Page 17 of Girl, Forgotten (Andrea Oliver 2)

Jasper looked at her from behind his open briefcase. He pulled out a folder. He placed it on the table. He closed the briefcase and set it on the floor.

Andrea forced herself not to ask about the folder because he clearly wanted her to ask about the folder. “I’m going to be late for my graduation.”

“Trust me, they won’t start without you.”

Andrea gritted her teeth. The small world of the Marshal Service just got smaller. She’d soon be surrounded by a bunch of trained investigators who would be wondering why a US senator had held up graduation so he could talk to Andrea Oliver.

“It’s really quite something to see you in person.” Jasper was openly studying her face. “Your aspect reminds me so much of your mother.”

“Why doesn’t that feel like a compliment?”

He smiled. “I suppose it’s better than being compared to your father.”

She supposed he was right.

“He’s why I’m here, actually.” Jasper tapped the folder. “As you know, the additional charges filed against your father two years ago ended with hung juries. DOJ won’t try him again. Meanwhile, time is winding down on his original sentencing. Conspiracy to commit acts of domestic terrorism was a novel charge pre-9/11. The murder conspiracy only has a certain number of teeth, and while your mother’s testimony was helpful, it was not quite helpful enough, was it? We would be almost better off had your father succeeded in his crimes.”

Andrea didn’t appreciate the swipe at Laura, but she shrugged out her hands. Nick Harp had another fifteen years left on his forty-eight-year sentence. “So?”

Jasper said, “Your father is up for parole again in six months.”

Something about his tone twisted Andrea’s stomach into a knot. The only reason she was able to sleep at night was because she knew that Nick was behind bars. “He’s had parole hearings before. He always gets turned down. Why do you think this time will be any different?”

“One could say that the general attitude toward domestic terrorism has taken a recent turn, especially among historically more conservative parole boards.” Jasper shook his head as if a United States senator had little control over the world. “In past years, I’ve been able to prevent his parole from being granted but, this time, he might actually have a shot.”

“Seriously?” Andrea didn’t bother to conceal her skepticism. “You oversee the Bureau of Prisons.”

“Exactly,” he confirmed. “It would be unseemly for me to be seen putting my thumb on the scale.”

Andrea’s throat had gone bone dry. She felt shaky with fear over the possibility of Nick getting out and angry that Jasper had contrived this ambush. “Excuse me, Senator, but we both know you’ve done some unseemly things before.”

He smiled again. “Very much like your mother.”

“Fuck off with your comparisons.” Andrea leaned across the table. “Do you know what he did to us the last time? He’s a monster. People died. And that was while he was still in prison. Do you know what he’ll do when he gets out? He’ll come right for my mother. And me.”

“Excellent.” Jasper mimicked her shrug from before. “We all seem to have a vested interest in his continued incarceration.”

Andrea readjusted her approach, because being an icy bitch didn’t seem to be working. “What do you want from me?”

“On the contrary, I’m here to give you something.” He pulled his hand away from the folder. She saw there was a label but couldn’t read the words. “I’d like to help you, Andrea. And to help the family.”

She knew he meant Laura though, so far, he had yet to utter her mother’s name.

Jasper said, “You’ve asked for an assignment on the West Coast.”

She vehemently shook her head. The last thing she needed was to be in her uncle’s home state. “I’m not interested in—”

“Please hear me out.” He held up his hand. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t prefer somewhere closer, like the Baltimore office.”

Andrea was silenced by a sudden rush of anxiety.

“There’s a federal judge in the district who’s been receiving credible death threats. Someone mailed a dead rodent to her Baltimore home.” Jasper paused a beat. “You might have seen the story on the nightly news.”

Andrea hadn’t seen anything because no one her age watched the nightly news.

Jasper continued, “The judge is a Reagan appointee. One of the last few standing, in fact. There was quite a bit of pressure for her to retire during the previous administration, but she missed her window of opportunity.”

Andrea had never been interested in politics, but she knew the USMS was tasked with protecting federal judges.