Jennifer Morey - Executive Protection

He dropped the photos onto the table and turned to Darcy. “Anything new?”

“The SAC passed along some preliminary results from the forensics lab,” Darcy answered. “Still waiting on some cytology reports they promised, but thought you’d want to see this.”

The SAC was the special agent in charge of the Washington field office of the U.S. Secret Service. In a conversation Thad had had with him, he’d indicated the government was being secretive with their investigation. They claimed to be working with the USSS and local police, but as far as Thad could see, they were only putting up a good impression. And Thad wouldn’t put it past the SAC to know more than he admitted.

Thad took a report Darcy handed him.

“The bullet is a .308 caliber from an LWRC manufactured SABR,” Darcy narrated while Thad read. “Sniper assault battle rifle. Popular for its versatility and grain. A shooter gets accuracy along with a little weight. Not overly expensive. Portable.”

“Yeah, and if a guy wanted to find one, he wouldn’t have a tough time,” Thad said.

“He gets distance, too.”

His mother had been holding a fund-raiser at a historic hotel. The twelfth-floor ballroom had two walls of windows, and there was an office building across the street. Darcy had to wait for search warrants to get into the vacant unit that Thad was pretty sure the shooter had used. Thad didn’t have to hear Darcy tell him the government had beaten them to it. “Anything on the location?”

“Yeah, and you aren’t going to like this part. I’m getting pushback from Chief Thomas,” Darcy answered. “He knows we’re doing some looking around. Said the government is taking over the investigation. I think this is the last we’ll see from them.”

“The SAC may know more than he’s letting on.” Thad verbalized his earlier thought.

“Why would they cut us out of the investigation?”

That’s what Thad would like to find out. As a crime scene investigator, he had been involved in gathering all the evidence. Federal agents from the USSS and FBI had been there, of course, and hadn’t put up too much resistance. Now they were clamping down, no longer sharing what they found. Why? The assassination attempt of the former vice president of the United States and possible presidential candidate did warrant taking care and being discreet, but Thad was Kate Winston’s son. He was also a good investigator. So was Darcy. They could help.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “It all comes down to politics.” Politics drove how the government would reveal progress of the investigation to the public. Local police made for too many hands in the fingerprint powder.

“I’m not keen on politics, either.” Darcy gathered the photos and put them in a neat stack. “But the fact is our hands are tied. We can’t work on your mother’s case anymore...not overtly.”

Thad caught Darcy’s unspoken reassurance. He’d continue to help him. Thad would carry on without him if he had to, but between the two of them, they’d make a solid team. Darcy had connections Thad didn’t, and Thad had the mind to unravel details from evidence.

His mother’s gunman was still running free, free to take another shot at her. Thad hadn’t been able to protect her. The Secret Service hadn’t been able to protect her. The gunman had shot Kate and tried to shoot her again when the first bullet didn’t kill her. Agent Dan Henderson had put himself in the line of fire and saved her life. After getting off a couple more misses, the killer had gotten away. Thad vowed to find that person.

Why had someone tried to kill Kate Winston? And who? What reason did they have? Was it just some crazy person with extreme political views or was there another reason? The clampdown on information relating to the case made Thad suspicious.

“I can understand the need for secrecy, but...” Darcy left the sentence unfinished.

“Something about this isn’t right,” Thad said for him.

“Yeah. Why is it so important to keep it quiet? The chief isn’t happy, either. He got into an argument with the SAC of the USSS.”

At least he’d fought for them. Thad put the report down on top of the stack of photos.

“He’s probably going to talk to you, too,” Darcy added. “He’s been talking to everyone who was involved in the investigation.”

“Always runs downhill, doesn’t it?” The chief had received his beating and would make sure he wasn’t alone in the suffering.

Darcy answered with a dry grin and then asked, “What do you want to do next? Anything you need me to do?”

“What you do best.” Thad gave his friend a pat on the back of his shoulder.

“I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

“Thanks, Darcy.” Thad turned for the door.

“Hey, you still coming over to watch the hockey game tonight?” Darcy asked as Thad reached the door.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” His friend was having a hard time dealing with the finalization of his divorce. Darcy was too much of a man to admit he needed a friend right now, but he did need one, and Thad would do what he could to support him.

Thad was halfway to the exit when Chief Thomas appeared ahead of him.

“Winston,” Wade Thomas said. “In my office.”

Boy, when Darcy was right, he was right. Thad followed the average-height man of a considerable girth. Fifty-three years old, he had thick, gray hair and wore glasses.

The chief walked around his cluttered desk and sat his heavy frame down. The lighting in here was dim. Everyone joked about how Chief Thomas was a vampire. He claimed his eyes were sensitive to light and that was why he only had one floor lamp on in his office and kept the blinds shut over windows that faced the sea of cubicles where all the detectives worked.

“How’s your mother doing?” he asked.

“She’s going to recover. Thanks for asking.”

He dropped a newspaper on top of a stack of folders, the headline reading something about the attempt on the former vice president.

“Kate Winston may be your mother, but she’s also a prominent political figure. The media is going to stay on this story until the shooter is captured.”

“I’m good at avoiding the media,” Thad said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. But then he said, “Darcy told me you’re getting some pressure from the feds.” Wade didn’t take orders from outside his jurisdiction well.

“They’re going to handle the case,” Wade said, his voice dripping with resentment.

“I know.” He took pity on the man. His hands were tied just like Thad’s and Darcy’s.

“I’m concerned that you’ll try and solve it on your own,” Wade said.

The pressure must be heavy for him to push this so hard. “Why so much security?”

“The shooter isn’t caught. That’s embarrassing for the Secret Service. They told me hands off or else, and I believe them...as should you.”

“The Secret Service told you that?” Thad would try to fish for information. “I thought it was the FBI investigators who were keeping things tight.”

Frustration made Chief Thomas shake his head. “The rumor mill around here is like a bad virus. I’m sure they’re working together.”

“But excluding us.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Chief Thomas said.

“I just—”

“I know you, Winston.” Chief Thomas cut him off. “You don’t lack initiative and that sometimes gets you into trouble.”

He’d taken initiative to catch the man who’d tried to kill his mother. “It’s my mother.”

“You can take all the time you need helping her recover. I hear it may take her a few weeks before she’s 100 percent. Beyond that, leave it up to the feds.”

Thad stopped himself from arguing. Chief Thomas was following orders.