Page 136 of State of Retribution

Chief Farnsworth stoodat the front of the room with Captain Malone and Agent Hill.

As Sam took a seat at the table, she noted that Avery looked exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept in days.She hoped he wasn’t pushing himself too hard when he was still recovering from being shot.

“Agent Hill is here to brief us on the federal response to Monday’s drone incident involving the White House, as well as the shooting of one of Lieutenant Holland’s Secret Service agents.Agent Hill?”

“Thanks, Chief.My team has been working around the clock since Monday to determine the origin of the drones that were dispatched into the National Capital Region’s airspace during the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.We’ve brought in a bevy of experts on drones, and they’ve determined the devices were created on a 3D printer and outfitted with homemade weapons.All this to say we still don’t know who sent them, but we’re working on several promising leads and hope to have more information later today.I understand you’re working with a theory that this, the shooting of Lieutenant Holland’s agent and several recent homicides might be related?I’d like to hear more about that.”

“Detective Cruz,” Sam said, “would you please brief Agent Hill on what we have so far?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She enjoyed catching him off guard but also loved giving him opportunities to shine.

Freddie stood and went to the current murder board, where photos of their four victims, alive and dead, were lined up in chronological order.He went through the facts of each case, provided details about each victim and then added the possibility that Lt.Archelotta’s friend Harlowe St.John might be a fifth victim due to the nature of her head injury.

“In addition to these cases, we have Hector Reese giving interviews blasting Lieutenant Holland for an incident that happened more than two years ago, as well as a reporter reaching out to Deputy Chief McBride with questions about a case that only a small number of people inside this building would know about.

“Last night, Captain Malone and I confronted Paul Conklin, the former deputy chief, about whether he’d been talking to anyone about Sam and her cases.He said he was sorry, but he’d needed the money, which led us to believe that he was one of the few people who knew about the case McBride was called about.We put him under arrest, and while we were transporting him, he began to choke and gasp for air.ER doctors have declared him deceased and he’s currently with the ME.We believe that when he realized who was at his door, he took something, knowing it would kill him.”

“Fucking coward,” Gonzo muttered loud enough for everyone to hear him.

Avery seemed momentarily rendered speechless by the Conklin news.And then he said, “I’m struggling to piece together how the murders, the kidnapping and assault on Ms.St.John, the Reese interview and the reporter call would be related to the drones and the shooting of Agent McFarland.”

“I’ll take that.”After taking a second to collect her thoughts, Sam said, “It’s a crazy thing, being a woman on this job, especially one with a pedigree inside the department.From the day I first stepped foot inside this building, I’ve encountered two kinds of male colleagues.The first, including everyone in this room, is the supportive kind, the sort who lifts up everyone, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or any other factor outside the quality of their work.

“On the other side of the equation are the men who feel threatened by strong, capable women who outperform them on the job and in life.They simply can’t handle it.Lieutenant Stahl was one such officer.Detective Ramsey was another.It’s possible that Conklin was a third, although he gave off the vibe of being supportive.Who knows what he really thought?

“Another, in my opinion, is Officer Dylan Offenbach, who blames me for getting caught having an affair when he was supposed to be at a conference.His lies were uncovered during the sniper investigation last year.We investigated every person in a hundred-mile radius who had the ability to pick people off from a moving car.When we looked for him, we found he wasn’t in Philadelphia at the conference he was checked out to attend, but at a hotel in Atlantic City with a woman who wasn’t his wife and the mother of his soon-to-be-six children.Lieutenant Archelotta was part of that investigation.At my request, he tracked a fellow officer’s phone.That’s what confirmed our suspicion.Offenbach lost his rank as a sergeant.His wife filed for divorce and full custody of their children.It’s come to our attention, from a source who’d know, that Offenbach is obsessed with drones.The source used the word ‘obsessed.’

“I believe that the people behind this plot knew I planned to spend Easter with my family at Camp David.That was mentioned at the White House press briefing last week when the president’s press secretary, Christina Gonzales, was asked what the first family had planned for Easter.So they started killing people, knowing my first priority upon returning to work would be to meet with the families.They knew I’d want to help my friend, Lieutenant Archelotta, investigate the kidnapping and assault of his friend.I did everything they expected me to, because they’ve been paying attention to how I do the job for years.They wanted me out of this building, working a new case, consoling family members, tracking down leads and doing what I do so they could fire the warning shot that hit Agent McFarland.”

“Why do you call it a warning shot?”Avery asked.

“I was standing to the left of Agent McFarland.He was hit in his right arm.It’s my belief that they missed me on purpose, knowing that having one of my agents go down protecting me would provoke a massive response.They hoped it would break me.If that young agent died protecting me while I’m out running the streets as first lady, that might be the end of me on the job.I’d also add that if Offenbach is behind this, he’s considered the most accurate marksman around.There’s no way he’d miss if he wanted to kill Agent McFarland.”

“So the goal isn’t to kill you?”

“I think they’d rather run me out of here in disgrace.They want me ruined.Killing me wouldn’t be anywhere near as much fun for them.”

“Why send drones to the White House?”

“They wanted me scared.They knew the drones had no chance of reaching the White House, but they wanted us freaking out about them and launching massive investigations to determine where they came from.They succeeded in that.Into that chaos came the Hector Reese interviews and the call from an alleged reporter trying to dig up more dirt from my past.Where are we with investigating Offenbach?”

“We’re awaiting a warrant to raid his property in Herndon,” Avery said.

“Where is he today?”the chief asked Malone.

“He took a personal day.”

“Interesting timing,” Gonzo said, echoing Sam’s thoughts.

“And the dump on Ramsey’s phone?”Sam asked.

“His attorneys are fighting the request,” Malone said, “and the judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday.”

“Monday?” Sam asked, incredulous.“No sense of urgency?”

“I mentioned the urgency to the judge’s clerk, who told me it was the first available spot on the calendar.”

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