Page 18 of State of Alert

“That they wanted to be aware of Juan’s whereabouts and his routine.”

“Did that lead you to believe he was in danger?”

“It did. Why else would they care where he was or what he was doing when they already knew he’d outed them to POTUS? We believe they were looking to possibly eliminate anyone who could testify against them. There’s no paper trail. There were only rumors, nothing in writing.”

“But rumors would count as hearsay and be inadmissible in court,” Sam said. “How would that be valuable?”

“When added to the other evidence we’ve collected, the testimony would be allowed.”

“What other evidence?”

“In addition to financials, we’ve got phone records and other surveillance that tied Goldstein, former Chairman Wilson and two others to the plot to overthrow the Cappuano administration.”

Those words—the plot to overthrow the Cappuano administration—gave Sam chills from head to toe. She still couldn’t believe such a thing had nearly happened. Without Juan tipping off Nick, who knew if the coup would’ve been thwarted in time?

“After careful consideration, the decision was made to make the former chiefs think that Juan had been murdered. We think it might be an opportunity to gather further intelligence as they communicate about the ‘murder.’ So far, we’re seeing them turn on each other as they accuse one another of making everything worse, as one of them said.”

“Where did you get a body?” Sam asked.

“A young officer who resembled Juan was killed in a motorcycle accident in Norfolk three days ago. With the permission of his family, after we explained there were national security concerns, we secured the body for this purpose. He’ll be turned over to his family as soon as possible.”

“Did you put him in the clothing donation bin?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

Which meantyesin Sam’s mind. “What am I supposed to tell my medical examiner?”

“She’ll have no reason to question the identity of her subject, as he was carrying Juan’s identification.”

“What about security-clearance fingerprints?”

“Those wouldn’t be available to her through AFIS orIAFIS. We saw to that.”

“I’d like to know why the president isn’t being told about this,” Sam said, pretending for a moment that said president wasn’t her husband and the love of her life.

“We believe it’s in his best interest to be able to say later that he knew nothing about the inner workings of the investigation,” Truver said. “As he was the subject of the former chiefs’ plot, it makes sense to keep him removed from the larger investigation for the time being so there can be no conflict-of-interest claims when our case goes to court.”

“What exactly will you be charging in court?”

“Treason and conspiracy to commit murder.”

Sam’s brain spun as she tried to wrap her mind around what she was being told. “What do you want from me?”

“We need you and your team to investigate Juan’s murder the way you would any other case.”

“Why would I do that? And how am I supposed to conduct a homicide investigation for someone who isn’t dead?”

“We’ll leave that to your discretion to conduct the case the way you normally would. I imagine you’d pull Juan’s financials, interview his roommate, talk to his family, his coworkers, friends, softball teammates.”

“You’re asking me to further traumatize people by interviewing them about a death that didn’t happen.”

“I’m asking you to help us make the case against the people who tried to overthrow your husband’s administration.”

“Which makes everything about this a conflict of interest for me.”

“I fully expected you to name a member of your team as the lead detective on this case, which you’ve already done.”

“You’ve thought of everything.”

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