Page 17 of State of Suspense

“I suppose that’s possible, but what’s worse than ordering a murder to take the heat off your own son?”

“We don’t have him on that,” Gonzo reminded her. “We’ve only got his goons nailed on that.”

“I want to see the one who was given immunity,” Sam said.

Freddie found Sanders’s address in Arlington and gave it to Vernon, who did a U-turn to head toward Northern Virginia.

“Can you do me a favor in the meantime?” Sam asked Freddie.

“What favor?”

“Will you find the study guide for Beowulf, and have it sent to Scotty as soon as possible?”

“Ugh, are they still teaching that book?” Gonzo asked.

“Unfortunately, yes, and he’s struggling.” She pulled her credit card out of her wallet and handed it to him. “He needs our help.”

“I’m on it.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. This is like community service.”

Sam laughed. “No shit, right?”

Why was there traffic even on a Sunday? As they crested the Memorial Bridge, she glanced up the hill at Arlington National Cemetery, where the perpetual flame lit in honor of President Kennedy burned brightly.

It occurred to her, right at that moment, that someday her own husband could be honored with burial at Arlington.

The very thought of such a thing made her go cold all over with dread.

“What’s wrong?” Freddie asked from his spot across from her.

“The view of Arlington had me thinking about presidential burial places.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Why does my brain go there? It’s not like I want to think about such things.” Since they were stopped dead in traffic, she was able to fixate on the flame. “President Kennedy was forty-six when he was killed. That’s eight years older than Nick is now.”

“Don’t forget what you’re always telling me,” Freddie said.

“What’s that?”

“That when you spend as much time as we do mired in murder and mayhem, it’s too easy to imagine it happening to people close to you—that’s especially true when it happens to be someone you work closely with, like Tom.”

“I’m pretty wise, aren’t I?”

The other three laughed, as she’d hoped they would. “Again… sorry to be irreverent at a time like this, Faith.”

“It’s okay. It helps to be with friends.” She looked up from her phone. “They haven’t found anything in Tom’s office about the Bryant case. Archie and his team came to pick up the computer.”

Sam was glad to hear someone on her team was making progress. “If there’s something on that computer or the laptop from his home, Archie will find it.”

“Hope said there’s pushback from Main Justice about the computer being out of the hands of the federal government.”

“Tell her to assure them it’ll be handled with the utmost sensitivity.”

Sam texted Archie to make him aware of the security concerns coming from the Justice Department.

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