Page 147 of State of Retribution

“Cruz, go with her,” Malone said.

“Yes, sir.”

Sam and Freddie went with Clare to the lobby where Ryan Goodman paced back and forth like a caged bear ready to attack someone—and apparently that someone was her.

“This was all a personal vendetta againstyou?My son-in-law is dead, my daughter is a widow, and their children are now fatherless because of bullshit that hadnothing at all to do with them?Is this for real?”

“Mr.Goodman, come into my office,” Sam said.“We’re willing to answer any questions you have, but only if you calm down.”

“You want me tocalm down?This is an outrage.Do you have any care at all for the people whose lives have been devastated by your spats with fellow officers?”

“I care very deeply about everyone who’s been harmed by people we considered colleagues, and we share your outrage.”

“Sure you do.Your family is alive and well, while my daughter’s life is ruined.”

“My family was targeted by these madmen.They sent drones with guns intending to murder as many of us as they could, along with countless others.”

“Yes, I know, but thank God you had the massive resources of the federal government protecting your loved ones.Who did Nate have protecting him?No one.”

“You’re absolutely right it’s an outrage, and we share your anger.We’ve devoted our lives to keeping this city safe, and when people from our own ranks commit these crimes, please believe me, it breaks our hearts, too.”

That seemed to take some of the steam out of him.“I just can’t believe that beautiful young man was killed for such a stupid reason.”

“Neither can we.I wish there was something I could say that would make this better for you and your family, but there isn’t.The one thing I will tell you is that we’ll be by your side throughout the entire process to get justice for Nate and Emily and the rest of the victims who were harmed by these men.We won’t rest until they’re in prison for the rest of their lives.”

“You know what really gets to me?You all knew they were both bad seeds.Youknewit, and you kept them employed anyway.”

“They have the same right to due process as anyone else, whether we agree or not.If you think we didn’t want Ramsey gone a long time ago, I can assure you no one wanted that more than I did.We’ve been fighting that battle for quite some time.Other than the lie Offenbach told his superior officers, we’ve had no reason whatsoever to suspect he was plotting something like this.”

“He was right here.Working shoulder to shoulder with cops, andno onesuspected him of anything?”

“We had no reason to, Mr.Goodman.I know that might seem unbelievable, but a highly trained officer like Offenbach would know how to commit these crimes and get away with them.”

“That’s just great.So you’re effectively training criminals here.I see how it is.”

“That’s hardly true.We’re a department of more than four thousand men and women, human beings with faults and failings.Most of us are here for all the right reasons.Please don’t indict more than thirty-nine hundred hardworking, dedicated public servants for the crimes of a few.”

“That few ruined my daughter’s life, and you can bet we’re not going to go quietly on this.You’ll be hearing from our attorneys.”

“I understand.”

“If you’re so unpopular around here that your fellow officers would resort to murdering innocent people to get you out of here, maybe you should reconsider whether you should still be working here.”

After dropping that bomb, he turned and stormed toward the main doors, probably planning to share his vitriol with the media.

Awesome.

Freddie’s hand on her arm made her realize she was trembling.“Sam.That’s bullshit.Tell me you know that.”

“He makes a good point.”

“No, he doesn’t.You haven’t done anything wrong, and you shouldn’t allow him or anyone else to blame you for what these monsters have done.”

“You’re hardly unbiased.”

“I know better than anyone in this entire world how hard you work on behalf of every victim and every victim’s family.You’re relentless, focused, dedicated and determined, and, if need be, I’ll go on every newscast in the world to say that publicly to anyone who’ll listen.”

“Thank you,” she said gruffly.“You’re the best.”

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