Page 183 of State of Denial

“I’ll mention it to him and let you know.”

“Thank you for all you did for us. It doesn’t change the outcome, but at least the people who did it aren’t out living their lives while I prepare to bury my family.”

“I’m sorry again for your loss. When you’re ready, don’t forget about the grief group here at headquarters for victims of violent crime. I think you’d find it comforting to be with people who understand.”

“I’ll get there eventually.”

“Call me any time if I can be of assistance to you, and I’ll keep you posted about court dates.”

“I hope your mother is proud of the incredible young man she raised.”

“Thank you, ma’am. She is. I’ll be in touch.”

After he put down the phone, he marveled at Mrs. Blanchet’s generosity toward him. In the darkest moment of her life, she was full of grace.

Sam came out of her office. “The jackals are foaming at the mouth for an update. Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Freddie gathered his notes and grabbed his coat, zipping it in anticipation of an unusually biting March chill. “You must be getting excited for Bora Bora. This weather blows.”

“We’re not going.”

“What? Why?”

Sam filled him in.

“Oh damn. That sucks.”

“It really does, but it’s the right thing to do. We don’t need our vacation picked apart in the media. By the time next year rolls around, he’ll have almost eighteen months in office. The timing will be better.”

“You must be crushed.”

“I was. I’m over it. We’re going to the Dewey Beach house for a few days by ourselves, and then the family will join us. You and Elin should come out.”

“We’d love to. I’m glad you found an alternative, even if it’s not French Polynesia.”

“As much as I love being there, that flight is a bitch, even on the swankiest of planes.” They’d traveled last year onAir Force Two. “I’m not sorry to miss that part of it. Besides, I keep telling myself it’s the company that matters, not the location.”

“That’s true.”

At the double doors that led to the patio where the press gathered, Freddie stopped and looked at her. “Thanks for having my back out there.”

“I’ve always got your back.”

“Means everything. And back atcha.”

She patted his arm. “Go get ’em.”

The reporters started shouting questions the second they walked through the doors.

Freddie followed Sam’s example and waited until they stopped talking before he began, methodically going through the details of the case they’d built against Pascal and Gia Cortez. “We have an eyewitness, a teenager the Blanchets had adopted when he was a child. The adoption was unfortunately later annulled due to some issues within the family.

“Unbeknownst to the Blanchets, the young man had continued to access the home through a rarely used basement door and was in the house when the killings took place.”

He explained Isaiah’s terror and unconscious decision to begin recording. “As a result of his actions, we have the murder of Liliana Blanchet on video as well as the Cortezes’ acknowledgments of the other murders. We believe the inciting incident that led to the killings was a statement Mrs. Blanchet made to Gia Cortez in front of other parents associated with their daughters’ gymnastics team in which Mrs. Blanchet referred to the Cortezes as ‘racist animals.’ Mr. and Mrs. Cortez will be charged with six counts of felony murder.”

“Who’s representing them?” a reporter asked.

“We don’t have that information yet. They’ve contacted several attorneys but have yet to hear back from any of them. They will be arraigned as soon as they secure representation.”

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