by Robin Mahle
“Of course. Please, come in.” Sue stepped aside while Phil entered. “Can I get you something to drink? I think the coffee’s still warm.”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” He was already heading toward the living room. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“So you said.” She sat down on the chair opposite him. “I suppose this has to do with the investigation into Janine’s death.”
“Not just hers. There’ve been others.”
“What others? Who worked for Grant? He hasn’t said anything about this to me.”
“That’s because the other two victims didn’t work for him directly. At least, not anymore.”
“Well, who were these people? Did I know them? My God. I don’t understand what’s happening. Is someone after Grant? Phil, what else don’t I know?”
“Look, Grant doesn’t know I’m here. I need information that he doesn’t want to share.”
“What information? From what I gather, you know far more than I.”
“Sue, I need access to his personal laptop. The one he keeps here at the house. Can you give me that?”
“Yes. I suppose so. But why? What do you think you’re going to find?” Her voice began to fail.
“I don’t know. I just need to cover all the bases. You understand? My job is to protect Grant—and you. I can’t do that if he’s keeping things from me.”
She considered his request and noted the sincerity in his eyes. “Okay. I’ll log in.” Sue walked into Grant’s office at the end of the hall and booted up his laptop.
Phil followed her inside. “I know what you must be thinking…”
“That my husband could be lying to the both of us?” She entered the password.
“I don’t know anything for sure.” He moved closer and examined her features, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I know how afraid you must feel right now. I’m here to make sure you both stay on the right side of this.”
“Might as well sit down, I guess.” She stepped aside and folded her arms in anticipation of what he might find.
“I’d feel better if you let me do this alone. I know what I’m asking, but if and I mean, if, I find anything, I’d rather see it before you do.”
“Fine.” She left him alone and waited for several minutes in the kitchen. What was she going to tell Grant about today? She supposed that would depend on whether Phil discovered anything. “Damn it. I can’t just sit here.” She made her way back into the office where Phil still sat in front of the laptop. “Anything?”
“No. Not that I can find.” He closed the lid and stood. “I’m sorry to have put you through this. Believe me, I am.”
“It’s okay. I understand, I guess. You’re trying to protect him.” She noted his approach as he stood inside her personal space. He was so close, she could smell his cologne that mixed with the minty scent of his breath.
With his index finger, he tucked the short brown strands of hair behind her ear. “Everything’s going to be okay, Sue. You don’t deserve to go through this and I’ll do what I can to mitigate the damage.”
“You’ve always been there for us.” She stepped back slightly to reestablish her space. “I appreciate your concern.”
“I’d like to ask a favor of you before I go.”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to ask that you not tell Grant I was here today. It’ll only make him question my loyalty and that’s the last thing any of us needs right now. I need to know that you’ll keep this between us.”
“Of course I will.” An uneasy smile formed on her lips. “I’ll show you out.” Sue moved into the hall and toward the foyer, feeling the steps of the man behind her. “Grant knows you’re loyal to him, but I promise I won’t mention anything about today. I know how difficult it must have been for you to make the choice to come here without his knowledge.” She pulled open the door.
“I want for nothing except to know that you’re safe. You and Grant.” His eyes bored into her as he again placed his hand on her shoulder, sliding it down until he reached her hand. He raised it and pressed it against his chest. “This, too, shall pass, Sue. I just need a little time.”
She nodded and gently pulled away her hand. “Goodbye, Phil.” She watched him step beyond the threshold and turn a final time to acknowledge his departure. He stepped into his car and soon disappeared beyond the end of the drive.
Kate’s enthusiasm about uncovering a link between Copeland and Meredith Bowen had given her the courage to approach Quinn once again. Given their previous discussion, she wanted his thoughts and now walked through the halls of the BAU Headquarters and headed straight for his office. “Excuse me, Agent Quinn?”
“Reid? I wasn’t expecting you.” He pulled away from the file on his desk.
“I should’ve called first. I’m sorry. I can come back another time.”
“No, don’t be ridiculous. You already made the drive. I have to assume you have something important on your mind. Come in.”
“Thank you. I do have some news.” Upon taking her seat, she began with her enthusiasm no less tempered. “What we discussed the other night—well, I wasn’t really sure how to proceed except that I knew I needed to find a connection between the latest victim and Grant Copeland.”
“And did you?”
She nodded. “I did. Apparently, Meredith Bowen was the recipient of what appeared to have been several unwarranted sexual advances on the part of Mr. Copeland.”
“While she was in his employ?”
“No. She never worked for him directly. And this was some time ago, while he was still a councilman.”
“You now have proof that he knew the three women who are now dead. The final victim, while not having worked for him, knew him.”
“That’s right.”
“So, tell me, Reid, what are you going to do with this information? Does it lead you to conclude Copeland is your unsub?”
“No. Not at all. I’ve been toying with the idea that it could be one of two scenarios and I wanted to bounce them off you. Firstly, and this one I think is the most likely, I figure someone’s out to get him.”
“That doesn’t narrow down much in the way of a suspect, does it?”
“Well, no. But hear me out. I’d like to consider the possibility that it could be a political enemy.”
“Copeland would’ve had to make some hellish enemies to kill off three women he’d known.” He regarded Kate carefully. “Dig deeper. A political enemy would almost certainly damn himself and any future career were the truth to be exposed. A far too risky proposition.”
“Even if said foe hired someone to do the job?”
“I believe so, yes. And especially if it was a hired hit. Because that means the hired killer was motivated by money and not loyalty. And you still have to consider that whoever is doing this knows of Copeland’s affairs. That’s probably information he hasn’t possibility shared.”
She sighed and considered her other proposition. “Then it’s someone who’s trying to keep the truth from being exposed. Someone who’s trying to protect Copeland.”
Quinn nodded. “A more likely situation, in my mind. But who would be willing to go to prison for murder to protect the congressman? It would have to be someone fiercely loyal.”
“Who felt protected in some way,” Kate added. “Like if it were discovered, he or she would be safe from prosecution.”
“Who do you think is safe from prosecution? That’s a stretch to suggest.”
“Not if the person thinks the cops will help hide the truth.”
“And so we get back to Detective Phelps.”
“Maybe.” Kate was beginning to feel frustrated. “I thought I was on the right track, but as you say, it would be a stretch.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t say you’re completely out in left field. I’d say to look inside Copeland’s inner circle. And, as we discussed previously, I’m inclined to believe the killer could still be a woman. I wouldn’t rule out Mrs. Copela
nd. She stands to lose the most if her husband’s past comes back to haunt him. Disgrace, humiliation, and his income.”
“You think I should question her? On the basis of what?”
“Exclusion. Simple as that. You’re looking to exclude her from any involvement so that you can continue to search for the killer. And I would put it in those terms. Go see her, if you can without backlash from the detective. Get a feel for what her marriage is like. What she’s like. You do that, and you’ll know if you’re on the right track.”
“I’m supposed to see Phelps later this afternoon. He has the forensics back on Meredith Bowen. Of course, he didn’t divulge any of the results. I suppose if DNA had come back on the skin under the nails, he’d have arrested the person already. Made himself look the hero. So I just don’t know what I’ll find when I get there.”
“Whatever it is, it’ll be more than you know right now.”
She nodded with greater confidence than when she arrived. “Yes. Thank you, Agent Quinn.”
“I didn’t do much. Just showing you different perspectives. That’s probably the most important thing we can do in this job. Don’t wear blinders. Look at all possible options.”
“I appreciate your help and I’m sorry to barge in. I’ll be sure and call next time.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a pleasure working with you, Agent Reid. And, I’d like to continue this as part of the interviewing process. Why don’t we plan to meet up as often as you need to? I’d like to help if I can.”
“Absolutely. Thanks again. I’d better head out.” Kate left his office, head down and determined to figure out if what she had meant anything at all.
“Kate?” Nick appeared from around the corner. “I didn’t know you were coming here today.”
“Oh. Hi. I was in my head just then. Um, yeah, it was spur of the moment. I needed to bounce some ideas off of Agent Quinn regarding the investigation. He just said we should meet as needed to help us continue forward on this one.”
“That’s a good sign.” He moved in closer. “You going to be home for dinner tonight? Thought maybe we could go out to eat.”
“I should be, but I’ll let you know. I’d like to go out.” She smiled. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.” Nick shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her leave.
For more than ten years, Sue Copeland let Grant and all his so-called advisors tell her how to dress, how to behave, what to say, and what to think. Well, that would stop now. And her first plan of action was to see for herself what Phil had been looking at on Grant’s laptop.
She marched into his office and turned on the computer. Phil had trust in her and that would work to her advantage now. She doubted he would’ve gone through the trouble of clearing the computer’s event log and that was where she would start looking.
There had been a time in the not too distant past when she began to feel a lack of trust for her husband. She was well acquainted with his behavior and so she’d learned how to keep track of what he was doing on his computer. And of course, he trusted her implicitly, so he had not suspected she would ever consider viewing the contents of his computer herself. And while she hadn’t felt compelled to do so in quite some time, today was not one of those days.
Sue opened the control panel and the event logs. Each location Phil had visited had been logged in. What files he’d accessed, if he’d accessed the internet and if he’d made any changes to the programs—added or deleted anything.
When the logs loaded, she examined the information. From what she could see, Phil accessed Grant’s email contacts, viewed his personnel files, which contained a few higher-ranking individuals and were also password-protected. Even Sue didn’t have that password and doubted Phil was able to view it. And finally, he’d gone online, presumably to view Grant’s browsing history. That was the first place she would start.
Once the browser opened, she checked the history. Nothing unusual. He had visited investment sites, government sites, and others that appeared inconsequential. Nothing there. Except there was one other place she could check and that was the temporary internet file history. Upon opening the file, she’d found it had been erased. Nothing was in the temp file, which should have, at the very least, shown what Phil had opened. That was red flag number one.
Exiting that system, Sue began to view Grant’s contact list. Still, nothing seemed unusual, with the exception that she hadn’t known most of the people on it. Instead, she would view the files he’d accessed. “Damn it.” Grant’s email was the last place she’d wanted to check. The problem was that it would automatically download any new emails and that might raise concern once Grant used his computer again. Still, would he even notice? Probably not and so she decided it was worth the risk.
Upon opening the email account, it behaved exactly as it was supposed to and began downloading recent emails. It wasn’t until the final email downloaded that she grew concerned. Sue clicked on the message that was from a woman by the name of Karen Hildebrand. She didn’t know the name and there was no subject line. But immediately, her hackles raised.
“I told you not to contact me again. You need to let this go and I will not be harassed. Don’t make me hate you, Grant.”
She scrolled down farther as it had been a reply to an earlier message. That message had been sent only an hour ago. It was possible Grant had logged into his personal email from his office computer, but he rarely did so. Sue continued to read the message.
“I don’t think you’re safe. You should go and stay with a friend or family outside of D.C. Please—I know how things ended between us, but I’m telling you this for your own good. Please reply so I know you got my message. I’m so sorry.”
“What the hell is this?” Sue eyed the office as if the answer would simply present itself to her, but no. It would not and she would have to figure this one out on her own. Who sent this message? “And who the hell is Karen Hildebrand?”
17
The Metro Police station was in sight as Kate pulled alongside the front of the building where a few metered spaces were open. The day was drawing to a close and coming here wasn’t her first choice, however, keeping up appearances of agency cooperation was paramount. A ding on her record were Phelps to complain of a lack of support would only serve to damage her future plans. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if he would fully share the findings of the forensics report on Meredith Bowen, or would pick and choose what he revealed. There was no doubt the detective was doing his best to keep her out of the loop. And trying to prove that would be the hard part. But for now, she had a way forward and would need his cooperation in order to succeed. Something she would get, one way or another.
Inside, Kate approached the lobby desk and before getting the chance to introduce herself and why she was here, the man she’d seen before appeared to recognize her.
“Agent Reid. You here to see Phelps?”
“I am, yes.”
“I’ll call him right up, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” If only Phelps was so cooperative instead of behaving like a self-important prick who was almost certainly taking money to help keep Copeland’s name out of the press.
“Reid. Come on back.” Phelps arrived but scarcely stopped before turning on his heel and heading back toward his office.
“What a warm welcome,” she whispered under her breath.
“Thanks for stopping by. Let me show you the report and you can be on your way.” Phelps retrieved the file and tossed it onto his desk, sliding it toward her. “Meredith Bowen was shot in the chest, as you know, but it appears to have been at near point-blank range, meaning…”
“Meaning gun powder residue.”
“That’s right. I’m already working on a trace of the weapon from the shell casing found on scene. Interesting that we hadn’t found casings near the other victims, which suggests the killer is getting sloppy. Also, the graze to her head left telling signs of a struggle.”
“An
y DNA reports?” She continued to view the file. “I understand the ME found skin under the nails.”
He appeared concerned she had been made aware of this fact. “Nothing yet. All we’ve got are the forensics. No labs. As soon as I get those, I’ll forward you the info.”
He was keeping something from her. Perhaps he already had the labs and didn’t want to share what he knew. It would be easy to get to the truth. She’d already seen Dr. Carr and making a call would be the only way to know for sure. If that was the case, Kate would have the upper hand and Phelps would be out on his ass.
She peered up at the detective. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Have I done something to offend you?”
“Sorry?”
“I feel as though you’d really prefer if we weren’t involved. I’m just trying to figure out why.”
“Look, it’s nothing personal, Reid. I just don’t like it when the Feds come and start sniffing around my investigation. I know what I’m doing and I don’t like being second-guessed. Sorry if that offends you.”
“I’m not here to second-guess you, detective. I’m here to offer a profile on the unsub and get you what you need to find the person responsible.”
“Last I checked, you still don’t have a complete profile.”
“That’s because I’m still waiting on labs and forensics. I’ve shared with you what I know so far.”
“Yeah well, what you have describes just about every perp I’ve got on the books, Agent Reid. I’m not trying to piss you off or shove you aside. I’m just trying to do my job.”
“So am I.” She returned to the file and continued reading. That was when she spotted it and had to read it again. “Did you read this in its entirety?”
“I did.” He approached her. “Why? What’d you find?”
“The trajectory of the bullets that struck the chest and the graze is almost identical to the shot fired at Tasha Brenner. According to Agent Pearson, Brenner stood from her bed to defend herself and the killer placed her where she was discovered.”
