Death of an Intern (38 page)

I
stood in the kitchen doorway and watched Beth Carr stew. “Did Grayson say why she was coming here?”
“I don't know. I honest to God don't know what's going on. Did you know the FBI dragged me…you must, if you know about the van.”

A second admission. Making progress. “That's why I'm here.”

The doorbell rang.

“Oh my God, is that Frankie?” I reflexively stepped into the kitchen to get out of sight of the front door.

Beth stood frozen.

“Is it?” I insisted.

Beth came out of her freeze. “No, it's too early, must be a neighbor. You wait back here, just in case.” Beth moved to the rear door and opened it. “It sticks. Leave it open, like this. If it's Frankie, get out, go through the yard that way,” she pointed, “over to 31st Street.” She left me and went to the front door.

I inched back to the door separating the kitchen from the living room, positioning to hear, but not be seen.

“May I come in?” a female asked.

“You're a surprise, Donna.”

Donna? Talbot? Secret Service? I could hear them clearly only twenty feet away.

“They asked me to talk with you,” the agent said formally.

“They?”

“Look, I don't think this is a good place to discuss this. Please.”

I perceived a tenseness in Talbot's voice with her desire to enter.

“Don't you usually travel in pairs?” Beth asked, sounding suspicious.

“This is for the Vice President. This is awkward, Beth. He's worried about Frankie. She'll be here soon, but you already know that. So we don't have much time. You know how she is about Rick.”

“What about Rick? Say that again.”

“Vice President Grayson wants me to find out from you what, if anything, you may know about somebody using your van. He doesn't think Frankie can do that rationally, and he wants her calm for the meeting later.”

There was some good rationale to that, I thought. There was a moment of silence until Beth said, “Yeah, she does wear her emotions on her sleeve, especially when it comes to him.”

“May I come in?” Talbot asked again.

“Sure, I'm sorry. Come in.” Beth sounded more relaxed.

I heard the front door close.

“Okay, you're in. Can I get you anything?”

“I'm fine.”

Was Talbot here in Frankie's stead?

I took out my recorder with its fresh tape and turned it on. As long as there were no other noises, it should pick up their voices.

Talbot asked. “I was told you were questioned about a van, which is registered to you at your old D.C. address.”

“Yeah. Frankie and I used it. I thought she'd sold it. She had the title. I'd forgotten all about it.”

“So you never loaned it to anyone or gave the keys to someone, anything like that?”

“No, Frankie had everything.”

“Did anybody know you owned that van?”

“No, but I actually didn't buy it. Frankie paid for it. We used it for camping and never told anybody about it. She probably told Rick, but, you know, nobody else. I never said anything to anybody about it,” Beth said, seemingly at ease with Talbot's questioning.

“So you think the Vice President knew?”

Beth emitted a little laugh. “I doubt there are any secrets between those two.”

“Right. I know what you mean.”

There was a pause before Carr broke the silence.

“Are you going to be here when Frankie arrives?” Carr's tone conveyed a slight edginess.

“Actually, after you and I talk, they want me to take you to the meeting. The Vice President, Mr. Morgan, Frankie…”

“Mr. Morgan?”

“For the legal stuff. Whether you'll need an attorney.”

“Oh yeah. Mr. Manchester is there too?”

I smiled, hearing that. Beth's a good actress.

“Yeah. Do you have an alibi for the night any of those women were abducted?”

“The last one. All night.”

“Oh? The FBI knows that?”

“I'm really not a suspect. I can't see what legal problems I could have.” Beth's edginess had given way to confidence.

“We want to be doubly sure, so nothing can come back on you.”

“Or Frankie?”

“The Vice President,” Talbot said flatly.

“Right. So, what is there to worry about?” Beth asked, sounding a little cocky.

“I don't know that there is now. That's what they wanted me to find out.”

“You'll convince Frankie of that?”

“Sure. It's all pretty cut-and-dried.”

“Then why do I have to go to a meeting at all. You can tell them.”

“They may have some other questions. I'm an investigator, not a lawyer. You know, we hunt down the bad guys, they prosecute them.”

“You think someone will prosecute me?” Beth's voice pitched up.

“No.” Talbot sounded reassuring. “That was just an expression. But the van is a loose end they'll want to clear up. You're sure you never told anyone?”

“I have never talked about it. Period. Back in our Senate days, no one knew about our relationship, because we didn't work in the same office.”

“That why you parked the van up on the Hill?”

“Frankie had learned of an elderly couple, who had lived up there forty years and who needed some extra money. She paid them generously in cash. It also aided our privacy.”

“She's been paying them all this time, never using it?”

“I think she paid them a year in advance or something.”

This was an amazing conversation to hear. Unbelievable background. Donna sounded sincere and was very nonthreatening. How ironic that Ralph was involved. This whole thing started with him introducing me to Janet at the reception. But what about the phone call between Frankie and Beth? Grayson's tenseness bordered on fright. Who could possibly have used the van, if she and Beth didn't? I had a nagging thought that I was missing an important link.

“Beth, this is ridiculous,” I heard Donna's raised voice.

I put my attention back on the two women.

“You tell them what we talked about. I don't want to go there.”

“You have to go,” Talbot insisted.

“You'd have to arrest me, but I don't think you can do that, can you?”

“I could, but then things would become known, and that's what we are trying to prevent, right?”

“We?”

“The Graysons. They all want to help you. We want to do it quietly. Am I outside my responsibilities? Maybe. Am I here officially? No. But I do carry some authority that I don't want to use.”

“So you're telling me I have no choice in the matter?” Beth asked defensively.

“We want to stay off everyone's radar. We all hoped you would cooperate to get things cleared up as quietly as possible.”

“Have you questioned Frankie about the van?” Beth's tone sounded challenging.

“Yes. She'll back up your account about the van and why your name is on the registration. We can't do anything without your cooperation. Frankie doesn't want this to leak out to the media. They'd go bananas, her being so close to the Vice President and all. They'd make a lot of trouble for everybody, create a lot of negativity, and that is exactly what we all want to avoid.”

“Sounds like I have the upper hand. People should respect my wishes.” Beth sounded a little too cocky.

“Don't get carried away with your importance, Beth. You have your so-called upper hand for as long as we allow you to have it.”

“So it's cooperate or get stung,” Beth said, coming back down to earth.

“We only want to get to the facts, so we can be proactive or deflect anything involving Frankie and the Vice President. You know Frankie would eat bullets to protect him. I imagine you both left fingerprints all over that van, enough to convince a prosecutor the two of you had been in it. You each swear you hadn't used the van since last fall, but the press could make that look very ambiguous. How do we get around this problem?”

“I don't know,” Beth said, her tenseness returning.

“Right, and that's why we're meeting later.”

“You make a good argument, Donna, but what about Frankie? She's supposed to be here at 7:30?”

“Get your things, I'll call her.”

“Okay. I have to lock up, be a sec.”

I had moved to the back door by the time Beth appeared. She signaled I should go out.

We heard the front door open.

“Donna?” It was Frankie.

Beth grimaced and went into the living room. There was no way I was leaving now. I moved closer to the door, the recorder on in hand.

I heard Donna. “I was just about to call you. We're going to Alexandria.”

“Hi,” I heard Beth say. “I thought you…”

“I stopped to get us a couple of heroes, like old times at the beach.”

“Oh?”

“Did I miss something, Donna?” Grayson asked.

“How do you mean?”

“I don't remember our talking about you coming here.”

“We didn't. The Vice President asked me—”

“Rick? He didn't tell me.” She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Right. He knew you were coming to get Beth and take her to Alexandria. He thought maybe if I got here earlier and talked with Beth quietly, I might convince her it was in her best interests. We just came to that understanding.”

There was a pause. I wished I could see the look on Frankie's face.

“Well, do we still have time to eat our heroes?”

“I'll take them,” Beth said. “Have a seat. You want a drink, soda, juice…”

“I can do it,” Frankie offered.

Frankie sounded closer to me, like she was coming. Time to leave. I jammed my recorder in my bag and opened the screen door. It squeaked. I winced and pushed it open.

“What was that?” Frankie asked.

I started out, having to step down.

Talbot was in the kitchen in a flash. “Hold it right there,” she ordered, her gun drawn.

I wanted to get outside, but Talbot grabbed my arm; it hurt and I almost stumbled.

Donna had me. “Not so fast.”

Frankie burst in. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We were just talking when Donna arrived.” Beth had come in behind Grayson.

Donna yanked me back into the kitchen and slammed the door. “She heard everything we were talking about.”

I was scared. “Nothing I didn't already know.”

“What were you two talking about?” Frankie demanded.

I wished Talbot would let go. “Nothing incriminating.”

“You knowing anything…” Frankie said.

“Donna, you can let go of me. You know you can't hold me against my will. I'm not breaking any laws. Besides, this is Beth's house, not yours.”

“You don't know when to stop, do you? Why did you come here?” Frankie said fired up.

“Beth is a very compelling story. I found it interesting that she, a former employee of the Vice President's, had been questioned about a van she owned. Now from what I overheard, she's not involved in anything criminal. Yet this has you all in a huge uproar.”

“I think that's because I used to work there, as you said, and they're skittish about negative stuff that could reflect badly on the Vice President,” Beth keenly added.

“Beth is a friend,” Frankie said. “She called me, told me what happened. I came over to help, even brought dinner.” Frankie told the truth there.

I said. “I understand you are meeting with the Vice President and his senior attorney.”

Frankie snapped, “Which is none of your business.”

I shrugged. “Maybe not, but it certainly adds a fascination to this whole thing.”

“D
og here. The reporter looked like she was attempting to exit through the rear door. Someone yanked her back in. She has not reappeared.”

“This is Oversight. We are entering the Village.”

“Roger,” Nielssen said. The second agent from Dog was crouched low up against the front of One's townhouse alongside the living room window. The two agents from Sparrow Watcher were deployed to the other side of the front door, also down low against the building.

“This is Watcher Lookout. Everyone is in the rear of the townhouse.”

Max emitted a slight sigh. “I just hope the fly on the wall hasn't been swatted.”