Stephanie Doyle - Her Secret Service Agent

Yes, he knew he deserved the older man’s rage. Joe had given a full report to the president immediately after Vivian had been taken. He had claimed total responsibility for allowing her to leave his line of sight voluntarily. He hadn’t told the full truth, of course. He would never go there. Certainly not with her father.

He’d said only that they had argued and exchanged harsh words. Vivian had been upset and Joe had thought she needed a moment to gather her composure.

Carl, his backup, had been monitoring the back of the house. It had taken Harold McGraw only minutes to knock her out and put her in his van. Drunken college students watched it happen like it was some kind of fraternity prank. So damn easy.

“I’ve given notice to your superior. You’re not on suspension. You’re terminated. Effective immediately. Now leave my sight.”

Joe dropped his head. “Understood, sir. But if I could just see her...”

That was when he heard it. A shrill scream from behind the door the president had just exited.

“Joe! I need Joe!”

“If I could see her... I might help to calm her panic attacks.”

“Jooooe! Joe! Where is he?”

“Good question, Joe. Where were you?” The president didn’t wait for an answer and instead closed his eyes. His pain was a tangible presence in the hallway. When he opened them, Joe knew for certain he was never going to see Vivian Bennett again.

“I...failed her. I know. But I can help her now.”

“I think you’ve done enough.”

Joe nodded. This man wasn’t going to let him pass. “Please, if you just tell me... McGraw, did he...? I mean the rape kit...was it...?”

He couldn’t even get the words out, but in what must have been a moment of empathy, the president said, “He didn’t rape her.”

The breath left Joe’s body then, and he thought he actually might pass out. She’d been beaten, psychologically abused, but not sexually assaulted. Her first time wasn’t that. It was small comfort, but he had to know.

“Thank you. For that. Now you have to promise me you’ll take care of her,” Joe begged. “I know you’re the president, but you have to be her father now.”

“Where’s Joe! I want Joe!”

Joe closed his eyes against the anguish in her voice. “You have to promise me. Please... I can’t leave her unless I know that.”

President Bennett got up in his face. “If you don’t leave now, my men will assume you are a credible threat to myself and my family and have you arrested.”

Joe dropped his head. He had no choice. He turned and walked down the hallway as fast as he could without running. Not because he was afraid of being arrested but because if he had to listen to the sound of Vivian screaming for him for another second he was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind.

CHAPTER TWO

Present Day

JOE HANDED THE woman in front of him a tissue from a box he kept on his desk at all times for just such an occasion.

“I’m very sorry, Karin. Unfortunately the evidence is pretty conclusive. Your husband is having an affair with his coworker.”

He thought it helped for him to say the words out loud. As a private investigator who had shown a number of spouses evidence of adultery, he knew his clients often didn’t believe him until he had spoken the words.

Maybe there is a reason you have a photo of him removing her blouse.

Maybe there is a reason his car was parked at a remote area and she was facedown in his lap.

Maybe there is a reason why her tennis appointment every Wednesday is conducted at a small hotel downtown and neither she nor her instructor is ever seen holding rackets.

Joe had heard it all. Which was why he said the words out loud. Only, having to say them to a seven-months-pregnant woman left a more bitter taste in his mouth than usual.

“What do I do?”

“You need to decide that for yourself, but I strongly suggest talking to him first. Be honest. Give him a chance to be honest in return.”

Another part of the script. What Joe was really thinking was that she should throw the jerk out on his ass, take half his money, and find someone who would be decent and faithful to her.

He heard voices in the hallway outside his office, and through the beveled glass he could see two tall figures in suits standing just outside. Joe’s office was a single room, so when he was meeting with a client, he kept the door locked to prevent interruption.

Karin apparently had heard enough. He handed her a few more tissues, told her he would send his final bill and then walked her out the door.

He wasn’t at all surprised to see who was waiting for him. It had only been a matter of time.

“Hi, Joe,” the older man said as he offered his hand.

“Hey, Carl. Long time no see.”

Carl nodded grimly. “This is Special Agent Mark Thompson. If you have a few minutes, we would like to talk to you.”

Special Agent Thompson was a young fresh-faced man who reminded Joe of himself at that age. The man pulled out and showed his badge to Joe.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “I know what they look like.”

“Sir, we’re here in an official capacity. We think it best to stick to the formalities.”

Joe looked at Carl. “Official capacity. Well, this sounds important.”

Even as he opened the door and let the two men in, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

He sat behind his desk while they took the guest chairs in front of him.

“I don’t know if you heard that Ms. Bennett is back in DC. She’s opened a new store in town and was recently featured in a local newscast.”

Joe nodded once. Of course he knew she was back.

“In the past few months, she’s been receiving anonymous notes.” Carl took out a laminated piece of paper and set it on his desk. “Does anything about this letter look familiar to you?”

I’m coming for you, Sugarplum.

Block letters, from different print mediums. “No, the letter is not familiar.”

His brain was reeling. Someone was threatening Vivian. Someone was calling her Sugarplum. He knew that name. He knew the last time she’d heard it. It had been right before he’d shot Harold McGraw.

Joe’s jaw clenched as it finally dawned on him why two members of the Secret Service were here in his office.

“What the hell is this, Carl?”

“Sir, we’re looking into anyone who might have been involved in the Bennett kidnapping,” Agent Thompson answered. “As a person of interest.”

Joe nearly growled. “Carl, you have five seconds to shut this little puppy’s mouth and tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Sir—” the kid began.

“Thompson. Shut it,” Carl snapped. “Sorry, Joe. Direct orders. Vivian told her father about the letters and he asked us to look into it. She’s not under SS protection unlike her father. Although currently he only requires a detail when he’s out of the country.”

“The former president is in China. Shouldn’t you be with him?”

Carl frowned. “Never made it onto his detail team.”

Right, Joe thought. Because while Carl had for the most part been blameless in “the Bennett kidnapping,” as the puppy referred to it, it had still happened on his watch. The president wouldn’t have forgotten that. One more thing Joe could claim responsibility for destroying. Carl’s career potential.

“So you’re investigating the source of these letters.”

“She reported the letters to the MPD, but they haven’t been able to provide much information. She told her father and...”

“And the federal government is now involved. I get it,” Joe said, and he did. Alan Bennett was a commander of men. If he asked for something, he got it. Always. “But seriously, Carl? You have to know I would never...”