgive Gabe for abandoning her when she needed him most. He’d ripped out her heart and stomped on it, and she would never let him or anyone else that close again. Never.

  She looked down at Jeremy. Well, other than this beautiful, precious boy.

  She kissed Jeremy on the forehead and headed for the living room. Gabe grasped her arm, but she jerked away.

  “Dad?” she heard Jeremy say as she joined the agents in the living room. “Why is Aunt Kate crying?”

  Kate grabbed her purse off the dining room table and slid her feet into sandals. If she did end up in jail they’d give her a jumpsuit, right? She nodded to Parker, and out of the corner of her eye saw Mancuso’s smug grin. If she got through this a free woman, she would report him to somebody, just for being a supreme asshole.

  A chill ran down her spine as she left her house—possibly for the last time.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “I appreciate it, Parker,” Gabe said stiffly. He was standing before a two-way mirror looking into an FBI interrogation room. Kate sat there in her drawstring pants and yellow T-shirt, arms hugging her torso, head bowed. Every few seconds she shuddered from sobs. Goddamn it, he should be holding her. He should be in that room fighting for her. Protecting her.

  “And she should have called her lawyer, damn it,” he murmured, and was immediately surprised he’d said it aloud.

  “You’ve got a thing for her, don’t you?” Parker asked, his tone matter-of-fact rather than judgmental.

  “I just don’t think she did this,” Gabe said around the lump in his throat. Christ, he felt terrible.

  Parker raised his eyebrows. “When you hear the recording you may think differently. Be prepared.”

  “Is Mancuso going to be in there?” Gabe asked.

  “No,” Parker said. “It’s clear that he grates on her, and there’s nothing to be gained by upsetting her more than she already is.”

  “Thank God for small favors.”

  Parker nodded and left the room. A minute later he joined Kate in the interrogation room. With the microphone on, Gabe could hear him offer her water and saw her shake her head in response. After Parker went through the formalities of turning on the recorder, he began.

  * * *

  “Mrs. Franklin, tell me for the record why you and your husband were in Hartford on the day your husband’s plane went down?”

  “Drew had a seminar to attend, so we spent the weekend with his parents. They live in West Hartford.”

  “I see. Are you close to his family?”

  “No. They don’t approve of my political beliefs and... Not that we were close before I embarrassed Drew on national television, but after that...” She shrugged.

  “Did you and your husband sleep in the same room at your in-laws’ home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you help him pack his bags?”

  Kate sighed. “No. He didn’t need my help. It was only the one bag, anyway. And his briefcase.”

  “Did you see what was in his briefcase when he was packing?”

  “I don’t even remember seeing it in our room.”

  “But it was in the house that morning?”

  “I guess it must have been.”

  “Did you bring your camera on that trip, Mrs. Franklin?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did your husband bring his camera?”

  “I guess so, because the one I unpacked at home was his, not mine.”

  “The cameras were the same make? Did you buy them together?”

  “Drew bought them both a couple of months ago. I already had one, an old Canon, but for some reason he decided I should have a new one. I was so happy he’d thought of me I...”

  “Yes?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I was just happy when he brought it home, because he didn’t seem to spend a lot of time thinking about me.”

  “Did you or your husband take any pictures over the weekend?” Parker asked.

  “I didn’t. Maybe he did.”

  “Did you spend much time together?”

  Kate’s laugh was bitter. “No. We had dinner with his parents once, and the rest of the time he was with his aides or one of the other congressmen and women who were along for the seminar.”

  “That was the seminar on international relations held at the University of Hartford?”

  “Yes.” She sighed. “Some of those people were on the...his plane.”

  “Did you know the other people well?”

  “Well I’d certainly been in their company, but no, the only one I knew well at all was Michael Clark, Drew’s AA.”

  “Were you unhappy with your husband, Mrs. Franklin?”

  Kate looked stunned for a moment, and Gabe found himself holding his breath. “I wasn’t—” She stopped and cleared her throat. “I tried to make it work. Not hard enough, obviously, but I believed in my marriage vows.”

  “Did you love your husband?”

  She took a deep, shaky breath. “I thought I did for a long time. But it was never...” She shook her head.

  “Let the record state that Mrs. Franklin shook her head no,” Parker said.

  “No, that’s not what I was saying. Let the record state that.”

  “Go on.”

  “What I meant was, I wanted to love him, but it was difficult.”

  “Did you fight much?” Parker asked.

  “Not for a long time, no. That would have required us to be connected.”

  “You sound bitter.”

  “About the marriage?” She unwrapped her arms and laid her forearms on the table. “Look,” she said. “I know you’re hoping I’ll reveal some deep anger toward Drew, and confess to killing him, but really, I was hurt, not angry. I didn’t kill him or ever so much as consider killing him. I mean, for God’s sake, I could have divorced him. It’s not like we had kids to stay together for.”

  Parker went on almost as though he hadn’t heard her. “I’d like you to listen to this cockpit recording from the Learjet in the final moments before the explosion. You can read the transcript at the same time.” He pushed a sheet of paper in front of her.

  * * *

  Gabe had gone still when Parker asked Kate whether she had loved her husband. She’d told him she loved him last night. That she had always been his. And he knew in his bones she was telling him the truth. His chest constricted.

>   Mancuso stepped up beside him and handed him a sheet of paper. “So you can follow along,” he said, and Gabe didn’t have to look at his ugly face to know he was smirking.

  Below him in the interrogation room, Kate scanned the sheet and then dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, God...”

  Parker pointed out the initials on the transcripts, explaining that CA meant the Captain, CO the copilot, FA flight attendant and FR Drew Franklin. Then he flipped on the tape. For the first thirty seconds or so the pilot was talking to the control tower at Bradley International Airport, and there was some light banter between him and the copilot, along with the usual altitude and other technical exchanges. Knowing what was about to happen, Gabe’s gut tightened.

  CA. What was that?

  CO. Sounded like a scream.

  CA. Damn it, who’s screaming?

  [Sound of knocking]

  [Cockpit door opening]

  FA. Captain, one of the...it’s Franklin...

  FR. [faint] Open the goddamn window!

  CA. What the hell?

  CO. Jesus Christ...

  FA. He wants to throw his camera out the...escape hatch...

  FR. [faint] I’m telling you...get off me! Open it! Get rid of it!

  CA. What’s he got?

  FR. [faint] My wife’s...That bitch!

  [Explosion]

  Parker turned off the recording and stared at Kate, whose face had gone pale. For a moment Gabe was certain she would throw up, but she seemed to pull it together.

  “It sounded like...” she began. “I don’t know, it sounded like he was going crazy.”

  “Yes, he sounded panicked, that’s for sure.”

  “I don’t understand. How could a little camera like that explode?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me, Mrs. Franklin.”

  Kate threw her arms out to her sides. “How in the world... I don’t even understand how cameras work, never mind how to make one explode.”