“Henry Graff is connected. He works for himself. Runs a shadowy security consultancy out in Arlington. A lot of government contracts. Pentagon. Homeland Security.”
McNeal drank the rest of his beer. “You think Graff had his wife killed?”
“No one could prove a thing. But he’s a cold bastard. My advice? Steer clear of this guy.”
“I get it.”
“You don’t know the big picture. There’s a lot of things to consider. The case against Graff got dropped. He knows a lot of people. But so did Sophie.”
“What kind of people?”
“Sophie Meyer had powerful friends. Very powerful friends—friends in high places.”
“Who exactly?”
Daniels again leaned in close before he whispered. “She’s been around. A lot. She had many lovers. Powerful men.”
McNeal could see exactly what Daniels was getting at. Her powerful friends could also have had her killed. “You got any names?”
“In this town, Sophie Meyer was an open secret. She was a druggie basket case. She’d fuck anyone. The richer and more powerful, the better. She kept diaries of all those men. Oligarchs, tech billionaires, hedge fund cokeheads, diplomats, UN secretary general, Hollywood actors.”
“You think one of her lovers got her killed?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. No one ever will.”
Twenty-Five
The conversation with Sam Daniels played in a loop in Jack McNeal’s racing mind. He got back to his hotel room and called his brother. Peter, although temperamentally more charged than Jack, had always been a useful sounding board.
When he’d finished outlining what Daniels had said, Peter was quiet. Jack prodded him along, adding, “By the way, I meant to ask earlier, how’s Dad holding up?”
“Not great. He’s taking Caroline’s death hard. It’s not like him. Nothing seems to rouse him. He’s really down about it.”
“We’ll get through this. Try and keep his spirits up.”
“I’ll do my best. He said to give you the number of an old friend of his. Might be able to help in some way with Caroline’s death. He knows a lot of people.”
“You talking about O’Brien?”
“That’s the guy. Down in Florida. You got a pen handy?”
“Sure.” Jack scribbled down the number. He let the silence stretch until it became uncomfortable. “You still there, Peter?”
A long sigh. “Jack, I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine. I’ll just ask O’Brien some questions. Nothing illegal in that.”
“I don’t know. I can see how this is going to go.”
“And how’s that?”
“The investigation is going to drag you down. I’m worried about that aspect.”
“Put that aside. What are you thinking?”
“What am I thinking? The whole thing is fucked up. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: This is a mess. And it seems to be getting murkier and darker the more we learn. I don’t like it. I think you need to consider pulling out.”
McNeal was surprised that his brother would advocate such a move.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
McNeal wondered if his brother wasn’t being unnecessarily cautious. Peter’s instincts were usually to get his head down and plow forward when things got tough. “I can’t walk away from this. My wife is dead. I’ve gone to the Feds. I’ve reached out to a cop I trust. Whoever killed Sophie Meyer may have been involved in Caroline’s death. Maybe the people Meyer hung around with. She clearly knew too much, and it got her killed. Maybe it was her husband. He was a person of interest, Henry Graff. But the DC police investigation didn’t go anywhere.”
“What else do we know about him?”
“Enough to put him on my radar. But I’m going to need to do a lot more digging on him. Doesn’t seem like you to get cold feet.”
Peter stammered, “No one’s getting cold feet. Don’t fucking say that. But I just have a bad, bad feeling about this. I feel like you’re being dragged, bit by bit, into something no one understands, least of all you. There are shadowy elements at work here. I’m talking intelligence agencies, you know what I’m saying?”
Jack knew exactly what he was saying.
“Maybe you need to back off, turn around, and head back home.”
Jack realized Peter’s response was the correct one. It was a calibrated response, not to mention the legal and smart response. It was also the response of a family man with responsibilities. Jack understood that. But the truth of the matter was, Jack was seriously conflicted. On the other hand, his default position was one of caution. He would always stay within the law. But something deep within Jack was gnawing away at him. Was he just going to walk away? Was turning the other cheek the right thing to do here?