David Baldacci - True Blue

“You can either address me as Beth or Chief. You use surnames for underlings. I am not your underling.”

“What do you want?”

“I read your letter.”

“Well? I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.”

“Yeah, you caved. In record time. And I want to know why.”

“I don’t have to explain my actions to you.”

“You wrote me a CYA letter that basically says you’ve washed your hands of Jamie Meldon’s murder investigation. What, did somebody threaten that you wouldn’t get the USA nod if you didn’t go quietly into the night? So much for him being one of your people.”

“If you were smart you’d back off too, Chief. ”

“It has nothing to do with self-preservation, Mona. It has to do with right and wrong. And something called integrity.”

“Oh please. I don’t need you to read me an ethics lesson.”

“So what are you going to tell Meldon’s wife and kids? ‘Sorry, my career’s too important. Just get over Jamie’s murder and move on’?”

“I’m running the largest U.S. Attorney’s Office in the country. I don’t have time to run down every little-”

“This isn’t little, Mona. Homicide is as big as it gets. Someone is out there who took Jamie’s life.”

“Then you tackle it if you care so much.”

“A little tough to do when I was barred from the crime scene.”

“Can’t help you there.”

“So that’s your last word on it?”

“You bet it is!”

“Okay, here’s mine. I will tackle this. And if I find the least bit of evidence that you or anyone in your office impeded our investigation, I will personally see to it that your Armani-covered ass lands right in prison.”

Beth slammed down the phone, sat back, and took a deep breath. Her BlackBerry had been buzzing nonstop during her entire conversation. She checked it. Ninety-three e-mails all marked urgent. She had six meetings stacked back-to-back, the first of which was scheduled to begin in twenty minutes. Then she had two hours patrolling in Cruiser One and a roll call in the Second District, followed by her headlining two community events that evening. She also had to oversee the posting of nearly two hundred intersection cops because the president wanted to go to lunch at his favorite dive in Arlington, the Secret Service had informed her at six-thirty this morning.

A murder in Ward Nine last night had interrupted what little sleep she usually got. She’d finally made it to her couch at four a.m., catnapped for two hours, and was in the office at seven. Typical day in the neighborhood. And then there was the information she’d just received thirty minutes ago that had to do with Roy Kingman and her sister. Her phone buzzed again.

“Chief.”

It was Pierce. “Guys in Social Services want to know what you want to do with Alisha Rogers and her son. They don’t have room for them past this morning. Records show she has her own place so they say their hands are tied unless you really insist.”

And if I do insist, someone will leak it to the press and tomorrow’s breaking story will be about the police chief abusing her authority to get personal favors unavailable to other needy citizens -

“Donna, reschedule my first three meetings until this afternoon. Just cram them in somehow. I’ve got somewhere I have to go. Tell Social they can release Alisha and her son into my personal custody.”

Beth pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number. “It’s Beth. We need to deal with this. Now.”

“I know,” answered Abe Altman. “I know.”

MACE HAD JUST finished breakfast and was pouring a second cup of coffee when Altman came into the eating area right off the kitchen.

“Hope you slept well,” he said. “Not bad. Met Rick Cassidy on my run this morning.”

“A wonderful young man. He was planning on leaving the Navy to be closer to his sister, so I thought a job here would fit into that. She goes to George Washington and has accepted a full-time position with the World Bank in D.C.”

“That was really nice what you did for her.”

“When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.”

“Well, I know some rich people who never give anything.”

Altman was dressed in his usual manner, jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He poured a cup of tea from a pot on the sideboard, bit into a biscuit, and sat down next to her.

“Herbert is a genius in the kitchen,” he said. “I have two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. and I can’t even crack an egg properly.”

“I know, I’m a klutz in the kitchen too. I had two croissants and a plate of eggs and had to stop myself from going back for more.”

Altman took a sip of tea, set the cup down, and said, “Psycho?”

Mace wiped her mouth. “Look, it was no big deal.”

“It was a very big deal. I heard from Carmela, who talked to Non at the apartment building. Non watched the entire confrontation from her window. You and Roy could have been killed. I feel terrible. Terrible, Mace. I had these people vetted with great depth but I had no idea of this man’s involvement with Alisha.”

“That’s probably because everyone’s scared of the guy. But we got out okay, and we also removed Alisha and Tyler from the situation. Beth helped me with that.”

“I know.”

“So you talked to her?”

“Yes. If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.”

She put a hand on his arm. “Abe, I’m assuming you recruited me for this job because I know my way around those places. That also included knowing how to survive there. My big mistake was taking Roy with me. That was stupid on my part. That won’t happen again.”

“I don’t believe there should be a next time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t justify sending you into dangerous places, Mace. I can’t risk that. No study is worth that.”

“Well, I think this study is. Look at Alisha. She’s a good kid. She just needs a chance. And Tyler, we can’t leave him in that place. He needs some special help. And there are thousands just like them in this town.”

“It’s too risky.”

“I’m willing to take that risk. You offered me the job and I accepted. Now let me do my thing. Abe, you knew these areas were potentially dangerous. What’s the big deal now?”

“It all looked good on paper. But paper is not real life. All my calculations aren’t worth anything, it seems, when you have people like this Psycho around.”

“I can take care of that.”

“I thought when they learned you were trying to help folks in those situations, that it would protect you.”

“And it will. But for those few who think otherwise, I’ll deal with it. I don’t think you’ll win this one, Abe.”

They both looked up to see Beth standing by the door holding pudgy Tyler Rogers. Behind her was Alisha clutching a small bag.

Mace rose. “Alisha? Are you and Tyler okay?”

The young mother came forward, her eyes wide as she took in the interior of the mansion. “We’re fine. Chief Perry took real good care of us.”

Mace looked at her sister. “I really appreciated the assist, Beth. I didn’t know who else to call when Psycho showed up.”

“He’s not a guy you mess around with. Although from what I heard you pretty much held your own.” She paused. “Did Kingman really play him in one-on-one basketball?”

“And kicked his butt,” said Alisha with ill-concealed delight. “I was watching with Non at the window. Kicked his butt,” she repeated, tacking on a big smile.

“Where’s Darren?” Mace asked.