Page 164 of State of Suspense

“Okay, yes. You’d be the bait.”

Cori seemed to mull over the idea. “How would it work?”

“I don’t have the details yet. First, I wanted to know if you’d be willing to work with us on this. Harlan has shown himself to be a patient man. Probably on his father’s orders, he waited years for the opportunity to make the people who he thinks ruined his family pay for what they did. We believe he waited until his father failed to get to Avery Hill through the invasion at his home, and then he took over where Willy left off. In just a few days, he managed to kill Tom and seriously injure Agent Hill. There’s no doubt in our minds that he’s coming for you next. Our goal is to grab him before anyone else gets hurt.”

“How would you ensure my safety? I have children… I’m not looking to do anything foolish that would leave them without their mother.”

“I understand, and while we’d do everything possible to keep you safe, there’re no guarantees that we’d succeed.”

Cori crossed her hands and kept her gaze trained on the table. “I haven’t been able to think about anything else since I heard the Peckhams were suspects in the Forrester and Hill cases. Before my clerk could tell me the full story, I knew what she was going to say. That I’m in danger because I presided over the case and ordered the longest possible sentences for each of them. Even as I sent them away for years, I knew it wouldn’t matter. As soon as they were released, they’d be up to their old games again. I even told Tom that I feared what they’d learn in prison would make them more effective the second time around.

“They’re the kind of people who blame everyone else for their problems, who lack any form of self-reflection or contrition. I looked into what Harlan has been up to while his family was in prison. He’s has been allowed to run free for years, presiding over their enterprises while his father and siblings were locked up. From what my sources report, he’s become even more ruthless than he was before, if that’s possible.” She shifted her gaze up to look at them. “I want this guy off the streets and locked up for the rest of his miserable life. I’ll do whatever I can to help make that happen.”

“We appreciate your assistance.”

“As one woman to another in a field dominated by men, I believe in you. I trust you to do this right.”

Sam was honored by her trust, but intimidated, too. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. They spent the next thirty minutes going through Sawyer’s weekly schedule.

Freddie wrote down the addresses of Sawyer’s home, her children’s schools, her favorite coffee shop, gym and church.

When they had what they needed, Sam stood. “I’ll be back in touch as soon as I’ve had the chance to formulate a plan with our team. We’ll most likely be working with the FBI on this.”

Sawyer got up to walk them out. “I’ll be ready whenever you are.”

“Thank you, Cori.”

She hugged Sam. “It was such an honor to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“Wow,” Freddie said when they were in the elevator. “Never seen you take such an instant liking to someone before.”

“She was awesome. I loved her.”

“I could tell.”

“My dad used to say that people either get it or they don’t. She gets it, and I appreciate that in a person, especially when I’m asking her to be the bait in a plan to lure a ruthless killer.”

“I’m worried about how we’ll keep her safe.”

“I am, too, but we’ll take that up with the team we’ll assemble to get this done and make her safety our top priority. Text George and tell him what we’re planning and that we need their help.”

Freddie sent the text. “He said to let him know what they can do.”

“Tell him to meet us at HQ at eight in the morning, and we’ll get to work on forming a plan.”

“Done.” He looked up from his phone. “Eric Davies was ordered released from prison, and he’s holding a press conference on the courthouse stairs.”

“Can we watch it?”

Freddie tapped on the screen and held the phone so she could see.

“I want to thank my legal team for never giving up on me. From the very beginning, they believed me when I told them I’d never met Tiffany Jones, let alone raped her. Leonard Stahl framed me after I complained about his behavior during a traffic stop years ago. He set me up to take a mighty fall, and I’ve paid for that with sixteen years in prison.

“My new life begins today. I plan to use every minute I have left focused on bringing truth to power, to identifying dirty cops and getting them off the streets and out of our communities. That’s my mission now, and that mission begins today with a wrongful-imprisonment lawsuit against the Metro PD and the District of Columbia, which is being filed as we speak. I’m going to make them pay for what they allowed him to do to me and others.”

“That’s just great,” Sam said. “Not that he doesn’t deserve all the money in the world for what Stahl did to him. It just sucks that the rest of us will get dragged through the mud as a result of Stahl’s sins.”

---