As soon as I stepped into the lobby, I noticed a couple in their thirties, wearing business attire. They seemed out of place as they tried to lean casually on the vacant concierge desk. Their glances at the face of each person who walked through the lobby left little doubt they were looking for someone, and even less that I was the one they were looking for.
Then they noticed me and seemed to take turns watching. I decided to have a little fun and take my time in the lobby. At the very least I’d be wasting someone else’s time. Maybe some FBI agents or more DC cops.
I took a long moment to select a chocolate chip cookie from a tray. I enjoyed stoking my observers’ anxiety as I prolonged my gaze at the cookies. It gave me a second wind for the night.
I guess I took too long because the couple started marching across the lobby directly to me. Based on how they were dressed, I wasn’t too worried about some kind of armed ambush. Although, in all honesty, I had sort of let my imagination run wild with conspiracy theories. There was no telling what someone might do to get me out of town.
I turned to face them. I stood tall and placed my right hand on my hip as a signal that I was willing to draw a gun in self-defense. It was a quiet threat understood by most people in the parallel universes of crime and punishment.
The man, in a blue sport coat, hung back. The woman walked to about ten feet in front of me and stopped. She turned to one side and nodded. I wondered if that meant Grab him.
But it didn’t. Then I saw why they were being so cautious. A shorter, older man dressed in a very nice designer suit and flashy blue tie strolled toward me. He had a slight limp. I recognized him immediately.
The man called out, “Hello, Detective Bennett.”
I said, “Senator Wellmy, nice to meet you.” It wasn’t really nice to meet him, but when I was younger, Seamus taught me how to be polite. Some of it had latched onto me over the long years.
“Always nice to see a constituent down here in Washington.”
“I didn’t vote for you.”
The senator was clearly used to being disparaged. He didn’t miss a beat. “You’re still of value to the constituency.”
The two security people had moved to within earshot. Maybe the senator wanted witnesses in case I went off on him. I broke the strained silence with “What can I do for you, Senator?”
“I’d be happy if you went back to New York. Maybe help the citizens who pay your salary.”
“I don’t understand. I’m on vacation.”
From everything I had heard about the senior senator from New York, his way was the only way, and he clearly wasn’t expecting any pushback. He stared at me as if to get a better look. Then I realized he was trying to intimidate me. I’d been threatened by drug dealers with knives to my throat. His idea of a threat was damn near pleasant.
The senator decided to take a different tack. He said, “You ever thought about what you’re going to do after the NYPD?”
I didn’t answer. I knew it would drive him crazy.
The senator was undaunted. “I could use a law-enforcement liaison on my staff. A lot more money. You could move your family to someplace more livable, like Albany.”
I had to concentrate not to make the face I usually make at the sound of the three syllables in New York’s state capital. Then I looked at the senator and said, “You’re worried I’m poking around your son-in-law.”
“When he did nothing wrong.”
“Then he’s got nothing to worry about.”
The senator glared at me.
Then I said, “Your son-in-law is an interesting guy. With an interesting family. It’s funny, it feels like his whole family works for the government.”
“You mean his sister, Beth?” Now the senator gave me a crooked grin. “I’m pretty sure she’s a woman. Tough as nails but odd. As my mom would say, ‘as odd as a kid raised in a remote Adirondack farm.’ You should thank me for steering you away from her. Probably just another reason to leave. If you got on her wrong side, she might twist your head right off your body.”
I couldn’t control myself any longer. “What do you have against finding justice for a murder victim?”
“That’s not what you’re doing. You’re simply trying to ruin the reputation of a good man.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not even in Washington officially. Like I said, I’m on vacation.”
The senator stepped closer to me. He lowered his voice so his two security people wouldn’t hear. “And I’m not speaking to you officially. That’s why I can say, go home or hold on tight. You have no idea what’s coming your way if you don’t stop.”