Page 52 of Dirty Liars

“Already on it,” Doug said, typing furiously. “State Department servers, here we come.”

I almost rolled my eyes at Doug’s dramatics. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the file already opened somewhere on his laptop.

The atmosphere in the office was electric as we leaned in, waiting for the next piece of the puzzle. Even Oscar seemed to sense the tension, sitting alert at Jack’s feet.

“Initial access granted,” Doug announced. “Downloading files now. Extensive encryption… Working through it… My, my, someone really didn’t want some of these files seen. Margot’s going to be pretty upset she missed all this.”

“Time frame?” Jack asked.

“Half an hour or so,” Doug said. “They’ve got a halfway decent coder at the State Department, but he’s not as good as me. As ambassador, Nicholas would’ve been able to request that certain files were classified due to his position, but it wasn’t a matter of national security or it would’ve been buried deeper.”

“While that’s processing,” Jack said, turning back to the board, “let’s go over what we still need to do.

I watched Jack as he outlined our next steps, his energy infusing the room despite the exhaustion I knew he felt. This was what made him exceptional—his ability to see the big picture while keeping track of every detail, to lead without dominating, to push without breaking his team. In moments like this, I could see why Doug idolized him, why Cole and Martinez followed him without question, why an entire county had entrusted their safety to him.

Jack’s phone rang again and he frowned at the screen.

“Lawson,” he said. “Hold on, Riley. Let me put you on speaker.”

“We’ve got a situation out on James Madison Parkway, about two miles east of the Potomac Mills exit. Black Mercedes sedan parked on the shoulder. Officer Jimenez stopped to offer assistance and discovered a body in the back seat. Male, mid-fifties, hands bound, gunshot to the back of the head.”

Jack’s eyes met mine across the room, and I saw the same thought reflected there—another connection, another body, another piece of the puzzle.

“Any ID on the victim?” he asked, though I think we all knew what was coming.

“Driver’s license identifies him as Derek Rogan, sir.”

“Damn,” Cole said softly.

“Secure the scene,” Jack said. “Dr. Graves and I are on our way.” He disconnected.

“Everyone else keep digging into those files. I want to know everything about Josef Visek. Cole and Martinez, let’s find Emmett Parker and Vivica Vasilios fast. If they know anything they could be next on the hit list. Offer to send police protection until we can talk to them.

“Derby, keep working on that financial trail. There’s got to be something there that tells us who’s really pulling the strings.”

Everyone nodded, tasks assigned, purpose clear.

Jack looked at me. “Ready for another body?”

“Just another day at the office,” I said, “Five dead bodies in two days? Perfectly normal.”

“Doug, see if you can sweet-talk Margot into coming back and keep digging into the State Department files to see what the cover-up is.”

Doug sighed. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I might need to step out of the room for that conversation.”

“Whatever you’ve got to do,” Jack said. “And one more thing. You guys be aware of your surroundings. You’re all uncovering things tonight people have died for. We have no idea who might be next on the hit list, and I don’t want any of you taking any chances.”

As I followed Jack out to the Tahoe, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were racing toward something much bigger than what we’d originally thought was a double homicide—it all pointed to something organized and dangerous.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

The spring nighthad become chilly as we drove toward the crime scene in my Suburban. We’d chosen it over Jack’s Tahoe so we could transport the body. There was no need to get Lily and Sheldon out of the house to follow behind us when we could do it ourselves.

Flashing blue and red lights illuminated the darkness ahead, reflecting off the black water of the Potomac in the distance. Jack’s face was grim in the dashboard glow, his jaw set in that way that told me he was putting pieces together in his head.

“This is becoming a pattern,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Someone’s cleaning house,” Jack agreed. “And they’re not being subtle about it.”

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