Page 120 of State of Retribution

“Because he was caught off guard, like everyone else was.Of course, that’s what they wanted.”

“I’m sure it was.”Sam shook her head.“Imagine spending the limited time you have in this life trying to exact revenge on people you blame for screwing up your life and career when you did that all on your own.”

“It’s a sick way to live, and it gives me nightmares to think about people coming for you that way.”

“I feel better knowing Avery is on it.If there’s something to be found, he’ll find it.”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

Gonzo calledthe squad into the conference room and closed the door when they were all there.He’d asked Dominguez and Carlucci to come in an hour early so they could be there for this meeting.

“What’s going on, Sarge?”Detective Matt O’Brien asked.He’d been in the field with Green when Gonzo had told the others the news.“Where’s the LT?”

“She’s been suspended for two weeks over this uproar with the Hector Reese case.”

“That’s total bullshit,” Detective Cameron Green said.“It happened two years ago, and it’s only come to life now because someone is obviously trying to take her down.”

“What’s your theory?”Gonzo asked as he propped himself on the corner of the conference room table.

“Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that someone pointed anonymous drones at the White House when she and everyone she loves would be fully exposed,” Green said, “then shot at her on the street and resurrected a two-year-old scandal, all in the course of a few days?”

Captain Malone had come into the room while Green was speaking.“There’s no way it’s a coincidence.”

“So why is she suspended?”Detective Neveah Charles asked.

“The chief had no choice but to suspend her as we look into the allegations raised by Reese in his lawsuit and in the media,” Malone said.

“What’s this got to do with our murders?”Cruz asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Green said, “but it’s all related.Somehow.”

“Lieutenant Archelotta called me,” Gonzo said.“He thinks the abduction and assault of his new girlfriend could be related, too.”

“I hear what you’re all saying,” Malone said.“But it still feels like a huge stretch to connect murders that happened when she was off duty and out of town to whatever the rest of this is.”

“Think about it, Cap,” Cruz said.“If you want to bring her back from wherever she is, kill three people in three days.”

“That’s true,” Malone said.

“And we often follow the same routine with every case,” Cruz said.“Check in with the victims’ families, their places of business, their friends, etc.She likes to do that stuff personally, even when others have been there before her.It’s not hard to predict what she’ll do in pursuit of justice.”

“That’s what made her easy pickings on the street in Adams Morgan,” Green said.“They knew she’d eventually go there to figure out if the abduction of Harlowe St.John was related.”

“So someone lies in wait for days with the hope that she might show up there?”Malone asked.“That feels implausible to me.”

“Unless they were following her, which isn’t hard to do, even with all the Secret Service surrounding her,” O’Brien said.

“Wouldn’t the agents pick up on a tail?”Malone asked.

“I mean they’re always vigilant, but they could’ve missed it,” Gonzo said.

“The tail could’ve been way back,” Charles said.“Far enough that they’d never pick it up but close enough to keep tabs on her whereabouts.”

“What do we know about the bullet that hit Agent McFarland?”Gonzo asked.

“Let me make some calls on that,” Malone said.“See what I can find out.”

“We’re going to proceed under the assumption that it’s all related,” Gonzo said.

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