Page 10 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

L ike her father, Sam had an aversion to leaving the District for any reason, but it happened more and more often lately. “What’s going on at the White House?” she asked Freddie, who took out his iPhone once they were on their way to Arlington. “Anything new?”

“There was a mudslide in Juneau that buried an elementary school.”

Shocked, Sam glanced at him, almost afraid to ask. “Are there survivors?”

“No info on that yet. Search and rescue underway.”

“Oh God.”

“Nick made a statement. Do you want to see it?”

“Yeah.”

Freddie called it up and handed over his phone.

Sam fumbled with the phone, frustrated that she never knew which buttons to push.

Freddie reached over and pushed Play for her.

“Thank you.” As she watched Nick give the agonizing update about the tragedy in Juneau, she ached for him. And then to only be asked questions about the drones… She could see how offended he was on behalf of the people affected by the mudslide.

She handed the phone back to Freddie. “Why does the media have to suck so bad sometimes?”

“It’s a big deal that someone flew drones packing heat toward the White House.”

“It’s a big deal that more than three hundred babies might be dead , too.”

“Of course it is.”

“I suppose we’ll have to go to Alaska.”

“Maybe.”

“I hope it turns out to be a great story of triumph and not another horrible tragedy.”

“I hope so, too.”

“But you don’t think that’s going to happen, do you?”

“Anything is possible, but it doesn’t look good from what I’ve seen.”

Sam couldn’t allow herself to think too much about what those parents and loved ones were going through, or she wouldn’t be able to function.

Before she’d had children of her own, this kind of news would’ve hit her as sad and tragic.

Now, stories like this brought a whole other level of devastation as she imagined such a thing happening to her precious kids.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Arlington apartment building where Alexa Prescott had lived.

“Give us a minute,” Vernon said as he and Jimmy got out of the vehicle.

Sam sighed with frustration. “Who do they think is lurking here to get me?”

“Maybe the person behind the drones knows exactly what you’d do after people in your city are murdered.”

She gave him a perturbed look. “Quit talking sense. It pisses me off.”

Freddie laughed. “Duly noted. No sense allowed.”

“You don’t think my case is related to the drones, do you?”

“Not really, but the agents have to proceed as if anything is possible.”

“Yeah, I know that, but I don’t have to like it.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t like any of this bullshit.”

Sam gasped. “You swore , young Freddie!”

“Well, what’s a better word for someone attempting to send armed drones to an event full of kids?”

“‘Bullshit’ is a good start.”

“It just makes me so angry that people treat you guys so shitty.”

“That’s two swears in two minutes.”

“Technically, that was the same swear as the first one.”

She laughed. “That’s fair.”

“I don’t like the way you guys are treated when all he did was step up the way the Constitution intended after the president died.”

“It’s the nature of the office. Everything you do is under intense scrutiny.

That’s the number one reason why I was so glad when he said he wasn’t going to run before Nelson died.

I knew that would be the hardest part for me, to see people tearing him down simply because of the office he held.

But knowing that would happen and living it are two very different things. ”

“I can’t imagine what that’s like for you guys.”

“It sucks, but he mostly rises above it to do the job. I, on the other hand, seethe with outrage over the things people say and do. I mean, someone wanted to kill my husband—not to mention me and our kids and almost everyone else we know. That’s tough to wrap your mind around.”

“You shouldn’t have to wrap your mind around such things. It’s outrageous. Thank God everything worked as intended and they were stopped.”

“That’s only part one, though. Finding out who sent them will be a lot harder. From what I’ve heard, there were no identifying marks on the drones, no recognizable parts or components. Whoever did this intended to never be caught.”

“I wouldn’t want to be them today with the full weight of federal law enforcement bearing down on them.”

“We both know it’s possible they might never be caught. They went to enormous lengths to make sure the devices were untraceable.”

“Criminals often make mistakes that trip them up. Let’s hope that happened in this case.”

Vernon returned to the SUV and opened the back door. “All clear.”

Sam wanted to say, I could’ve told you that , but kept the thought to herself because he was only doing his job, which was to protect her. “Thank you, Vernon.”

“Sorry about all this. I know it’s a pain in the ass.”

“No worries.”

They made their way into the building and climbed the stairs to the third floor, knocking on the door for apartment number 305. When the door opened, a young woman with dark hair and eyes stared at Sam as if she were seeing a ghost. Or a first lady.

Sam showed her badge. “Lieutenant Holland with the MPD. My partner, Detective Cruz. Were you Alexa’s roommate?”

“I, uh, yes, I am. I mean, I was.” She blinked back tears. “I’m not used to talking about her in the past tense. She was just here…”

“May we come in for a minute?”

“Um, sure.”

While Vernon waited in the hallway, the woman stepped back to admit them into the kind of place Sam would’ve liked to have had if she’d been a single girl in the city.

Clean, contemporary, with big windows that let in tons of natural light, the apartment had been decorated with colorful pillows and artwork to offset the beige walls and furniture. Someone clearly had an eye for design.

“Your place is so nice,” Sam said.

“That was all Alexa. She wanted to be an interior designer and was well on her way.” She curled into a plush orange armchair. “She was so insanely talented.”

“I can see that. What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Brianna Weaver.”

“We’re sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”

“I can’t believe the first lady is here. Alexa would freak out. She had a thing for your husband.”

Sam smiled. “Understandable.”

“She used to say you’re the luckiest woman in America.”

“That, I am.” While Sam normally hated talking about first lady stuff on the job, the topic seemed to bring Brianna a bit of light. “I’m so sorry you lost her this way.”

“It makes no sense. She never bothered anyone. She went to work and school and came home and worked so hard.”

“Where did she go to school?”

“Marymount, here in Arlington. They have a design program, and she was there on scholarship. If she wasn’t doing schoolwork, she took every shift she could get at the restaurant.

All she did was work because she made big money at the restaurant.

That’s why she went into the city to work there.

I used to tease her about being all work and no play, but she’d remind me she had no safety net to catch her if she fell.

” Brianna looked up at them with big eyes full of devastation for her friend. “I admired her so much. We all did.”

Brianna reached for a framed photo that she handed to Sam. “That’s all of us with her on her birthday last year.”

Dark-haired, pretty Alexa was surrounded by a group of smiling young women.

“She said we were the family she never had.” Brianna wiped tears from her face. “I don’t know what we’re going to do without her. She was the glue that held us all together. We… we started a fundraiser to cover funeral costs.”

Sam handed her notebook to Brianna. “Write down the link so we can publicize it.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course. Put down your name and number, too, so I can keep you informed.”

Brianna wrote the info and then handed the notebook back to Sam.

“Was she having trouble with anyone in her life?”

“Not that I know of, and she would’ve told me.”

“Was she dating anyone?”

“She didn’t have time for men, or so she said. We teased her about that. We said she was going to die a virgin.” She choked on a sob. “I hate that we said that to her, because that actually happened.”

“We’re so sorry for your loss, but I don’t think your friend would want you to feel bad about teasing her. It’s obvious from the picture that she loved you all very much.”

“We loved her, too.”

Sam handed her card to Brianna. “If you think of anything that might be relevant, even the smallest thing, please call me. Tell her other friends, too. We never know what might lead to a break in a case like this.”

“I saw on the news that two other people were killed the same way.”

“Yes.”

“Are they related?”

“We’re treating them as if they are, but we don’t know anything for certain yet.”

“Is there someone who could come and stay with you?” Freddie asked.

“My friends were here, and I asked for a little time to myself. They’ll be back later. And my parents are flying in from California. They loved Alexa, too. She was an honorary member of our family.”

“We won’t take any more of your time, but please reach out if there’s anything we can do for you, or if you think of anything we should know.”

Brianna got up to walk them to the door. “Thank you for coming by. I can’t imagine how busy you must be. It means a lot that you came.”

That right there was why Sam had wanted to make these visits, as hard as they were.

Sam reached out a hand to the young woman. “Alexa is mine now, and I won’t rest until we get justice for her and the others.”

Overcome, Brianna nodded, squeezed her hand and released it.

Sam took a feeling of outrage on behalf of Alexa and her friends with her as she went down the stairs. “I want to know who’s doing this, and I want to know it right the hell now.”

“Me, too.”

“Call IT and find out where we are with video from the areas where the attacks took place. Sergeant Walters is covering for Archie while he’s out.”

He pulled out his phone and made the call.