The President's Henchman (38 page)

The commander’s face tightened. “Look, I didn’t think Dex was going to
keep
the damn car. It was just a shitty little Honda; he has a Viper, for God’s sake. I thought he’d let the guy sweat it for a few days then tell him where could find his car.
That’s
a felony?”

“Yes, it is,” Rockelle answered. “Some jokes you don’t get to play on people.”

Welborn asked, “Did Cowan say why he wanted to play this joke?”

Sheridan looked mad at himself. “He said he was out running with you, and you made him look bad. How’s that for stupid?”

“You or him?” Rockelle wanted to know.

“Both.”

“He never mentioned any other reason?” Welborn asked.

“No.”

“You’re aware of Captain Cowan’s role in the investigation of Colonel Carina Linberg for the possible bringing of a charge of adultery?”

Sheridan folded his arms across his chest. “I know Dex was scr … having relations with her.”

“Did he tell the colonel from the outset that he is a married man?” Welborn asked.

“I don’t know,” Sheridan said.

“Was Captain Cowan aware that he was sharing Colonel Linberg with another lover, another military officer?”

That one caught Sheridan by surprise. He laughed.

“Dex Cowan share a woman with another man?”

“His wife was sharing him with another woman, albeit unknowingly. At least initially.”

“Yeah, well, that’d be the only way Dex would share, too. Unknowingly. If he found out different, he’d break it off.”

“Even if he’d come to have feelings for the woman?” Welborn asked.

“Feelings are what you maybe have for your wife not for your … you know.”

“You boys musta had different wedding vows than I did,” Rockelle said dryly.

“Did you know that Captain Cowan was resigning from the Navy?” Welborn asked.

“Yes … he’s going to work for American Aviation. That’s how he got the money for the Viper.”

“Nice car. You must’ve enjoyed driving it. Is that why you helped him?”

“Damn right. I thought we were just having a little fun.”

“Would you have done it if he’d asked you to drive my car?”

“He did. I told him no. I was going to drive his car or forget it.”

“How do you think Captain Cowan got his new civilian job?”

Sheridan smirked. “Same way he gets everything. Somebody did him a favor. Thing is, men are almost as easy as women for Dex. To charm, I mean. People just like the fucker. He’s good-looking, he’s smooth. You could be Don Juan on his leftovers. I know for a fact he’s set up superior officers with some of the best-looking women they ever had. His reputation is servicewide. Hell, I’d be surprised if the
Boy Scouts
didn’t know about him.”

“He’s helped you find companionship, too?”

The commander’s smile grew smugger. “Yeah, he has.”

Welborn looked over at Rockelle and she popped the $64,000 question.

“So why would he want to kill Cheryl Altman with Lieutenant Yates’s car?”

Sheridan’s smile vanished, and his face got tight again. “I don’t know anything about that. You think I’m going to help somebody commit murder just so I can drive his car?”

“And eat his leftovers,” Rockelle said. “Maybe Captain Cowan promised you something else, too. Like your own fancy civilian job.”

Sheridan denied it. But while the homicide detective and the commander matched stares, Welborn thought maybe a big-money job was exactly the promise Cowan had made to Carina Linberg. Sure would explain why she was at that Command Careers seminar.

In the same room with Anson Merriman.

Welborn left Commander Sheridan in Rockelle Bullard’s safekeeping for the time being and returned to his office at the White House. He tried to reach Cowan at his Pentagon office and at his home in Virginia. He didn’t pick up at either place. Next, Welborn tapped out Carina Linberg’s home phone number. He half expected that she wouldn’t answer either, and he’d have to make the drive out to —

She answered on the sixth ring. “Hello.”

“Colonel Linberg, this is Lieutenant Yates calling from the White House.”

“Always a pleasure, Lieutenant,” she responded dryly, “wherever you’re calling from.”

“Yes, ma’am. Have you seen Captain Dexter Cowan recently?”

“No.”

“Do you know where I can find him?”

“No.”

“And you do remember, ma’am, that it’s a crime to lie to a federal officer?”

“Oh, yes. I’m very clear on that.”

Welborn frowned, trying to decide to what extent Carina Linberg had been working with Dexter Cowan. To what extent, if any, he should trust her.

“Ma’am, I must advise you to call me promptly should you hear from Captain Cowan or should he approach you. Failure to do so would only add to your troubles.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want that, would I?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Would you care to tell me your interest in finding the captain?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Will that be all, Lieutenant?”

“One more thing, ma’am. Please remember you’re under orders not to leave the area.”

She hung up on him.

Kenny McGill was seriously aggrieved that his younger sister was going to get a ride in a Marine helicopter to Washington, and he wasn’t. For her part, Abbie McGill told her father that she would feel less comfortable with his leaving her behind at Camp David even though she knew she would continue to be safe from those who wished to do her harm.

McGill had told his two older children a lie.

“Caitie has a toothache.”

His youngest was already aboard the helicopter. McGill didn’t trust her not to give away the deceit by taunting her brother. Then he’d have to take all his children along.

“And this place doesn’t have its own dentist?” Kenny asked.

“An oversight. I’m sure Patti will have it corrected it shortly.”

“I still want to go,” his son said.

“You can’t.”

“I won’t mind sitting out in the waiting room.”

McGill sighed. “Kenny, did you know this place does have a skeet-shooting range?”

“What’s that?”

McGill told him. Kenny beamed. “You’d let me shoot a shotgun?”

“At clay pigeons only. I’ll tell the range master to expect you after breakfast.”

“Thanks, Dad. That’s way cooler than going to some old dentist.”

But Kenny still wanted to ride on the Marine helicopter sometime.

As for Abbie, he could only give her a hug.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can, honey. We’ll work it out so all you guys can go home soon and not have to worry.”

Abbie’s arms tightened around her father. “You know how Mom used to worry about you all the time, Dad?”

Abbie was the only one of his children old enough to know about that.

“Yeah.”

“She still does. I do, too.”

McGill kissed the top of his daughter’s head and told her he had to go.

The Sikorsky Sea King helicopter, part of Marine Helicopter Squadron One, took off with a roar. Both McGill and Caitie were looking out windows and waving good-bye to Abbie and Kenny, but in seconds they were out of sight as the machine rose into the sky, and the sweep of the Catoctin forest hid Camp David.

Reclining in the oversized leather seat that was normally the province of the president of the United States, Caitie asked, “Did they buy it, Dad? The toothache story.”

“I think so. They’re not used to hearing lies from their father.”

That concept didn’t seem to bother Caitie — as long as it wasn’t used to her disadvantage. She wriggled her bottom on the plush seat and looked around the cabin of the aircraft. McGill could almost see the idea form in his daughter’s mind that one day she would have such perquisites of power for her own.

Looking back at him, she asked, “Dad, you’re somebody special these days, aren’t you?”

“I’m just along for the ride. Patti’s the special one.”

An honest answer and suitably humble, but he feared he was only cementing his little megalomaniac’s ambitions. Caitie’s nod confirmed it. He could only hope she’d develop a taste for tattoos and body piercings that would make her unacceptable to the voting public.

“We need to talk, you and me,” McGill told her.

“About what?”

“I told you I want you to help Sweetie, but I didn’t tell you how.”

“I don’t care. I’ll do anything.”

“It could be dangerous.”

Caitie grinned, as if he’d sprinkled sugar on her favorite cereal.

“And your mother could still veto the whole thing.”

“Daaad … we won’t tell her.”

“You might want to change your mind, too.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Listen, then tell me what you think.” He held up a hand to wave off another denial of anything but eagerness to participate. “You know the people who’ve threatened Abbie and Kenny and you? They’re the ones Sweetie plans to confront.”

“She’s gonna
bash
them?” Caitie’s eyes grew wide at the prospect.

“She’s going to make them see the light of reason.”

His bloodthirsty imp’s glee disappeared. “What fun is that?”

“Grown-up fun. The kind Patti and I and maybe your mom can get behind.”

“You mean Sweetie’s only going to
talk
to them?”

“She’s going to talk to them forcefully. It should be very interesting.”

“I don’t see how.”

McGill considered his words carefully and hoped none of the helicopter’s crew had family or friends in Reverend Godfrey’s movement. Just to be safe, he leaned forward and dropped his voice. “You remember
The Lion King?”

“Yeah, of course. But I haven’t watched it in a long time.” The animated classic had become far too jejune for the sophisticated Ms. McGill.

“There’s a scene near the end,” McGill said, “where Scar is facing off against all the hyenas? It could be like that. Where Sweetie’s the only lion around.”

“But Scar was the bad guy, and Sweetie is a good guy,” Caitie said, finding the flaw in her father’s cinematic analogy.

“Right, Sweetie’s the good guy.”

“But the hyenas are still the bad guys?”

“Right again. The point I was trying to make was you should remember how that scene in the movie ended for that particular lion.”

Caitie did, and her enthusiasm waned. “Oh.”

“Now, I’m not saying that’s how it’ll happen this time, only that there’s an element of danger. For you, too, if you decide to join in.”

“Well …” His daughter was much more deliberate now. Which he found very reassuring. “… what would I have to do?”

“Just show your face. Only for a few seconds.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, and Deke will be right behind you. If anything goes wrong, he’ll grab you and get you out of there fast.”

“You
won’t be there?”

That was McGill’s original plan. Not to give Godfrey and his minions anything more than Sweetie to inflame their passions. But he could see now that like his movie analogy, this, too, was imperfect thinking. No way was he going to let Caitie go out there without him. No disrespect to Deke, but McGill just wouldn’t be able to do it.

“Of course, I’ll be there. But I’m going to have to hang back a little ways. Keep my presence a secret.” As ever in Washington, compromise was a must.

“Then it will be you, me, and Sweetie against the bad guys.”

“Us and Deke, too.”

Caitie stuck out her hand for McGill to shake.

“Count me in, Dad.”

McGill pulled his daughter onto his lap. Held her close.

“If your mother says okay,” he told her.

The intercom on the president’s desk buzzed.

“Mr. McGill and Caitlin have arrived. They’re in the residence, Madam President.”

“Thank you, Edwina,” the president told her secretary. “Would you ask Jim if he can spare a few minutes for me now? Please tell Caitie hello for me and ask Blessing to find something to keep her amused while her father’s in the Oval Office.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Welborn Yates, who’d just spent the past fifteen minutes briefing the president on his investigation, got to his feet and saluted. The president looked at him with a bemused smile.

“You have pressing business elsewhere, Lieutenant?”

Welborn’s cheeks reddened. “Ma’am, I … I thought I was being dismissed … as you’ve sent for Mr. McGill.”

The president shook her head. “I thought I’d introduce you. The two of you haven’t met, have you?”

“Only informally, in passing one day.”

Welborn felt like a complete idiot and was relieved when the president asked him to sit down and turned her attention to the notes she’d made on his briefing until her husband arrived. Whereupon he got smartly to his feet once more and saluted McGill.

Who grinned and returned the salute.

“I think we can dispense with that courtesy from now on,” McGill told him.

“Jim, allow me to introduce Lieutenant Welborn Yates, United States Air Force, Office of Special Investigations. Lieutenant, this is my husband, James J. McGill.”

The two men shook hands.

“A pleasure, sir,” Welborn said.

“Likewise,” McGill responded.

They looked each other in the eye, both of them knowing the relationship they had, one helping the other, but neither so much as winked at it.

“Now you may leave, Lieutenant,” the president told him.

Welborn snapped off his best salute, did a perfect about-face, and left.

After he closed the door, McGill said, “Nice kid but a little intense.”

“He’s young, he’s nervous, and I’m the big boss.”

McGill sat down opposite his wife. “Sometimes I forget.”

“Of course. You’ve never been in awe of me.”

“Oh, there
are
times. If I’m allowed to say that in the Oval Office.”

Patti gave him a grin. “It’ perfectly all right. No president since Nixon has made recordings in here.” Changing the subject, she asked, “So you’ve decided to let Caitie participate with Sweetie?”

“From my point of view and Caitie’s, yes. I wasn’t able to reach Carolyn just now. She and Lars decided to get out of town for a couple days. Barbara Sullivan tells me they’ve gone up to Wisconsin by themselves. I know where Carolyn likes to stay. I’ll try her again in a couple of hours.”

“Abbie and Kenny are fine at Camp David?”

“They’d be finer if Carolyn or I was there. They’re feeling a bit isolated.”

Patti hesitated a moment before asking, “Would it help, do you think, if I went up and spent the night with them?”

McGill beamed … then he thought the question through.

“They’d be thrilled. But why do
you
need to get out of town?”

Patti told him what she had planned for Cuba and that the balloon was about to go up. “For appearances’ sake,” she continued, “I thought it would look better if I wasn’t at the White House when the action commences.”

McGill nodded. “I think you’re right about that.”

“And my plan?” Patti asked.

“Outside my area of expertise, but I’ll light a candle.”

“When you light one for Caitie and Sweetie?”

“Exactly.”

“You’re sure the kids will want me at Camp David? I won’t be a poor substitute?”

It amazed McGill that the most powerful woman in the world, one of the richest and most beautiful women in the world, could still find something about which she felt insecure. But he kept the thought to himself.

“My children love you,” he told her. “So much so that at least in your heart if nowhere else, you should think of them as your children, too.”

The president suddenly had to clear her throat and look away. When she turned back to McGill, there was a smile on her face. “I’ll go to Camp David then.”

“And if the brats give you any guff, spank the hell out of them.”

Patti and McGill both laughed.

“I understand you’ve also lodged Ms. Lochlan at Camp David. So she’s not a threat to my welfare, after all?” McGill told Patti what had happened to Chana. “Poor woman,” Patti said.

That matter settled, Patti recounted for McGill the briefing Welborn had given her.

“Wow,” McGill said, “talk about your tangled web.”

“And how would you sort it out, my dear private detective husband?”

McGill let his eyes lose focus for a moment as he reviewed and sorted the facts. Bringing his attention back to Patti, he said, “Let’s start from the beginning.”

“A logical place.”

“The Air Force is considering bringing a charge of adultery against Colonel Linberg for having sex with Captain Cowan, a married man.”

“Correct.”

“The colonel admits the sexual relationship but says the captain told her he was divorced.”

“Also correct.”

“General Altman, the Air Force chief of staff, is pushing for Colonel Linberg’s court-martial. We suspect, but don’t know, that the general may also have had a sexual relationship with the colonel. That suspicion, however, becomes stronger with the death of Mrs. Altman, allegedly at the hands of Captain Cowan.”

“Cowan killed Mrs. Altman before she could spill the beans on her husband to Lieutenant Yates. That’s Welborn’s thinking.”

“It’s a natural enough assumption,” McGill said. “On the other hand …”

He lapsed back into rumination. Patti waited him out in silence.

“Let’s remember what this Commander Sheridan, the friend of Cowan’s, said. He said the captain would never knowingly share a woman with another man. Do you think General Altman would knowingly share a lover with Cowan?”

Patti shook her head. “I don’t see that.”