by Marie Force
In the seconds it took her to make up her mind, Freddie’s entire life flashed through his mind, the good, the not so good, the beautiful, the ugly. The highlight reel ended with Elin’s exquisite face smiling at him the way she did all the time, as if he was the center of her world. He was, just like she was for him.
“Please, Hattie. Don’t do something that can’t be fixed. We can still fix this, but if you hurt me or continue to hold me against my will, I can’t help you.”
“You’ll help me?” she asked softly.
“I swear to God.”
Another moment passed during which Freddie never blinked as he held her gaze.
She handed him the gun.
He quickly removed the bullets. “Now give me mine too.”
Reaching behind her, she withdrew his weapon from the back of her jeans and handed it to him, leading with the business end.
He quickly turned it toward a far wall and then put it back in his holster, relieved to know he’d live to see another day. “I want you to have a seat while I go talk to my team. We’re going to get you some help, okay?”
“You won’t leave, will you?”
“Not until you have what you need. I promise, Hattie. I’m going to help you.”
“Th-thank you,” she said, sobbing. “I’m sorry about the gun and that I hit you.”
“It’s going to be okay. Give me one minute. I’ll be right back.” Taking both weapons with him, Freddie backed out of the room, since he had no way to know if there were other weapons, and frisking her might damage their fragile accord. He pulled his phone out and called Sam. “All clear,” he said when she answered.
“What the hell happened?”
“I’ll tell you when I see you. In the meantime, I need Dr. Trulo, and it has to be here. Can you ask him to come? This isn’t a criminal thing. It’s a mental-health situation.”
“Did she pull a gun on you?”
“We’ll talk when I see you.”
“Yes, we will, and I’m almost there.”
“How’d you get here so fast?”
“Two words: Secret Service.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sam was so relieved, she felt sick. He was okay. Whatever had happened with Townsend’s wife had been handled, and he was okay.
“Are you all right?” Valerie asked.
Sam had almost forgotten she was there. “I am now. My partner has neutralized the situation.” She called Captain Malone. “Tell the cavalry to stand down.”
“Is he okay?”
“He is now.”
“Jesus, Sam. What the hell?”
“I don’t have all the details yet, but he’s fine.”
“Thank goodness. I’ll call off the alert.”
“Thanks.” Next, Sam called Dr. Trulo.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you. We’re all set for seven tonight.”
“That’s good, but I need you on something else,” she said, filling him in on Freddie’s request.
“Potomac, huh?”
“’Fraid so.”
“Tell Detective Cruz I’m on my way.”
“Get Patrol to bring you with lights and noise.”
“That’s a fine idea. Be right there.”
Sam ended that call and put through another to Freddie. “The doc is on his way with Patrol.”
“Good.”
“Now tell me what happened.” The Secret Service SUV came to a stop at the curb of the Townsends’ address in Potomac. Sam got out of the car, drawing the ire of Jimmy, who had gotten out to open the door for her. Slapping her phone closed, she approached her partner, who was outside the large home. She took a quick and careful look at him, and other than a red mark on his face, she didn’t see anything amiss.
“She came to the door with a gun, jerked me inside, made me hand over my weapon. It happened so fast, Sam. I had no time to react.”
Sam’s heart nearly stopped at the thought of what could’ve happened.
“Ginny’s scheme wrecked her life. She’s become agoraphobic. She knows about Mark and Tina. She’s distraught. I promised I’d get help for her if she let me go and turned over the weapons.”
“What happened to your face?”
“She smacked me when I mentioned Ginny’s name.”
“So let me get this straight. She held you at gunpoint, took your weapon, assaulted you and held you hostage for at least an hour, and you’re looking for a psych hold rather than an arrest.”
He held her gaze, never blinking. “Her life was destroyed by Ginny. She’s become paranoid, can’t leave her house. She owned a bookstore before the scam that she had to close because she couldn’t afford to keep it open. She’s not a criminal. She’s heartbroken.”
“She pulled a gun on you, Freddie. She could’ve killed you.”
“I’m aware of that. I’m asking you to trust my judgment, Sam. This isn’t someone who needs to be arrested. She needs a doctor, possibly in-patient treatment and a chance at a new life. Locking her up won’t accomplish anything. Hattie is entitled to the same compassion we all want for Gonzo.”
A black luxury SUV came to a skidding stop at the end of the driveway, and Mark Townsend got out, looking wild-eyed and frazzled. “My neighbor called to say something was happening here. Is it Hattie?”
“She’s fine,” Freddie said in a cold tone Sam hadn’t thought her kindhearted partner was capable of.
Mark gestured toward the house. “I’ll just go in and check on her.”
Freddie stood in his path. “Stay out of there. You’re not welcome here.”
“What the fuck does that mean? This is my house.”
“You’re going to need to find somewhere else to stay.”
“Why?”
“Hattie will tell you herself when she’s ready. For now, leave. And don’t come back.”
Mark stared at Freddie, seemingly trying to decide if he was going to take him on. Luckily, he made the correct choice, stormed off and drove away with his tires squealing.
“I need to go in with her, because you know he’s going to call her. Send Trulo in when he arrives?”
“I will.”
“As soon as she’s set, I’m going home to see my wife. I’ll make up the time later.”
“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for not getting killed.”
He shot a grin over his shoulder. “I do what I can for the people.”
It was nearly three thirty by the time Sam got back to HQ, with Valerie still along for the ride. After she stashed Valerie in one of the observation rooms, she went straight to the interrogation rooms to take care of Realtor Barbie and Ken McLeod. She started with Ken, bursting into the room and taking him and his young, pale-faced attorney by surprise.
“It’s about freaking time,” Ken said. “I have rights, you know. I didn’t kill my wife, and I didn’t know about her scheme.”
“You want to know what everyone I’ve talked to, even your own children, has said about you?”
The mention of his children seemed to take some of the starch out of him. “What?”
“How could he not know?”
“I didn’t know! I had nothing to do with it!”
“Where did you think the money was coming from?”
“Ginny was a very successful businesswoman long before this. There was always money. I didn’t notice any difference.”
“You didn’t notice when millions started rolling in?”
“Ginny handled our finances. She always did.”
“You didn’t think anything of her asking everyone you knew, everyone your children knew, to invest in her latest venture?”
“I didn’t know about that either.”
“Mr. McLeod, you’ll have to pardon me for pointing out that no one is as clueless as you’re trying to make me believe you are.”
“Ginny and I did our own thing. She had her work. I had mine. We didn’t talk a lot about what we were doing. She was always into big things, working her deals, bringing
people together to invest in projects, and she’d had huge successes.”
“So then why did she suddenly decide to start ripping off her family and friends?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Even after the shit hit the fan with multiple federal investigations, you never said, ‘Hey, honey, what’s up with you taking money from people we know and then ghosting them when they ask about their investments?’”
“I never called her honey.”
“You know what I’m asking. Answer the question.”
“I asked her what caused the Feds to get involved, and she said it was a misunderstanding that she was working on rectifying.”
“And that was it? You just took her word for it and went back to your clueless little world while she stashed millions of dollars that belonged to your family and friends in offshore accounts?”
“She said it was a misunderstanding, and she was working it out. What was I supposed to do? Force her to tell me every detail?”
Sam leaned in closer to him across the table. “Let me tell you what I would’ve done if I found out my husband took money from family and close personal friends and then seemingly took off with it. I’d have found the fucking money and given it back. Did you even try to find it, or try to get her to tell you where it is?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I stayed out of her business, and she stayed out of mine.”
“Even after the FBI and IRS came calling? Even then you were hands-off?”
“She told me she was handling it. What was I supposed to do?”
“Something. You were supposed to do something.”
“Is there a point to this interrogation?” the lawyer asked.
Sam wanted to throat-punch him. “The point is, Mr. McLeod, no one believes you when you said you didn’t know anything.”
“Well, too bad. That’s the truth, and I passed a polygraph. The polygraph believed me.”
“Polygraphs can be faulty. That’s why they aren’t admissible in court. You’d have to be almost willfully ignorant to what she was doing to miss what was happening in your own home. Were you purposely avoiding what she was up to so you could play dumb later?”
“I’m not playing dumb.”
“So you’re just dumb, then? Because you’d have to be to not realize she was scamming the people closest to you.” Sam picked up a printout listing the victims and their relationships to the McLeods. “Your own brother, sister-in-law, closest friends, neighbors, coworkers… What was the end game? How did Ginny plan to explain to these people what became of their investments?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where were the two of you planning to go? Because you must’ve had a plan for where you were going to be when the shit hit the fan with every person in your life coming for you. What was the plan, Ken?”
“I didn’t have a plan. If she did, I was unaware of it.”
“Did you actually speak to your wife on any kind of regular basis?”
“About what was for dinner and who was taking the trash cans out to the street for pickup. That kind of thing.”
“Wow, I really wish I had that kind of marriage, said no one ever.”
“I have to object to your tone, Lieutenant,” the lawyer said.
“Fuck you. I object to this man and his wife stealing millions from hundreds of people and then hiding the money somewhere only the two of them know and refusing to give back what they took. You ruined people’s lives, Ken. Don’t you care about that at all?”
“Ginny ruined people’s lives, and of course I care about it.”
“If that’s the case, what’re you doing to try to figure out where she hid the money?”
“I’ve turned over everything relevant to the federal investigators, and I’ve been retained here for more than twenty-four hours to answer your questions. What more would you have me do?”
“Where did she hide the money?”
“If I knew that, I would’ve told the Feds months ago. I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me.”
“So you actually asked her?”
“She said it was being taken care of, and I wasn’t to worry about it.”
“And that was good enough for you?”
“I couldn’t exactly beat it out of her.”
“I’m trying to decide whether you’re pathological or just stupid.”
“I don’t have to sit here and be insulted by you.”
“Yes, you actually do. In fact, maybe I should charge you with impeding a homicide investigation so I can keep you here a little longer to do some deep thinking about where the money might be.”
“You can’t charge him with that if he’s cooperating,” the lawyer said.
“Wanna make a bet? Your version of cooperating and mine are very different.”
“He’s told you what he knows.”
“Which is dick,” Sam said.
The lawyer flinched at her terminology. Poor baby. Had she offended him?
“He’s told you what he knows,” the lawyer said again, more pointedly this time.
“I’m going to be really honest with you, Ken,” Sam said. “If I find out that you knew anything that could’ve helped us figure out who killed Ginny or make restitution to her victims, I’ll throw the book at you so hard, it’ll give you a skull fracture. I’ll charge you with multiple felonies and do everything in my power to make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?”
“My life is already a living hell. My wife was murdered. My children, family and friends don’t speak to me. There’s nothing you can do that’s worse than the hell I’m already living in.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.”
“Is he free to go?” the lawyer asked.
“For now.” Disgusted with him and his client, Sam got up to leave the room and nearly ran smack into Avery Hill in the hallway.
“Oh damn. I knew I was forgetting something I was supposed to do today.”
“I’m hurt.”
Sam laughed. “No, you’re not. I’ve got one more thing to do, and then I’ll find you in my conference room.”
“Sounds good.”
“To you, maybe.”
He walked away, laughing.
Sam collected herself, took a deep breath and went into the room where Realtor Barbie and her middle-aged male attorney were waiting. Cheri looked quite a bit worse for wear after a night in jail. Her mascara was smudged under her eyes, her hair had gotten greasy, and the glow of the orange jumpsuit made her skin look washed out.
“It’s about time,” the attorney said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I inconvenience you during my homicide investigation?”
“You have no good reason to retain my client.”
“Sure I do.”
“Are you going to tell us what that reason is?”
Sam took a seat across from them, noting Cheri looked terrified. Good. “I believe Cheri knew exactly what Ginny was up to and aided and abetted her crimes.”
Cheri gasped. “I didn’t!”
“Right at this moment, one of my very best detectives is tearing your life apart. He’s looking at everything, lifting every rock and peeking behind every door. If there’s anything there, he’ll find it. Like, for instance, if you got a kickback for your fake-ass ‘showings,’ Detective Green will find that. If your influx of cash doesn’t match up with your commissions, he’ll notice that. If you’ve got money hidden somewhere, he’ll find it. He’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with, and nothing gets by him.”
Sam never blinked as she stared down Cheri and watched her wilt before her eyes. “Do you have children, Cheri?”
She sat up straighter. “Three. Why?”
“How old are they?”
“Seventeen, nineteen and twenty-one.”
“So two in college. Is that right?”
She glanced at the lawyer before offering a tentative nod.
“Where do they go?”
>
“Um, one goes to George Mason, and the other goes to Virginia Tech.”
“Good schools. Tuition is expensive, isn’t it? Especially with two in college at the same time, which you’ll have for a while with your younger one coming up, am I right?”
“Y-yes.”
“What are you getting at, Lieutenant?” the lawyer asked.
“Detective Green will be ripping their lives apart too. If they paid for college without loans, he’ll want to know where that money came from. If they’re driving nice cars, he’ll find out how they paid for them. If they’ve got anything to hide, Green will find it. He’s like a bloodhound. He makes the IRS agents that investigated you during the federal investigation look like Cub Scouts. I bet they never thought to investigate your kids, did they? Is there anything for him to find?”
Cheri shifted in her seat, her shoulders slumping. If body language was any indication, Sam had scored a direct hit by mentioning her kids.
“You don’t have to answer that, Cheri,” the lawyer said.
“You’re right. She doesn’t have to answer anything. But I’ll take great pleasure in charging her with impeding a homicide investigation. It’s one of my favorite things to charge people with. It leads to lots of ugly press about people who get in the way of me catching murdering scumbags. Real estate is a reputational business, isn’t it, Cheri? I imagine yours has taken a bit of a hit since the Feds came swooping in on Ginny and uncovered your role in her scheme.”
“My client wasn’t charged with anything.”
“Yet,” Sam said. “She hasn’t been charged yet.” She slapped her hand on the table, startling Cheri. “The jig is up, Cheri. Tell me what you did with the kickbacks from Ginny!”
Cheri broke down into sobs that echoed through the tiny room. “I wanted to help my kids,” she said haltingly.
“Shut up, Cheri,” the lawyer growled.
“No, I can’t do this anymore, Al. I can’t do it.” She smeared mascara across her face when she wiped away tears. “Ginny swore to me that there was nothing illegal about what she was doing. I told her I couldn’t endanger my license under any circumstances, because that’s how I supported my family after my divorce. My kids were heading to college, so when Ginny came to me with an ‘opportunity,’ I took it.”
