Table of Contents
ALSO BY ALAN JACOBSON
False Accusations
The Hunted
The 7th Victim
For Corey, Matthew, and Danielle:
You are the branches on my tree that keep on giving.
And Im the old stump.
I love you all, to the moon and back.
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, WRITING AS SHERLOCK HOLMES
You see, but you do not observe.SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, WRITING AS SHERLOCK HOLMES
In wine there is truth.
ROMAN PROVERB
O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil.WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
PROLOGUE
675 15th Street NWWashington, DCSo the dick says to the woman, I got nothing. Karen Vail burst out laughing. Here she was, out on the town with Detective Mandisa Manettejust about the unlikeliest of acquaintances shed socialize withand she was guffawing at another of Manettes crass jokes. But she noticed Manette was not enjoying her own punch line. In fact, Manettes face was hard, her gaze fixed. And her hand was slowly reaching inside her jacket. For her weapon.Dont wanna ruin your evening, Manette said, but theres a guy packing, and he looks real nervous. Over your left shoulder.Vail turned slowly and casually snatched a glimpse of the man. Six foot, broad, and as Manette noted, under duress. Sweating, eyes darting around the street. In a minute, his gaze would land on Vail and Manette.
The guy looks familiar. Why? She watched his mannerisms and then, as his head turned three quarters toward them, she got a better look at him and
Oh, crap. I know who he is. In a few seconds, hed probably make them as cops, and then the shit would hit the fan. The image conjured up a messand thats what would no doubt result.Vail quickly turned away. Dont look at him. Definitely bad news, and stressed as hell. With good reason. Thats Danny Michael Yates.Manettes eyes widened. No way. The goddamn cop killer? You sure?Vail slid her hand down to her Velcro pouch. Damn sure. What do you want to do?Manette moved her hand behind her back, no doubt resting it on her pistol. Make a call, DC Metro, let em know what we got here. Im gonna circle around behind him.Vail pulled out her phone and made the call. With her back to Yates, she watched him in the reflection of the Old Ebbitt Grill storefront. Meantime, she assessed the situation. The sidewalk was knotted with people waiting for tables, enjoying a drink with friends, spouses, and business associates. She wished she could yell, Everyone down! so they wouldnt get hurt. Because she had an intense feeling that this was going to get very ugly, very fast.Vail ended the call and slipped the BlackBerry into her pocket, her right hand firmly on the Glock 23 that was buried in the pouch below her abdomen.She made eye contact with Manettes reflection in the window and nodded, then stole a glance at Yates. He looked at Vail at precisely that moment, and
Fuckhe made meYates turned and pushed through the clot of people standing behind him. Vail followed, doing her best to navigate the tumbled bodies with her still-sore postsurgical knee. Manette, she figured, was also in pursuit. Manette was tall and thin, and she looked athleticwhether she was or not, Vail could only guessbut she had to be faster than Vail and her recently repaired leg.She caught a glimpse of Yates as he turned left on H Streetand, yup, there was Manette, pumping away, in close proximity. Christ, this was not what she had in mind when she suggested they have a girls night out.Vail turned the corner and picked up Manette as she kept up her pursuit of Yates. The shine of Manettes handgun caught the street-lights amber glow and suddenly a bad feeling crept down Vails spine. They were extremely close to the White House, where Secret Service agents and police outnumbered the citizens in the immediate vicinity. Snipers were permanently stationed on the roof, andhere was a black woman, chasing a white man, a big gleaming pistol in her right hand. No uniform. No visible badge.This was not going to turn out well, and Vail had a sinking feeling it would have nothing to do with Danny Michael Yates.Yates veered left, into Lafayette Park, and damn, if the guy wasnt a stupid onehe was headed straight for the wrought iron of the White House gate. Stupid isnt quite the word... insane might be more like it. Vail heard Manette yell, Police, freeze!It had no effect on Yates except to have him veer left, parallel to the iron fencewhich he had to do anyway.But Vail had her answer: Manette was apparently a superb athlete, because she was now only fifteen yards behind Yates, who was moving pretty well himself.Lights snapped on. An alarm went off.Vail fumbled to pull her credentials from her purse, then splayed them open in her left hand, held high above her head, the Glock in her right hand, bouncing along with her strides. Showing the snipers she was a federal agent, not a threat to the president. And hopefully, by association, theyd realize Manette was a cop, too.But as she processed that thought, a gunshot stung her ears like a stab to her heart. And Manette went down. Only it wasnt a sniper or diligent Secret Service agent. It was Danny Michael Yates, who had turned and buried a round in Manettes groin. She went down hard and fast.And she was writhing on the ground. DC Metro police appeared behind Yates and drew down on him. Half a dozen Secret Service agents traversed the White House lawn with guns drawn and suit coats flapping. Snipers on the roof swung their rifles toward the plaza, their red laser dots dancing on clothing and pavement.Vail brought up the rear, huffing and puffing, the cold night DC air burning her throat. She was heaving, sucking oxygen, when a weak FBI! scraped from her throat. She stopped fifteen feet from Yates, who was inching closer to Manette.Shes a cop, Vail yelled. Shes a cop! She wanted all the law enforcement personnel on scene to understand what was going on. Manette was on the ground, her handgun a foot from her hand. But she was in no condition to reach for it. She was curled into a fetal position.Yates took a step closer to her, and his gunit looked like a Berettawas raised slightly, pointing vaguely toward Manette. Stop right there, Vail yelled. Take another step and itll be your last!Just kill me now, Yates said. Because there aint no way youre taking me in. I killed a cop, you think Ill make it through the night alive in lockup?Ill personally guarantee your safety, Danny. Vail stood there with her Glock now in both hands, her credentials case on the ground at her feet, spread open, her Bureau badge visible for all who cared to look. Ill make sure you get your day in court. I understand the way you think, I know you didnt mean to kill that cop.Bullshit. I did mean to kill him! I fucking hate cops, they raped my mother. You bet I wanted to kill him!
Damn, hes a dumb shit. No hope for this one. Served up a valid defense for his actions and he tells me Im wrong.Theres only one way this can end good, Danny. You put the gun down and let me help my partner there. You got that?Yates took another step forward, his Beretta now aimed point-blank at Manette. Vail brought up her Glock, tritium sights lined up on the perps head.Now, Vail yelled. Drop the fucking gun!But Yatess elbow straightened. His hand muscles stiffened.Given the angle, no one else could see what she could see. He didnt drop the fucking gun, so Vail shot him. Blasted him right in the head. And then she drilled him in the center mass, to knock him back, make sure he didnt accidentally unload on Manette as his brain went flat line. Two quick shots. Overkill? Maybe. But at the moment, truth be told, she didnt really care.Yates fell to the ground. Vail ran to Manette. Grabbed her, cradled her. MannyManny, you okay?Manettes face was drenched with sweat, pain contorted in the intense creases of her face.And then Vail lost it. She felt the sudden release, the stress of the past couple of months hitting her with the force of a tornado, knocking her back against the lower stonework of the White House fence.Commotion around her, frantic footsteps, shouting, jostling. Someone in a blue shirt and silver badge knelt in front of her and pried the Glock from her hand.DARK-SUITED SECRET SERVICE AGENTS stood in front of the White House fence, stiff and tense. White, red, and blue Metro Police cars sat idling fifty yards away. Half a dozen motorcycle cops in white shirt/black pant uniforms milled about.Thomas Gifford, the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge who oversees the Behavioral Analysis Units, badged the nearby Secret Service agent and walked to the ambulance backed up against the short, concrete pillars that sprung from the pavement. Vail sat on the Metro Medical Response vehicles flat bumper, her gaze fixed somewhere on the cement.Gifford stopped a couple of feet in front of her and raked a hand through his hair, as if stalling for time because he didnt know what to say. I thought you had dinner reservations. You told me when you left the office you had to leave early.Yeah. I did. And then we saw Yates, and I called it inOkay, Gifford said, holding up a hand. Forget about all that for now. How are you doing?Vail stood up, uncoiled her body, and stretched. Im fine. Any news on Mandisa?Going into surgery. Shattered pelvis. But the round missed the major arteries, so shell be okay. Shell need some rehab, but shes lucky. Shes lucky you were there.With all the snipers and Secret Service and DC police around? I think she wouldve been fine without me.Thats not what Im hearing. They were assessing the situation, moving into position, trying to sort out what the hell was going on. The snipers werent going to act unless there was a perceived threat to the president. And callous as it may seem, Danny Michael Yates was only a threat to you and Detective Manette. After Yates said hed killed a cop, Metro started to put it together. But I honestly dont know if any of them wouldve shot him before you did. You saved her life, Karen.Vail took a deep, uneven breath. I had a good angle, I saw his arm, his handI knew he was going to pull that trigger.Gifford looked away, glancing around at all the on-scene law enforcement personnel. You still seeing the shrink?Vail nodded.Good. First thing in the morning, I want you back in his office. Then get out of town for a while. Clear your head. A couple months after Dead Eyes, this is the last thing you needed.A smile teased the ends of her mouth.What? Gifford asked.Its not often we agree on anything. I usually have some smartass comeback for you. But in this case, Ive got nothing.Vail realized that had been the punch line of the joke Manette had told earlier in the evening. It didnt seem so funny now.Vail headed for her car, looking forward tofinallygetting out of town. Where? Didnt matter. Anywhere but here.
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