Page 48

CHAPTER
40
The White House
Cole Wright is in his East Wing office with Secret Service agent Doug Lambert. It’s taken Lambert only one day to determine the identity of the woman who confronted Cole on the Mall.
“Sir,” he says, “Joan Marie Cardinal is a twenty-year-old sophomore at George Washington University. Political science major who lives on campus in Thurston Hall.”
“Politically active?” asks Cole.
“No, sir.”
“Background?”
“Grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Poor community. Father on disability. Mom’s a waitress. No siblings.”
“How does she afford GW?”
“Scholarships, grants, work-study,” says Lambert. “She’s been living on a shoestring. Up to last week.”
“What happened last week?” asks Cole.
“Until then, her checking account balance was about fivehundred dollars. And she was carrying a credit card debt of about four thousand.”
Cole can already see where this is going. “And that changed.”
Lambert nods. “Last Monday, she received a wire transfer in the amount of nine thousand, five hundred dollars.”
“The magic number,” says Cole. Just under the ten grand that requires a currency-transfer report to the IRS.
“Yes, sir. And her credit debt is now zero.”
“The poster with Suzanne Bonanno’s picture. How did she get it?”
“No way to know, sir. But I found one on eBay for twenty bucks.”
“Maybe we can send somebody to talk to her undercover? Say we’re doing a student survey or some damn thing…”
Lambert folds his hands and leans forward. “She’s not there, sir.”
“What?”
“The morning after you encountered her, she took a flight out of Reagan National to LAX. Final destination Cambodia.”
“Cambodia? She’s gone?”
“Off the grid, sir.”
Cole shakes his head. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I can reach out to the embassy in Phnom Penh, sir.”
“Don’t bother. Cambodia is a non-extradition country. She’s been paid off and tucked away. Thank you, Doug. You can go.”
Lambert walks out and pulls the door closed behind him.
Alone in his office, Cole balls his hand into a fist and brings it down hard on his desk. Right now, it’s about the only power he can muster.