Best Laid Plans(96)
“Not yet, but we haven’t been looking for that connection. But if it’s there, we’ll find it.”
“I like your confidence, but not only do we need to find the connection, we need to make it stick. Circumstantial evidence isn’t going to give us a warrant, not against a member of Congress, let alone an indictment. This case needs to be rock solid, and that means that not only do we need Elise Hansen and James Everett to tell us the truth, we need to break Mona Hill. She already admitted to sending Elise to James Everett. Which makes me think she also sent Elise to Harper Worthington, even if Elise said otherwise. She’s the conduit and has absolutely no ties to Adeline—that we can find.” Barry glanced at Lucy. “Are you going to have your A game when we interview her again?” Barry asked her.
“Of course.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Barry—I let her get under my skin once. It won’t happen again.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, “I made some calls last night.”
She knew what was coming. She didn’t want to talk to Barry about her past. She didn’t think he could know the details—it wasn’t super secret knowledge that she’d been raped, but the circumstances surrounding her rape and how she killed her kidnapper were sealed. But because of her association with Rick Stockton and Hans Vigo—and the fact that her sister-in-law taught at Quantico—people had a lot of theories about her. Most wrong. Some close to the truth.
“Matt Slater and I went through Quantico together,” Barry continued. “He told me about the prostitution ring you uncovered, the blackmail, the girls you saved.”
“Do you not trust me?” she asked bluntly. “Is that why you’re checking on my credentials?”
“It’s not about trust.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I don’t know you, and it’s clear you have far more experience than most rookie FBI agents who didn’t come from local law enforcement.”
“I thought after working together for nearly a week that I’ve proven myself to you. And yet, you call the D.C. office for what? To dig up dirt? To find out if I’m going to fall apart in the middle of this investigation?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“And what did Slater say? Because my partner and I solved that case, and we apprehended the killer and took down a corrupt lobbyist. People are alive because we did our job. That’s all I’m trying to do here.”
“Slater said you were protected from on high, but that you didn’t need it because you were a good cop. But—because most people in D.C. know about your friendship with Rick Stockton among other high-ranking staff and would unfairly judge you by it—it was wise that you were assigned far away.”
She didn’t say anything.
Neither did Barry.
Maybe there was nothing else to say. She didn’t like that Barry felt he had to check up on her. Especially after she’d thought they were working so well together.
Barry pulled into the parking lot at James Everett’s development company. Lucy was about to get out of the car when Barry put his hand on her arm. “Slater also said that you took too many risks, were lucky to be alive, and your FBI file was thicker than most senior agents’—but unavailable without clearance from Rick Stockton himself, which he declined to give Slater when asked. That makes me suspicious.”
“Let go,” Lucy said quietly. Barry dropped his hand. She got out of the car and walked to the lobby, waiting for Barry to catch up.
He followed and didn’t say another word about the conversation. Barry had reminded her once again that she would never escape her past.
Sometimes, she wondered why she even tried.
*
James Everett was clearly unhappy about seeing Barry and Lucy in his office Wednesday morning. So was his lawyer, Miriam Shaw.
“I’ve done all I can to help you,” he said.
Barry took the lead. “We have a witness who said that she took sexually explicit photos of you and turned them over to an individual who planned to blackmail you. Are you being blackmailed?”
Good lie, Lucy thought. The way Barry said it Lucy almost believed it. They were certain that’s what happened, but they couldn’t prove it. Yet.
Everett’s face drained of color. “No!”
“I don’t believe you, Mr. Everett.”
Shaw bristled. “My client denies that anyone has blackmailed him. Is that the only reason you’re here?”
“No. We are prepared to arrest Mr. Everett for solicitation and statutory rape.”
“Since when does the FBI make arrests for solicitation?” the attorney asked coolly.
“United States Code eighteen, section one-five-nine-one clearly states that it’s a federal crime to pay for sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of eighteen,” Lucy said.
“I didn’t,” Everett said.
“Elise is sixteen,” Lucy said.
“Bullshit,” Everett said.
“James.” His attorney placed a hand on his shoulder. Everett looked at his hands folded on his desk. Shaw said, “If you’re going to go through with this travesty, I’ll bring my client down to be arraigned, but he will not be spending any time in jail.”