Page 197 of State of Suspense

“You always do. I appreciate this.”

“No problem.”

“Sure it is, but I appreciate it all the same. Are you going to court this morning?”

She nodded. “I’ll do the briefing after the eight o’clock meeting with the team I’ve assembled for the Sawyer operation.”

“That plan gives me major anxiety.”

“Me, too, but I think we can make it work.”

“I really hope so. I’ll let you get to the meeting. Okay if I sit in?”

“It’s your house, sir.”

“It’s our house, Lieutenant.”

“Please come. You’re always welcome.”

Sam collected her files and notebook and headed with him to the conference room to meet with the team that would help her bring Operation Nail Harlan Peckham to fruition.

Captain Michelle Ruiz from Emergency Response stepped forward to shake hands with Sam. “Good to see you, Lieutenant.” She was about five seven, with a curvy figure and curly dark hair.

“You as well.” Their paths had crossed occasionally over the years, but Sam had never worked closely with her. Ruiz had a reputation for being a hard-ass who went through officers faster than some people changed their underwear. People didn’t like working for her. Sam would give her the benefit of the doubt until she had reason to do otherwise. “Thanks for being part of this.”

“You got it.”

In addition to Ruiz, Farnsworth, Malone, Archie and Sam’s squad, Lieutenant Dawkins from Patrol and ten Patrol officers were in attendance. She recognized some of them, including Watts, Keeney and Youncy.

“Thank you all for being here.”

George Terrell rushed through the door, looking frazzled. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No problem. Thanks for coming in. Detective Cruz and Lieutenant Archelotta have prepared a brief on the Peckham family, headed by Willy Peckham, and managed while his father and the rest of their family were locked up by Willy’s son Harlan, who escaped prosecution the first time around due to a sympathetic FBI agent ‘forgetting’ to read him his Miranda rights. Detective Cruz, you want to take it from there?”

“Sure.” Freddie stood and pointed to the screen, where photos of the Peckhams were displayed. He went through the undercover operation led by Agent Hill, who appeared on the screen in all his hillbilly glory, causing Sam to bite back a laugh. She would have some fun with that photo after this was over. Oh, yes, she would.

“Forrester was murdered while sitting in his car on Constitution Avenue. Hill was shot leaving his gym on 22nd Street. He’s now recovering at home. Ballistics tied the bullets in both shootings to the same nine-millimeter Glock. At that point, we began looking at cases that Hill and Forrester worked on together. We quickly focused on the Willy Peckham, who is back in jail after recently breaking into Hill’s home. Hill was not home at the time. Thankfully, they were neutralized before Hill’s wife or son could be harmed. Willy’s wife, Amber, who was with him during the home invasion, told us that Willy planned to ‘gut Hill like a pig’ in front of his wife and son.

“The case was prosecuted by Tom Forrester, and the trial was overseen by then-District Court Judge Corrinne Sawyer after the Peckhams requested a change of venue out of Kentucky. Sawyer is now an appellate court judge. Lieutenant, do you want to pick it up from here?”

A photo of Harlan came up on the screen.

Sam stood. “Harlan Peckham is notorious for never having owned a cell phone, so tracking him that way isn’t an option. We began to think about ways we might lure him out of hiding. A campsite was located yesterday that has been tied to Peckham by fingerprints, but he was able to elude capture. Our plan is to surround Judge Sawyer at her church with our people in the hope of getting Harlan to show himself. We believe he’s invested significant time, possibly over weeks and even months, learning the routines of his targets. He’ll know that Sawyer attends services almost every week, often alone while her husband takes their children to various activities. He’ll want to be done with this mission and on his way home to Kentucky as soon as possible.”

“I have a question,” Green said. “If he’s taken the time to learn the routines, how did he know Forrester would be parked on Constitution?”

“Due to his family being taken captive by Bryant, Forrester wasn’t on his usual schedule. I believe it’s possible that Harlan was following him. Somehow he knew that Forrester would be there and took advantage of the opportunity. That’s my guess, anyway.”

“How’d the kidnapping of Forrester’s family play into this thing with the Peckhams?” George asked.

“That was an entirely separate matter.”

George gave her a skeptical look. “Which happened at the exact same time?”

“Yes. Forrester was investigating Bryant for campaign finance irregularities. In the course of that investigation, he uncovered evidence of numerous other crimes. Bryant had recently learned of the investigation. We believe Bryant took Forrester’s family to send the message to back off. That’s being treated as an entirely separate matter.”

“Interesting.”

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