Page 154 of State of Alert

She used the rest of the ride to review her speech and prepare herself to speak in front of a crowd, which would never come easily to her due to her dyslexia.

When they arrived at the cathedral, they were driven to the main door.

“Remember coming for John’s funeral and how we had to take the Metro because we wouldn’t be able to park?”

“I do remember that, and how nervous I was to speak.”

“Now we’re dropped off at the main door.”

“One of the perks. How’re you feeling?”

“As okay as I ever am when I have to do stuff like this.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re an old pro by now.”

“Sure I am.”

Her stomach was on fire with nerves as she took in the huge crowd that’d turned out for the funeral. Many faces were familiar to her, but far more were not. Did the strangers in the audience wish her well, or were they among the many who wanted to see her and Nick fail as the first couple?

She couldn’t think about that, or she might need to vomit.

As they made their way down the center aisle of the soaring cathedral, everyone wanted to shake their hands and have a word with them. Sam wondered how many of the people, currently kissing up to them, would’ve backed Goldstein’s efforts to overthrow Nick’s administration. Probably more than half of them.

It took more than fifteen minutes to reach their assigned seats in the row behind Tom’s family. She noted that the now-disgraced former Attorney General Cox was in attendance, along with Congressman Damien Bryant, who was out on bail on numerous felonies, including kidnapping Forrester’s family. She couldn’t believe he’d had the audacity to show his face at Tom’s funeral.

The two men glared at Sam as if they’d rather have her in the casket. She was always amused at how people looked for someone else to blame when they’d ruined their lives all on their own.

Sam hugged Leslie Forrester and her daughters, Aurora and Naomi, as well as the Miller triplets, Faith, Hope and Charity, who’d served as Assistant U.S. Attorneys under Tom’s leadership. Conlon Young, Tom’s chief administrative assistant in the USA’s office, and his wife greeted Sam, who introduced them to Nick.

“I never got a chance to personally thank you for arresting the man who killed Tom,” Conlon said to Sam. “We’re forever in your debt.”

“I was just doing my job.”

“It means everything to us that the person who took him from us will be brought to justice.”

Sam, who’d never met Conlon before Tom was murdered, had found him to be a bit smarmy during the investigation. That impression hadn’t changed in the aftermath of Peckham’s arrest.

“Thank you for being here, Sam,” Leslie said. “And you, too, Mr. President. Tom would be honored by your presence.”

“Sam thought of him as a friend,” Nick said. “We appreciate his service to the Justice Department.”

They were asked to take their seats when the service got underway with a stirring hymn as the pallbearers rolled Tom’s casket down the center aisle. Moving through the motions of the service, Sam was reminded that Nick had been raised in church, while she’d grown up without religion.

After the opening prayers and readings by the Forrester daughters, an usher escorted Sam to the lectern. She laid the printed pages of her speech on the dais in case the teleprompter failed her. At times like this, she most feared her dyslexia kicking in and making a fool of her in front of the crowd gathered before her as well as those watching the live stream.

“On behalf of Leslie, Naomi and Aurora Forrester, as well as Tom’s dedicated staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, thank you for being here today to honor the life and service of a man who gave most of his career to public safety and the pursuit of justice. Many people are unaware of how involved U.S. Attorneys are in keeping our communities safe from all kinds of crime. Tom was an inspirational leader, a law enforcement officer of the highest order and a friend to many of the people gathered here today, including me. I’ve worked closely with Tom and his team for years, especially since assuming command of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide division.

“He was the kind of public servant we all aspire to be—honest, ethical, loyal, hardworking and true to the rule of law. He gave his life in service to his country and should be remembered as the hero he was. As a U.S. Attorney, Tom was part of a tradition that dates back to the Judiciary Act of 1789, which directed the president to appoint in each federal district ‘a meet person learned in the law to act as an attorney for the United States.’President Washington nominated the first U.S. Attorneys on September 24, 1789. The United States Attorney was ‘to prosecute in (each) district all delinquents for crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the United States, and all civil actions in which the United States shall be concerned.’

“I’d like to share with you a statement made by Mr. Justice Sutherland in Berger v. United States in 1935 that aptly summarizes the role Tom fulfilled so admirably.

“‘The United States Attorney is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is, in a peculiar and very definite sense, the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor—indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.’

“Tom was indeed a ‘servant of the law,’ who strove every day to be impartial, to prosecute with earnestness and vigor and to enforce the law with an eye always on justice, fairness and equality for all. Tom gave his life in service to the law, his country and our city. We are lesser for having lost him to this most senseless of crimes.

“To Leslie, Naomi and Aurora, he was a husband and a father. I had the honor of getting to know Tom’s family during the investigation and learned more about who he was off the job. Leslie noted how Tom’s work was busy and intense, but he always tried to leave the job at the office when he came home to her and their girls. His daughters reported how much he enjoyed driving them to school, practices and games and howhe made a point to be present with them during their time together, ignoring his phone and the relentless demands of his job for the few minutes a day that he had with them. I know I speak for everyone who had the pleasure of working closely with him when I say he was almost as beloved on the job as he was at home.”

She looked up and caught Faith Miller dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

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