Her look turned sour. “Trying to get rid of me again? I thought we had covered that.”
“We can divide and conquer.” He paused, looking uncomfortable. “And…”
“And what?” she said, evidently looking for a fight.
“And I thought you might want to see your kids.”
All the venom seeped from White’s features as she scrutinized him. “Okay, that is the only response that would have saved your butt with me right this second. So, what do you want me to try to find out?”
“I said before I didn’t think this was Draymont’s and Lancer’s first attempt at blackmail. And maybe they picked up down here where they left off in DC.”
“Pretty bad blackmailers then, because Draymont drove an old car and lived in a crummy apartment. Lancer’s house was pretty modest.”
“Draymont also had on a Cartier watch and his suit was an Armani. Both were the real deal. And he had a personal platinum Amex card.”
“Shit,” said White. “Now that I think about it, the clothes in Lancer’s apartment were all designer and so were her handbags. I thought they were knockoffs. And the motivation for the people who killed them?”
“It’s about something more important than money.”
“Which is?”
“What we have to find out.”
Chapter 49
DECKER DROPPED WHITE OFF AT the airport the following morning.
“Say hello to your family. Maybe I’ll meet them one day.”
She stabbed him with a look. “Maybe you will. If you hold up your end of our partnership.”
Next, Decker drove to the hospital where they had transferred Agent Andrews. The man was sitting up in his bed appearing forlorn and defeated.
Decker sat down next to him and looked the agent over. “You feel like talking or you need to rest?”
“I’m on a ton of painkillers, but I’m still lucid and bored. So, your visit is welcome.”
“Okay.”
“Kelly’s dead?” Andrews said.
Decker nodded.
“I guess I’m lucky to be alive,” said Andrews.
“We all are.”
“Where’s your sidekick?”
“She’s not my sidekick. She’s my partner. She went back to DC.”
Andrews looked shocked. “You’re not giving up the case?”
“No, we’re expanding it. Did you know Kanak Roe?”
“I told you I did.”
“Tell me more,” said Decker.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything, considering I really know nothing about him.”
“He was an impressive man. Everyone respected him. More than they do his daughter,” he added, a bit petulantly, thought Decker.
“You seem to have an issue with her,” said Decker.
Andrews rubbed at his injured shoulder and said, “Maybe I do.”
“Why?”
“No particular reason,” said Andrews, not meeting his eye.
“Well, let me give you one. You tried to get a position with Gamma but were rejected. Too inflexible, maybe?”
Andrews gasped, “How in the hell did you know that?”
“I didn’t, not for sure, until right now. But there was something just off about you and Gamma and Kasimira Roe. You were a little too effusive about the firm, and you knew a lot about it. And you seem to like the finer things in life, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Andrews lay back and closed his eyes. “I guess I should have recused myself from the investigation, like you suggested.”
“We’re all human.”
“What else do you want to know about Kanak Roe?”
“Successful, respected. Anything more?”
“You really want the observations of an inflexible agent who can’t make the grade in the private sector?”
“I want the observations of a veteran FBI agent who was nearly killed performing his duty.”
Andrews opened his eyes. “I appreciate your saying that.”
“It’s the truth. Subtlety is not my thing.”
Andrews let out a sigh. “I’ll tell you something about Kanak Roe that I don’t think I’ve told anyone else.”
“What’s that?”
“I went deep-sea fishing with him once, oh, this was a little over four years ago.”
“Didn’t know you were into fishing.”
“I was thinking about jumping to the private sector back then. I was coming up on my full twenty-five-year pension at the Bureau, and the bucks even the young punks made at Gamma were twice what the Bureau paid. I was hoping that if I got to know Roe better it might help my chances. Unfortunately, he died before I was ready to apply. And under Kasimira’s regime I didn’t make the cut.” He glanced sideways at Decker. “You were right, they considered me ‘an inside-the-box thinker and too bureaucratic.’ She’d hire you in a heartbeat.”