“Okay.” Jay sat back down.
“I know who tried to kill you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. It was David Breathwaite. He hired a thug named Kirk Hexall to take you out.”
“Why?” Jay asked in a whisper.
“He wanted to get back at Kate, I guess.”
“For putting him away?”
“For that and for foiling his plans. There’s no rhyme or reason with a maniac like that, honey.”
“I’ll never understand that level of hatred.”
“I’m glad you won’t—it’s part of what makes you who you are, Jay.
Don’t ever change.”
“You were right not to tell Kate—she’d have found him in prison and strangled his scrawny little neck. Peter?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Do you think I’m safe now?”
“Yes, I do. Hexall was only in it for the money. He’s most likely been paid by now. I’m sure he wouldn’t bother you again, but just in case, I’ve turned my evidence over to a buddy of mine at the FBI. I imagine if Hexall isn’t in custody already, he will be soon.”
“What about Breathwaite?”
“Don’t worry about him. I’ve got it covered.”
“Do I want to know how?”
Peter laughed. “No, Jamison, I don’t believe you do.”
“Didn’t think so.”
“You relax here with Fred for a few minutes. I’ve got to make some phone calls.”
Barbara stood in line waiting to board a plane bound for Denver. She had no idea why she was going there, but she was sure Peter knew what he was doing. She assumed it had something to do with Kate’s safety, and that was a good enough reason for her to spend the rest of her day and night riding around in airplanes flying across the country and back.
She shook her head ruefully.
You were the one who said you didn’t want
to know, Barbara, right? Live with it.
She glanced around, noticing for the first time five men in dark suits trying to act nonchalant in the boarding area. She swallowed hard.
Peter
knows what he’s doing. He would never endanger me. He said there’d be
someone on the other end of this plane ride to pick me up. I trust Peter, I
The Value of Valor
trust Peter, I trust Peter.
If she said it in her head enough times, she might really believe it.
Peter, Jay, and Fred pulled up in front of a town house in an exclusive section of Alexandria. “I don’t want to take a chance on the Commission crashing my place and hurting Fred, Jay.”
“And I’m grateful for that. Where are we taking him?”
“He’s going to have a short holiday with a new friend.” Sensing Jay’s anxiety, he added, “Don’t worry—I promise, you’ll love his baby sitter.”
Jay clipped the leash on Fred, and the three of them walked to the front door. Peter rang the doorbell.
Several seconds later, it was answered by Mimi Hyland. “Hello. You must be Fred.” She reached down and gave the dog a hug.
Jay, reeling from the shock of seeing the former first lady on the other side of the door, looked at Peter and winked, mouthing the word,
“Wow.”
“I’m sorry, how rude of me.” Mimi rose and looked at Peter. “I should’ve invited you and your friend in.” Her voice trailed off as her gaze settled on Jay. “Aren’t you? You couldn’t be…” Her face paled.
“Mrs. Hyland, may we come inside?” Peter asked, not wanting to draw attention from onlookers.
Mimi recovered. “Of course. Where are my manners?” She gestured for them to step into the foyer, but her eyes remained riveted on Jay.
“You are, aren’t you? You’re Jamison Parker. I know we only met once—at the Legislative Correspondents’ Association affair in Albany—
but I’d remember you anywhere. How can that be? I thought…”
Jay stepped forward and shook Mimi’s limp hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Hyland. As you can see, I’m not dead, although for a while there, it was touch and go.”
Mimi walked over to a sofa and plopped gracelessly into it. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a very long story. The shortest possible version is that my injuries from the car accident included traumatic amnesia. It wasn’t until I saw Kate’s face on CNN after her d-death, that I remembered everything and was able to find my way home.”
“Oh,” Mimi put her hand to her mouth, “you poor dear. To recover your memory only to discover that Kate was gone. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’m sorry for your loss, as well.” Jay looked to Peter for cues, unsure how much he intended to share with the former first lady.
“Thank you. I can’t imagine how it is that I didn’t see you at the service today.”
Lynn Ames
Before she could continue with that line of thought, Peter steered her to the topic at hand. “Mrs. Hyland, at the funeral, you said you wanted to talk about your husband.”
“Yes, I do.” She seemed to notice for the first time that Jay still held Fred on a leash. “Please, you can let Fred go—my house is his house—
he’s free to go anywhere he wishes. I hope he likes it here; Charlie and I bought this place years ago when we promised each other we’d get him elected to national office. Back then, we weren’t thinking about the presidency—just Congress.” Her voice was wistful.
Jay unclipped the leash, leaving Fred free to explore, which of course, he did.
“You said something about the president’s hospital treatment.”
Mimi sighed and leaned back. “For more years than I’d care to count, Ben Conrad has been my husband’s personal physician. When we came to Washington, we insisted that he come with us.” Her eyes took on a far-away expression. “That night, Ben was apparently at the hospital waiting for Charlie’s ambulance to arrive. That’s the last time anyone saw him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s simply vanished.”
“He didn’t treat the president when the ambulance arrived?”
“No, apparently he got called away, or so I’ve been told. I’ve been trying to get in touch with him ever since.” Her voice broke. “I want—
no, I need—to understand what happened to Charlie. I trust Ben to give me the answers.”
“Mrs. Hyland,” Jay broke in, her reporter’s curiosity taking over,
“who did treat your husband, if it wasn’t Dr. Conrad?”
“A doctor I’d never met before. He was on duty that night.”
“Do you recall his name?”
“It started with an E…E-n-g something.” She pressed her lips together in concentration. “Englert, that’s it.”
“Do you have a first name for him?”
Mimi shook her head. “No, everything was such a blur—still is, really. I just want to find Ben and learn the truth. I can’t get any sort of closure until I know.”
“Did you talk with this Dr. Englert?”
“Yes. He’s the one who told me Charlie had died.” She wrung her hands in her lap. “He told me the cause of death was acute respiratory and cardiac failure.”
“Did you actually see your husband?” Jay asked.
Mimi nodded, her eyes glazing over with unshed tears. “Yes, I kissed him goodbye.”
Peter felt his way carefully. “Has anyone talked to you about the results of an autopsy?”
The Value of Valor
“I got a call from Bethesda’s medical examiner a little while ago. The examination confirmed that Charlie died of acute respiratory and cardiac failure.”
“Did the medical examiner say what caused the failures?”
“He babbled on about some previously existing heart condition that must have gone undiagnosed.”
“Did he talk about any pathology results?”
“No, should he have?”
“Mrs. Hyland, what were the president’s wishes regarding his burial?”
“He was to be cremated. In fact, the medical examiner said the procedure had already been taken care of in advance of tomorrow’s funeral.”
“That’s handy,” Peter muttered under his breath.
“Peter, can you find Dr. Conrad for me?”
“I can certainly try.”
“I’d really appreciate it.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind watching Fred for a little while?”
“As I told you on the phone when you called, I used to raise golden retrievers—he’s beautiful and a welcome distraction at the moment.
Thank you for loaning him to me.”
As if to underscore that he knew he was being talked about, Fred returned from his exploration of the house and sat on Jay’s foot, demanding to be petted.
“Fred, you be a good boy.” Jay leaned over and hugged the dog tightly. He rotated his head and licked her on the ear.
“We’re going to be just fine, aren’t we, Fred?” the former first lady asked. Fred wagged his tail in answer.
When Peter and Jay were back in the car, Jay asked, “What do you think of what she had to say?”
“I think the ME could be on the Commission’s payroll.”
“Sounds like it.”
“I also think cremating the body before anyone else can conduct an independent investigation is awfully convenient.”
“Mmm hmm,” Jay agreed. “I don’t know about you, but I want to know what happened to Dr. Conrad, and I want to know a hell of a lot more about this Dr. Englert, too.”
“Exactly my thinking and precisely what I’m going to focus on after I drop you off at the airport.” Peter pulled away from the curb and pointed the car in the direction of National Airport.
“Wish I could help you dig, but I’ve got a very important date.” Jay’s stomach did a flip even as she thought about seeing Kate. With any luck, in less than twenty-four hours, they would be together again.
Lynn Ames
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ate walked along the beach, her toes digging into the black sand.
K She breathed in deeply, enjoying the peace and quiet of this idyllic spot just thirty minutes outside of Auckland. Years earlier, when she’d first fallen in love with the idea of visiting New Zealand, she’d researched possible itineraries. Bethell’s Beach had been on the top of her list of spots to visit on the North Island.
As she’d driven from Auckland, checking her mirrors frequently, she’d kept her eye on one car in particular. It had stayed with her all the way through the city and beyond, but it had kept going when she’d made the turn off onto Te Henga Road.
She’d chosen the Bethell’s Beach Cottages not only because they were beautiful, but because they sat atop a mountain—anyone coming or going from the area would be clearly visible long before they reached her. The path from the cottages down to the beach below was not marked, slightly overgrown, and hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. That also suited Kate just fine.
She stretched, taking in a lungful of clean ocean air.
I could’ve picked
a worse spot to hide.
Steven pointed at the detailed map of Denver on the wall of the cramped hotel suite. “We know that Kyle used her ATM card at that machine right there.” He placed a colored pushpin at the intersection where the ATM was located. “We also know that her friend Dr. Jones checked into this hotel just an hour ago.” He placed another, different colored pin less than two blocks away from the ATM.
The door to the suite swung open, and the Viper strode in; he could hear Steven’s booming voice from all the way down the hall. Everyone in the room snapped to attention. “What I know is that you haven’t delivered Kyle—not only that, but you don’t have a clue where she is.”
“We’re getting closer, sir.”
“Really? Then why is it that you didn’t know that Dr. Jones is no longer at the hotel and that Kyle was never in Denver?”
“Sir?” Beads of sweat broke out on Steven’s forehead.
“Somebody sent us on a wild goose chase.”
The Value of Valor
“How do you know that, sir, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Contacts inside Kyle’s bank assure us that no money has left her account in the past week. Someone must have simulated the transactions to throw us off the trail.”
Lorraine glared at Steven; if he had listened to her in the first place, they might have captured Kyle already. He did not look at her. “Sir,” she addressed the Viper, “you said Dr. Jones is no longer at the hotel.”
“That’s right. She checked out less than forty-five minutes after checking in.”
“But, sir,” Steven chimed in, “one of our agents is on site in the lobby. She hasn’t come down from her room.”
“Our trace on her credit cards showed that she checked out. A call to the front desk confirmed it.”
Steven swallowed hard. This was not good. “I’ll get somebody on it right away, sir.”
“You do that.” The Viper planted his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Kyle has managed to elude us for five days—in that time, she might have been in touch with anyone. Certainly, someone arranged the ATM ruse for her. The only good news is that if she had enough information to go public, she would have done so already.”
“We’ll get her, sir.”
“If you could have, you would have; instead you’ve been chasing your tails,” the Viper boomed. “Since Kyle seems to have vanished from under your noses and her trail is cold, I want Dr. Jones. She obviously knows something since she conveniently showed up where the last bogus ATM transaction took place. Bring her to me. There is no room for failure.”
The silence in the suite after the Viper’s departure was deafening.
Red-faced at being embarrassed in front of his colleagues, Steven regrouped. “Okay. You go to the hotel and rendezvous with our man there.” He pointed to two of the agents who had followed Barbara from Washington. “Find out who saw her leave and where she went.”
“You two cover the airport.” He gestured to the other two agents who had been at the funeral. “Find out if she bought a ticket and what the destination is. If she only left forty-five minutes ago, she couldn’t have taken off yet.”
He dismissed the assigned agents. When they were gone, he looked at Lorraine and Paul. “We’re going to Albany to wait for the good doctor at her place. If she is going home, she won’t be able to get a direct flight; we can beat her there.”
“And if she’s not going home?” Lorraine asked.
Steven’s jaw muscles bunched. “We’ll hunt her down. She’s got no reason to think she’s a target, why wouldn’t she go home?”
Lynn Ames
“She obviously knew she was being watched. Why else would she fly out here?” Paul asked reasonably.
“Yes, but she probably thinks we’ll stay out here looking for Kyle.