Page 158 of State of Alert

“They’re panicking, which is good news and bad. Did you guys reach Jesse Best?”

“We did, and he’s deploying a team in Ohio as we speak. We’re also working on getting Bellamy’s car from the West Virginia State Police.”

“Great job. I’ll be in this afternoon to catch up.”

“See you then.”

“Sounds like you’re getting some breaks in the case,” Nick said.

“Yeah, which are leading to a seventeen-year-old and her boyfriend murdering the girl’s mother to get her out of their way.”

“Jeez.”

“I didn’t want to believe it, but nothing else pointed to murder other than her draconian rules with her girls. I feel sorry for Elaine, the mother. Her sister was kidnapped, tortured and murdered when Elaine was twenty and the sister seventeen. As a result, she’s been incredibly overprotective of her kids.”

“As anyone would be.”

“But try explaining the rationale for that to two kids who never knew the aunt who was killed years before they were born. How can you possibly make that kind of trauma relevant to kids who just want to live their lives and spread their wings?”

“You can’t, but that doesn’t give them the right to end her life over it.”

“No, it sure doesn’t. They left the younger sister gagged and bound in a motel room on I-70 outside of Columbus. She’ll be the key to this whole thing.” Sam’s backbone was on fire with the tingles that came from getting closer to solving a case. Shewanted more than anything to go right to HQ and dive into the home stretch.

But Nick needed her, and she needed his big platform to set the record straight about what’d transpired after Juan Rodriguez’s alleged murder.

Her phone rang again with a local number she didn’t recognize. “Holland.”

“It’s Claire Truver.”

“What can I do for you, Agent Truver?” Sam asked as she glanced at Nick.

“I understand you plan to go public with what transpired after you learned Lieutenant Commander Rodriguez had reportedly been murdered.”

“You understand correctly, as my reputation is taking a public flogging thanks to the roommate I interviewed after you asked me to conduct my usual investigation.”

“I’m aware of Lieutenant Commander Erickson’s statements, and his command is encouraging him to shut his mouth about things he knows nothing about.”

Truver’s sharp tone indicated an all-new level of tension.

“The word is out that Juan is alive. It might be time to end the ruse and come clean on what you were hoping to achieve by faking his death.”

“If I do that, part of our case against Goldstein disappears.”

“How so?”

“He’s being held in isolation and still doesn’t know Juan is alive. We’re hammering him hard on what the plan was to get rid of the guy who blew up their plot by telling the president. We’re close to a breakthrough, but if Goldstein finds out that Juan isn’t dead, we’re never going to get him to break on that.”

“Can you keep him isolated in lockup?”

“We have been, but you know how these things go. The more people who know the truth, the more likely he is to find out.”

“Not if you keep a tight control over who has access to him.”

“He’s got a lawyer, Lieutenant, and as you know, we can’t control what his lawyer tells him.”

“You’ve caused me tremendous grief with my closest colleagues and friends by asking me to lie to them and others. Erickson is justified in his outrage. What I—and you—did to him and others who love Juan is unforgivable in their eyes.”

“It was done in the interest of national security.”

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