Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(72)

“At the house of a federal judge.”

“Why was he guarding a judge? I thought that was what the U.S. Marshals did.”

“It’s complicated.” White chose her words carefully. “What if I told you—hypothetically, of course—that Draymont was there for another reason unrelated to protecting the judge?”

A disgusted look swept over Nash’s face. “Let me guess. Draymont was screwing her?”

“Why did that occur to you?”

He leaned forward. “I’m not into breaking confidences, but let me throw you a hypothetical. What would you say if I told you that while he was here some of the congresswomen and their female staffers in this building had Draymont guard them, too?”

“How exactly would that work?”

“DC is expensive. Quite a few lawmakers choose to essentially live in their offices, though they tried to ban that, but when do politicians listen to rules? So, they can have cozy and private meeting places after hours. And a lot of them share apartments and town houses nearby. But they’re almost always out of town, so those places can be empty, too, a lot.”

“What did Draymont get out of it?”

“Besides the obvious, you mean?”

“Yeah, besides that.”

“Draymont kept his ear to the ground. Stuff he heard, maybe he used to his advantage.”

“Like having affairs with married lawmakers?”

“I know he dressed nice and always seemed to have a lot of cash. Look, we had no proof of that or the hammer would have come down, I promise,” he hastily added. “But you can’t get rid of somebody here based on speculation. He covered his tracks well.”

“You would think the ladies would have wised up or warned others off.”

“I think that’s exactly what happened. Because when we finally had enough complaints and asked Draymont to voluntarily resign, he put up no fight.”

“But you didn’t ding his record?”

“No, we didn’t,” admitted Nash. “It wasn’t worth the trouble. Besides, police forces are so hard up for cops he would have had no trouble getting another job even if we had trashed him.”

“He didn’t go back to being a cop. He went down to Florida and was hired by Gamma Protection Services.”

Nash looked intrigued. “Kanak Roe’s shop?”

“Yeah, that’s right. You knew him?”

“I was just a twenty-year-old rookie cop in the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service when he was an agent there. That’s before I came over here. Of course I know the success he had in the private sector. Heard him speak at some conferences, and he’d come back for Secret Service reunions every now and then. Didn’t he die or something?”

“Or something. You know a lady named Alice Lancer?”

He thought for a few moments. “No, doesn’t ring a bell. Who is she?”

“Worked at Gamma with Draymont.”

“Was he bedding her, too?”

“Not sure. But she worked on Capitol Hill as a lobbyist for a while, and had the rep for keeping her ear to the ground and maybe profiting off it, just like Draymont.” White pulled out her phone, found the photo, and held it up. “This is Lancer. She would have been younger, of course, when you might have seen her.”

Nash said, “Yeah, I recognize her. I never knew her name, but I would see her at the Capitol from time to time. Good-looking woman.”

Not anymore, thought White. “She worked for a lobbying firm, the Kingston Group, on K Street.”

“Bloodsuckers. So, she and Draymont were a couple, huh?”

“And maybe a lot more. Did you ever see her and Draymont together?”

“No, but I probably wouldn’t have. For years I’ve been mostly behind a desk.”

“Did Draymont have any buddies on the force that he might have hung out with? They might know.”

Nash picked up his phone. “I think I know just the guy.”

White smiled. “You seem very eager to help me. I’m not complaining. But it is unusual.”

Nash punched in the number. “I didn’t like Alan Draymont. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy he’s dead, but if I can help you clear this matter up, I will.”

*



Five minutes later a man in his early thirties entered the office. He wore the uniform of a Capitol Hill police officer.

“Agent White, this is Officer Stan Daniels.”

They shook hands, and White showed him the picture of Lancer and asked about her and Draymont.

“Oh sure, Alice. Yeah, she and Alan were a thing. I mean, I think they were.”

“Why the ambivalence?” asked White.

“He told me they were sleeping together, but Alan was sleeping with every skirt that came by. So I hesitate to call them a couple. She’d sometimes be there when I’d go by Alan’s place.”

“How did they meet?” asked White.

“I’m not really sure. I know she was on the Hill a lot, and of course so was Alan. She was really pretty and dressed kind of sexy, and Alan, well, like I said.”

“Yeah, anything in a skirt. You ever hear them talking about stuff that seemed weird?”

Daniels looked confused. “How do you mean?”