Tomahawk (14 page)

Chapter 11

I opened the door to the viewing room.  "That will give him something to think about for a while."  No one looked at me.  I wanted to repeat myself to make sure that everyone heard me, but I knew they had.
"Commissioner how old is your daughter?"
"Um...she'll be 19 in two weeks."
"Ryan, go through every social media outlet to find her."
"I'll check her Facebook and Twitter accounts for any activity."  Ryan walked out the door followed by another officer.
I had to stare down Drew for him to move from guarding Tonya.  "Tonya."  I reached out my hand.  "I didn't mean any of it you know that."
It was surprising to see her face dry, void of any tears as she looked up at me.  "I know that you had to do it.  I'm not stupid."
"Last thing I would think was that.  I'm sorry."
"So you found my book?"  She put her head down.
"Yeah, it was beautiful. You would have been a gorgeous bride."
"Thanks, I guess."  Flexing the fingers on her good hand.  For a split second I imagined her all dressed in white walking towards me.  Drew on her arm, my brother by my side.  Church full.  It would never happen.  Not in this lifetime. She cleared her throat.  "After that."  She pointed to the screen.  "I see things clearly now."
"Like what?"  Totally confused.
She blinked a few times and swallowed.  "I know now that you really love me."

After looking at Sanders trying to form another plan in his head.  Drew, Tonya and myself found ourselves in Stone's office as Ryan worked away.  "There's nothing going on her social media accounts.  Everything fell silent on Friday afternoon.  Her last post was how excited she was to go to Virginia.  That's it."  I saw my brother's frustration.  At any moment he was going to throw the computer out of the office.  "I need Melissa.  She'll know what to look for."  Ryan pushed himself from the desk.
I knew that the crack had started just like in a windshield.  It starts small, barely noticeable.  With time it grows bigger and it splinters into every direction.  It was starting to happen now.  The void that was growing, Melissa.  I switched it off, I would grieve later.  But Mel hung in my mind.  Her words began to dig at me.  "What did Melissa say when you called her before we got to Tonya's hotel?"  My mind began to cut and measure everything she talked about.
Ryan's eyes were tired, it was 7:13am.  "Vic that was a lifetime ago."  He rubbed his calloused hands over his face, masking his sorrow for exhaustion.
"She said we should be looking into the victim not the perpetuator."
"Yeah, she was talking about Tonya."
I bit my bottom lip.  "Yeah, I know.  But she was right.  We look inside not outside.  We need to be looking at the victim, Lola Sanders."
Ryan pulled his body up from his slouch.  "Ok, let's start.  How do you know the victim?"
My heart began to pound and the lack of sleep and fatigue was churning inside.  I sat down.  "She worked at the White House. Lola was in charge of the White House tours. She was only there for only seven and a half months before she was killed."
"Was your relationship with her sexual?"  Ryan looked me deep in my eyes.
I looked into Tonya's face, which showed pure stress she was holding her breath.  "Never, I was never romantically involved with the victim.  I was in a relationship at the time."  I said never taking my eyes off of her.
"The night in question where were you when the victim died?"
"The President, our former President Mentik was hosting a charity event at the time.  He and his family were in the ball room, when his son informed me that there was an accident."  The night came back to me, the night that my life ended.  “Jacob Jr. told me that a girl was found face down in the indoor pool."
"So she was dead when you got there?"
"Not entirely.  The girl wasn't dead, but struggling, drowning in the pool."
"So she wasn't dead, what happened next?"
"I removed my jacket and attempted to get into the pool."  God help me.  "Jacob told me not to save her, let her drown."  I heard Tonya gasp behind me.  "I let her drown."
I saw in my brother's eyes was he going to kill me or not?  "Why, would you do that?" 
"Jacob admitted to me that, they had a few drinks and he-he wanted to go further and she refused.  Then he-"
"He sexually assaulted her."  I nodded and dare not look up to Tonya.
"He said that she would ruin the White House and his father's legacy.  His father was going up for second term and the scandal would be more than the Mentik's could bear.  Jacob said that when he finished with her, she ran out of the room, he grabbed her, and she hit her head on the dresser....hard.  He thought she was dead, but she woke in the pool.  Lola didn't know how to swim."
I could hear the sound of everyone breathing in the room.  There was no more to say, I was exposed for what I really was.  A murderer.  "So, I waited until she stopped moving and floated back to the surface. Called it in.  I covered it up."
I wasn't aware that my hands were shaking. Ryan put his hand over mine.  "God and country, bro.  You were following orders.  We've all done worse in the field all under orders."
"I wasn't in the field.  I was on home soil." Tonya couldn't look at me.  "Could you give us a second?"  Stone hung back for a moment, my men walked out.  "Tonya."  I took a step towards her, she took two steps back bumping into Stone's desk.
"Please."  She put both of her hands out.  Stopping me from coming any closer to her.  Her face twisted in pure disgust of me.
My fist clenched at my side, the small voice inside me wasn't so small.  It was a screaming man forcing me to tell her, explain to her.  "I couldn't continue a relationship with you.  I thought it was going up in flames I didn't want you to get burned because of me.  I had to cut you lose, me covering up a murder?  I would have drug you down with me.  Tonya, you have to understand, I never wanted you to be wrapped up in this.  I never-"
"You never wanted me to find out."  She rested her behind on the edge of Stone's desk.  Rubbing her feet together.
"True.  I couldn't lay next to you knowing what I'd done.  How could I make love to you?  You thinking that I was this person, this good person knowing all along what I'd done.  I couldn't do that to you."
"I'm glad you told me."
"Now you know. I can't take it back, but here I am."  Spreading my arms wide.  "This is the man that you loved, the man that you wanted to marry.  I'm nothing but a man that watched a girl fight water in a pool and watch die."
"A murderer."
"Yes."  My arms fell to my waist, like an aged boxer who shouldn’t have come out of retirement.
"The Tomahawk."
There was nothing else to say.  I couldn't help but look at her.  The pain I was serving her seemed to be never-ending. 
Ryan opened the door.  "Sanders wants to talk to you."  Giving her one last look I walked back into the interrogation room.
I plastered a smile on my face.  "You ready to tell us where Rice’s daughter is?"
"Not yet."
"Well, there is nothing more then."  My hand still on the knob I started to walk back out.
"Can you answer a question for me?"
He took the bluff, I sat back down.  "Only when you answer mine."  The man that was so sure of himself was losing at his own game, simply nodded.  "Go ahead and ask."
"How long did it take her to die?  They say that she drowned, but how long?"  His eyes were pleading.
Without mercy and full of malice.  "Not long just a few minutes.  Now you answer my question.  How do you know me?  How do you know my name?"
Sanders boyish smile crept back on his face.  "My sister, thought you were a nice man."  He barked a laugh.  "She wrote me letters every week.  I was stationed in Iraq.  She told me how you and the President's son were close and that you were on his security detail.  Now answer a question.  "Do you know who she was dating?"
"How the hell would I know?  I was already babysitting one twenty year old, I wasn't getting paid to watch your sister too.  My question, why do you ask?"
"In her letters, she said that she had found someone.  Someone that she had fallen in love with.  A wonderful man, she had said. When I got my plan together, I couldn't find him.  I thought that he and I would go into this together. Question: Did you know that she was pregnant when she died?"
Shit. "No."  Which I didn't.  "My last question, where's Rice's daughter?"
"
My
last question, you tell me?"

Drew fell back on the chair back into Stone's office.  "There was no funeral for her.  Her body was cremated less than 24 hours after her death.  Dead end."
I was beginning to realize that I was going to be the participant in another young woman's death.  Sanders had made it plain that he was going to let this girl die and again force me to stand idle.
"What the hell does he want from you?  Whatever it is please give it to him, Vic."  Tonya said taking her position on the edge of Stone's desk.  "What if we find the guy?  The man that she was seeing, do you think he will let the girl go?"
Before I could answer her my cell rang.  "Moore."
"Is it done?"  Mrs. Mentik whispered.
She had no idea what was going on.  "Yes."  I looked dead at Stone.  "Yes, Steven Sanders is dead."
"Before you receive any payment, I will need to confirm his death."  Still in a hushed voice.
"Come to DC now and I will show you where his body is."
"My husband and I are already on our way."  She ended the call.
Stone jabbed a finger in my face.  "What the hell are you saying and who the hell were you saying it to?"
I ignored the invasion of personal space and turned to my team.  "Mrs. Mentik and her husband will be here soon."  I dug into my inside pocket of my parka.  That was hanging in Stone's office.  I pulled out the letters from Sanders.
"The Mentik's?  Former president and his wife?  Mr. Moore you have to keep me in the loop, why does she need confirmation?  This is my office and I am the only person that doesn't have a clue what's going on."
"There is something in here that we missed.  I gave a handful of letters to my team and Tonya.  "Don't know when they'll get here so we better get to reading."  I caught the attention of Stone, who looked on the verge of having a full blown temper tantrum.  "Detective Stone, could you release a statement to the media?"
Folding his arms, "Like what?"
"Say some jazz about the suspect died in custody.  I don't care how you spin it.  Just that he's dead."
"Whatever you're doing, I hope that it pays off."  He stepped out of his office.
I hope so too.
 

Chapter 12

"I think I found something."  We had been stuck in Stone's office reading letters of a crazy person for the last hour.  Tonya handed me the letter and pointed.  "It's one of his last letters, look."
I began to skim through it.  Tonya grew tired of me searching.  "Right, here.  It's almost like a blind correspondence."  She took the letter and read it out loud.
"I don't have enough to go to the media, but I will.  I am not foolish enough to make threats against the first family-I make promises.  I know that she drowned, I know that you and your staff covered it up.  I have received letters, extremely vague letters on what happened that night.  I will not have my sister's life be in vain." 
Tonya put the letter down.  "Someone was talking to him.  Someone let him know what happened." 
"That was the last letter in the bunch."  Drew said putting his stack down.  "There was another party that was giving this guy information.  That's how he knew that you were even there."
"Who?"  Ryan said sitting on the floor back rest against the wall.  "It could be anybody.  Maybe White House staff?"
"No one knew.  And any of the staff would have made it a bigger deal.  They would have wanted money."  I said.
My team and I threw theories around while Tonya sat on the desk listening.  What was she thinking right now? 
"Moore."  I answered in my cellphone.
"Yes, Mr. Moore.  My husband and I are here."  I couldn't help but smile.
"We are at the police station, I need for you and Mr. Mentik to meet me here."
There was a long pause.  My stomach began to twitch; there were a million ways that this could go left on me.  "I will tell the driver.  We will meet you at the back entrance in a half hour."
"And don't forget our money."  I added, don't know if she heard. 
I started to walk out the door.  "Where you going?"  Drew asked as he stood.
"Going to talk to our lucky prisoner."  I saw that the night shift was getting off and the morning shift was coming in.  I was pretty sure that morning guys were getting an earful from the graveyard shift cops.
I swung the door open, I have expected Sanders to be sitting there with that stupid grin on his face.  Instead, his face was long.  His plan, years in the making wasn't as fool proof as he thought.  "How much did you get?"
"What?"
I sat in front of him, close, and our knees almost touching.  "The letters they just stopped.  The only way you would stop your verbal attack on the White House was if you had the funds to set a plan in motion."  For the first time I saw the man squirm in his metal chair, I loved to see him like this.  Uncomfortable, nerves frayed.  "Revenge isn't cheap.  All the work that you put into this wasn't given to you on account of your good looks.  Who upped you?"
"Hell, you know every damn thing.  Why don't you tell me?"  His face had turned ghost white.
"I have a pretty good idea, but I would love to hear your take on it."  I scooted even closer, boxing him in.
He stuck his pointer finger into the small gap between the cuffs and his hand on the opposite hand.  "I received a letter about her death.  No return address, no signature nothing.  So I wrote the White House for more answers, again nothing.  I got angrier and angrier.  I was planning to come home, you know to bury her.  My Commanding Officer told me that she was cremated and that I was to stay there on post.  The White House had gotten to my higher ups.  I couldn't even bury her."  Sanders sniffed and wiped snot on the sleeve of his shirt.  "I wrote letters every day for weeks.  Then I get this letter just to tell me that she drowned and she had blood alcohol level of .09.  That it was an accident and to forget about it.  I got another letter a few weeks after saying to leave it alone.  Then I knew that I had something." 

His brown eyes lit up.  "Someone was covering this up.  I wrote the last letter, again with no response from the White House.  Two weeks letter I have 2.5 million dollars in my bank account."
I raised my eyebrow. "Someone paid you to stay quiet."
Sanders grinned.  "I waited until I was out the military to touch it.  This was four years in the making."  Still smiling.  "I want everyone involved to pay for what they had done.  And when the time is right, you will pay too Tomahawk."
Hell, little did he know that I was paying now.
"When can I go home?"
"The same time that Patricia Rice goes home."  I closed the door behind me.

Ryan seemed to be struggling with the Patricia's search.  "We'll find her."  I put my hand on his shoulder.  "She'll be home with her family soon."
My brother gritted his teeth and typed away.  It was 10 in the morning we were beyond tired, to the point of collapsing where we stood.  Moving away from my brother Tonya took my place by his side.  Whispering low in his ear, for the first time since Ryan came to my house he smiled.
Tonya had the ability to do that.  No matter how things looked, how hard or impossible shit seemed.  She was there to pick it up, look it over again, fix it and hand it back.  Never taking any credit for it.  She caught me looking at her and she backed up from Ryan.  "Detective Stone could you please tell me where your ladies room is located."
Opening the door to his office, the sounds of phones ringing and numerous conversations taking place.  "Straight down this hallway make a left at the copy machine."  She ducked out the room without looking back.
I waited a second and followed.  Using Stone's instructions I stood out the ladies restroom.  I heard the water running on the inside and took a deep breath when I heard it shut off.  Tonya opened the door and took a step back when she saw me.  "You thought I was gonna run didn't you?"  Stepping out of the doorway into the hall so a lady officer could come into the bathroom.
"No.  I just didn't want you to be out of my sight."
"My goodness, it's the bathroom.  In a police station, what's the worst that can happen?"  She stopped for a second.  "Hell, I think I may have jinxed us even more than we already are."  She shook her head.
"Tonya, when this is all over.  I still want to at least remain friends."  I stood with my back against the opposite wall.
She exhaled. "Right now I don't really think so."
"It is because-"
"No, not because of what you did."  She rubbed her hand through her short pixie cut.  "Look, I've never been in the military so I have no idea about orders and chains of command things like that.  The Vic I knew is strong and smart.  So if that's what you had to do, you had to do it."  I could tell in her face she was debating on shifting from the good leg to the bad, but decided against it.  "I would never judge you.  We-" She waved her hand between the both of us.  "We just have too much shit between us.  I don't want you to think that I hate you.  I appreciate everything you've done.  I can't or I won't let you back in.  I'm sorry."
"Can't blame a man for trying."  I tried to smile through my own pain. 
I heard the footsteps before I saw Drew running.  "You need to come back to the office Ryan found something."
"I knew he would."  Tonya smiled.
I gestured to Drew and he picked Tonya up and we made to the office.  If we still weren't under the gun I would have popped a bottle of champagne right there on the spot.  The five of us were overjoyed with the find.  "So what are you going to do with this information?"  For the second time my brother beamed.
"Stone, bring Rice in.  Notify his wife that his daughter is safe.  Talk to station where she is located and get her back in DC ASAP.  I don't trust this guy.  He hasn't made a mistake yet."  Home stretch I thought to myself.

Drew came back with lunch, he cleaned out the vending machines at the police station.  We were held up here until this plan that I had would form and the sooner the better.  Ryan had to nudge Tonya to wake her up.  She had fallen asleep about an hour ago, rubbing her feet together with a fever. 
An older officer, maybe in his late forties knocked and opened Stone's office door.  "Mr. Moore you have guests in interrogation room # two."
"Thanks."  I stood and stretched. 
"I don't know if this is going to work or not." Ryan said.  "I don't have the skill like Mel."
"Ryan, you have to be one of the smartest guys I know.  Whatever, Vic wants you to do I'm 100% positive that you can do it."  Tonya said covering her mouth which was stuffed full of Lays Ruffles.  "You can do this."
My brother's face tensed for a second and nodded to me.  "What do you need from me?”  Drew said standing putting his can of Coke on Stone's desk.
"In about-" I looked at the office wall clock that read 12:36pm.  "In about 24 minutes, go into to Sander's interrogation room.  Don't say a word and by God don't touch him.  Just stand there and be your intimidating self.  Just look at him.  I need him unnerved for this."  Before closing the door behind me I looked over to Tonya who was still cheerleading Ryan.  I walked down the hall and opened the door that read #2.
"Where's the body?"  Mrs. Mentik said.  Now she looked like the first lady.  Dark navy pants suit, subtle makeup and as authoritative as Stalin.  "After this I want to go see my son."
"Our son dear."  The former president interjected.  "He was my son too, Janet."
She shooed her husband's words away like you would a gnat.
"He's under the station in the morgue.  Just waiting for the medical examiner to get done with him."  I paused and watched their expressions.  Mr. Mentik looked like he would rather be golfing and his wife was wound up tight.
"So you know all about this, Big Jake. You know that your wife wants another man dead?"  I stood and looked down at my former employer.
He took a look at his wife who turned her head away.  "I am aware."  He spoke with authority.  "This Sanders killed our son.  In our minds justice needed to be served."
"Yeah, justice."  I said. ”Was there justice for Denia Flynne, Victoria Starks, Kendra McDowell.  Was there some sort of justice for them?"
Jake looked over to his wife in confusion.  "Janet?"
"Jake, you know that our son had...problems.  Those girls, they-"
"They what?  Had it coming? Were at the wrong place at the wrong time?  Big Jake, what your wife is failing to tell you is that your deceased son was a rapist."  Again he looked to his wife for clarification.  "Your son enjoyed hurting women."  Mrs. Mentik gave me the death stare.  "He never showed that side of himself while I was with him.  The incident at his co-ed boarding schools, until you enrolled him at Collins all boy prep.  Then it stopped."  A very dear colleague of mine once said, stop looking at the offender but at the victim.  These young girls ages from 14-17 were raped by your son, Mr. Mentik.  Where is they’re justice?"
"I...I had no idea that he would do such a thing.  I-"
"How would you know?  You made no time for him, you turned the White House into your playpen."  His mouth open in shock.  "Don't give me that look.  I knew about all those women you had.  I never said anything because I would never leave you.  My future rested on staying put and taking quiet control."  Her face became distorted with anger.  "Your political career, golf and anyone that was foolish enough to sleep with you kept you away from your son.  I did what needed to be done."
"My GOD, Janet did you-what did you do to those girls?"  He stood, voice shaking.
"Sit down, Jake. Don't be dramatic."
"Dramatic?  Did you kill those girls like you wanted this Sanders person killed?”  He turned back to me.  "I had no idea what we were coming back to DC for beside that we were making arrangements for my son.  Janet how could you?"
"In her defense she didn't kill those girls.  She paid them off.  Paid for their silence as your son went on to his next victim.  How much did each of those girls get, Mrs. Mentik?"
"I do not have to answer to you."  She looked me over.  "You didn't kill him did you?  You are just as worthless as him."  Sticking her thumb out jabbing it in her husband's direction.
"Being a good Christian woman such as yourself.  You paid and prayed for those women to go away and they did.  But there was one woman that wouldn't take the money and leave- one that you had to handle yourself wasn't there?"
"Go to hell.”
"Janet! Did you kill someone?"
"Not exactly. You are a smart woman and by the looks of things you were the one running the White House."  She smiled-he frowned.  "With your husband's tramping around, it was bound to happen."
"You know nothing about this family.  Nothing on what I had to do to keep flames off of us."
"Yeah and on to me.  That night, I saw you talking to Jake Jr.  I remember you basically pushing him to me the night Lola was killed."
"What happened to her was tragic to say the least.  She drowned and my son paid five years locked away for an accident."  Mr. Mentik put his head down.
"Mr. Mentik let me put you up to speed.  Lola was pregnant.  With your baby."  I let my words hang.  The man made no moves in denial or no look of shame.  "Your first lady must have heard about it somewhere.  And being the lovely mother she is she tried to direct Lola away from you to her son.  Well knowing what he would do to her in closed quarters.  She was banking on Jake to hurt her, pay her off and leave like the rest of the girls, but she didn't die like she thought she would.  That night I saw Jake run to you, like the punk that he was running to his mommy.  You pulled me into it, spin this whole thing into an accident.  You probably wanted me to take the fall for it.” Her face tensed and I had my answer.  "Then Lola's brother pops up out of nowhere, you feed him enough information to keep him satisfied, you thought.  But Lola was his only living relative, his sister and he wanted answers.  You had money waiting, so you sent it to him 2.5 million."
"Jesus, you sent him 2.5 million dollars Janet?  Are you insane?"  Mr. Mentik shouted.
"Jake, it was my money.  You forgot that's the reason why you married me in the first place to fund your political career."  She folded her arms and looked the other way.
"It was the same amount that you gave the other girls for their silence and you thought that it would hush him up too, but it didn't work."
"Why?  Janet, why couldn't you've told me?"
"Tell you what Jake?  That our son was sick and you slept with anything that wasn't me?  As a mother I did what I had to do.  Besides, it worked out pretty well, your whore was dead.  Jake went away for a while and received some counseling.  Our family was still intact."
If I could have punched her I would have done it.  The hell that she had rained down on me, my team and Tonya.  If only I could put my hands around her thin neck and squeeze.
She smiled at me.  "You are pretty smart.  But this doesn't mean anything.  We wouldn't go to jail."  Still smiling at me.  "I just have one question for you?  How did you know about the money?"
"Like you said before you are a Christian woman with morals that reads her bible every day. 2.5, 2+5=7.  Seven the number of completion.  Finally getting those girls and that woman out of your lives."  I stood.  "I'm sure that the M.E. is done with the body let's go down stairs."  I opened the door and ushered them out.  Gone was the loud talking of policemen and criminals in the station.  Gone was the sound of papers rattling, the click and clank of phone slammed down into their cradles.  Silence as the two walked out in front of me.
The former president waved and his wife clung to his side, tilted her head and gave a weak smile.  Both under the impression that their celebrity had them all under a spell.  "It worked."  My brother came up beside me. 
Tonya punched him in the arm.  "Told you.  I knew that you could do it."
"Easier than I thought.  I just took the audio from the camera in the interrogation room and fed it into the p.a. system.
The former President of the White House stood in shock.  "This means nothing."
"You're right. It not mean anything to us."  I looked around to the disgusted faces of DC law enforcement.  "But it means a lot to someone else." 
Drew had Sanders by the upper arm and led him to the hallway to face the Mentik's.  "You killed her?"  Tears came down in waves from his face as he stared down at his sister’s killer.  "You allowed it to happen."  Sanders spoke in disbelief.
Mrs. Mentik stood toe to toe with Sanders.  "Your sister was a whore that was sleeping with a married man.  In my opinion she didn't die slow enough, with her bastard child inside of her."
Sanders took her words like a slap in the face, closing his eyes and cursing under his breath.  Drew handed him over to an officer and made his way back to the team.
The officer walked Sanders in the opposite direction to a cell.  "You Bitch!"  Sanders elbowed the officers and upholstered his service weapon.  "If you make one more step out that door I'll kill you."
I threw Tonya behind me, my team and a room full of officers pulled out their weapons.  "I'll kill her, I swear to God.  I will kill you."
Mrs. Mentik stood without fear, her husband squatted down on the floor trying to make himself as small as possible.  "Do it then what?  Your cunt sister will still be in hell."
"Join her."  Sanders pulled the trigger.
I would be a fool to try and stop what was going to happen.  I pushed Tonya to the ground and covered her with my body as glass and debris fell all around us in the station.  I didn't see her take the bullet to the chest or see the multiple gunshot wounds that Sanders received either.  They were both dead before either one of them hit the ground.