Page 58 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

S am followed Vernon inside, with Q right behind her and a bevy of other agents surrounding them. Please, God, let them find Offenbach soon so this won’t be necessary for long. She cringed at the thought of showing up at HQ with a massive entourage.

They took the elevator up to the fourth floor, where Offenbach’s ex-wife was being guarded by two FBI agents.

They asked to see Sam’s ID even though they recognized her.

She’d have been disappointed if they hadn’t asked.

After they’d carefully examined her badge, one of them opened the door for her. “She’s expecting you.”

Inside the room, she found the woman in a hospital bed surrounded by six blond children—four boys and two girls. Sam would guess they ranged in age from a year to ten or eleven.

When she saw Sam, the woman said, “Micha, please take the kids to play.”

Toys had been arranged in the corner, and the eldest child led the others to them.

“I’m Lieutenant Holland. I heard you asked to see me.”

“Thank you for coming.” She had washed-out blonde hair and blue-gray eyes with dark circles under them. Her mouth was curved into a frown that involved her entire face.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s Laura. I’m in the process of going back to my maiden name, but legally, I’m still Offenbach. I’m going to change the children’s names, too.”

Sam kept her voice down in deference to the kids. “It’s nice to meet you, but I’m sorry for the circumstances. Are you and the children all right?”

Laura’s tone matched Sam’s so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“We will be. Dylan kept us confined to that room for three days with no water, food or bathroom. He even put bars on the windows. We were in rough shape when they found us.” She gestured to the IV in her hand.

“I was dehydrated, and two of the kids were, too, but they’ve bounced back quickly, thank goodness. ”

“That must’ve been a terrible ordeal.”

“I thought we were going to die, but of course I couldn’t let the kids see how scared I was.”

Sam took out her notebook and pen and sat in a chair next to her bed. “How did you end up at his place in Herndon?”

“He was due for visitation and asked if I could drive them out because he had to work late. When we got there…” Her eyes filled, and she shook her head. “He held a gun to Micha’s head and threatened to kill him unless I did exactly what he told me to.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s horrifying.”

“I’ll never forget that, and neither will the older kids.”

“Your children are very well behaved.” The six of them played quietly in the corner, which didn’t seem entirely normal. She would’ve expected a little commotion.

“They’re good kids.” Her eyes filled again. “They’ve been through so much over the last year with their father moving out, the divorce and now this.”

“I understand that you haven’t spoken to anyone from the FBI yet.”

“No, I haven’t, because I don’t know who to trust. That’s why I asked to see you.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand. Your husband hates me. He blames me for all his troubles.”

“Yes, he does, which is ironic. You weren’t the one screwing someone else when you were supposed to be at a work conference right before your sixth child was born. Were you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to remind him that there was no one to blame for the situation he found himself in but him, but he never wanted to hear that.

I asked to see you because I’m worried about your safety.

He’s completely unhinged when it comes to you and Lieutenant Archelotta. ”

“Are you aware of what happened to Archie’s girlfriend?”

Her eyes went wide. “What? No…”

“It might be better if you didn’t know.”

“Oh God. Is she… Is she dead?”

“No, he let her live so she could go back to Archie and force him to confront the fact that she got kidnapped and assaulted because of his work.”

Laura shook her head. “I always knew he was intense, but I had no idea he was capable of the things they’re saying he’s done or that he could hold a gun to Micah’s head and then lock us in a room for three days. Who does that to their own children?”

Sam didn’t have an answer that would satisfy her, so she handed her a tissue and waited for her to continue. “Did he say anything before he locked you in the room or after?”

“Just that he needed to keep us out of the way. I asked him what he meant, and he wouldn’t say. How were we in the way when we were at our home, minding our own business?”

“Maybe he knew you’d be the first stop law enforcement made when we connected him to the drones and the other crimes.”

“What did he do with drones?” she asked tentatively.

“He’s the one who flew them toward the Easter Egg Roll at the White House. They were armed with guns.”

“Oh God…”

“Fortunately, they were stopped. We found a 3D printer at his house that we believe was used to produce the drones.”

“That goddamned printer.” Her expression turned thunderous. “Do you know how much that thing cost?”

“I don’t.”

“Forty-five thousand dollars!”

“Where’d he get the money?”

“From a line of credit on the house I got in the divorce. He took the money before the divorce was final. That line of credit had been for emergencies. I found out about it after he’d already bought the printer, and now I’m stuck with the debt.

If I’d had any idea what he planned to do with it…

” Her voice caught on a sob. “I didn’t know, or I would’ve said something. ”

Sam reached up to put her hand on top of Laura’s. “No one blames you for any of this, Laura.”

“I feel like I should’ve known he’d do something crazy. He was so, so angry after he got caught and demoted. He blamed you and the other lieutenant for all of it. I should’ve spoken up. I should’ve warned you. Maybe if I had, he could’ve been stopped before it came to this.”

Sam released her to grab another tissue to hand to her.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Micha asked.

“I’m fine, honey. Thanks for watching the kids.” Glancing at Sam, she said, “He’s such a big help to me, and he’s only eleven. I worry he’s losing his childhood as a result of his father’s actions.”

“Kids are remarkably resilient.”

“They’ll need intensive therapy after what we went through in that room.”

“I’ll ask Dr. Trulo, our department psychiatrist, to come by to see you.”

“Why would he help me when my ex-husband is causing all this chaos?”

“Because you and your children haven’t done anything wrong, and he’d want to help you if he can.”

“That’s very kind.” She dabbed at her raw eyes. “People have been so very nice to us.”

“You’re crime victims, Laura. And you’ll be treated accordingly.”

“What else has he done? I’d like to know.”

“I think it’s better if you don’t know the details until you’re feeling stronger.”

She seemed to sink into the pillows when it occurred to her that it must be bad if Sam didn’t think she could handle hearing about it.

“We believe he may be hiding out at his family retreat in the Shenandoahs.”

Laura’s gaze darted toward her. “He loves it there. It’s his favorite place in the world.”

“Have you spent time there?”

“A lot of time.”

“Would you be willing to give the FBI as much information as you can to help them prepare to go in after him?”

“If it would help to end this nightmare, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Sam called Avery and told him where she was and what Laura had agreed to do.

“This is great, Sam. Thank you.”

“Glad to be able to do something to help. How close are you?”

He’d know she was asking about going in after Offenbach. “Getting there but being methodical in light of his capabilities.”

“Understood.”

“My colleague Agent Colson will be there in fifteen minutes. She’s great with crime victims.”

“I’ll wait for her and then leave them to it.”

“She’s excellent. You’ll like her.”

“I don’t like anyone.”

Avery grunted out a laugh before he ended the call.

“When you get out of here,” Sam said to Laura, “I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Roni, who’s connected with a group of young widows. They all support each other.”

“I’m not a widow, though.”

“You’re raising your kids as a single mom. I doubt they’d quibble about the details. Would you like me to give my sister your number?”

Laura thought about that for a second. “Yes, I think I would. Thank you for your kindness. I didn’t believe the things Dylan said about you.”

“That’s nice of you to say. The FBI is sending an agent over to take every detail you can give her about the camp. I’m sure she’ll tell you this, but no detail is too small in a situation like this.”

“I’ll tell her everything I know.”

With Colson handling Laura’s debrief, Avery went to see Ramsey now that he was out of recovery and able to speak. He’d lost a lot of blood from the wound to his leg and faced a long recovery, which would take place in federal lockup. His days of roaming free were over for good.

The disgraced officer was shackled to the hospital bed under the watchful eyes of two of Avery’s best agents.

“Take a break,” Avery said to them when he entered the room.

Ramsey scowled when he realized who’d come to call. “You can fuck right off. You’re in bed with Holland.” He scoffed. “Living at the White House.”

“My wife is close to them.”

“So are you, so don’t try to deny it. Everyone knows it.”

Avery shrugged as he took a seat next to the bed. “I don’t care what people think. Our friendship with them predates the White House. Everyone knows that, too.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself.”

“I sleep just fine at night. Do you?”

Ramsey’s expression turned stony. “The whole lot of you—Farnsworth, Malone, McBride, Forrester, even the fucking FBI… You’re all in cahoots to protect your precious princess. People say you married her friend so you could stay close to her. Bet you didn’t know that.”

Avery hadn’t known that people had said that, and it hurt to hear it, because it wasn’t true.

“Thought people didn’t know you had a thing for her, didn’t you? It was the worst-kept secret in town. Your poor wife having to settle for being second-best.”

Avery wanted to punch Ramsey’s lights out for daring to speak of Shelby, but instead, he laughed.

“Better than your wife, who lost a son and a husband to ego and hubris. That must be a bitter pill for her to swallow.” He leaned in.

“Do you know how much time you’ll do for threatening to assassinate the president?

You’ll never see the light of day outside prison again. ”

Ramsey shrugged as if he didn’t care, but his gaze darting around gave away his true feelings.

“That you were stupid enough to confess on that video…” Avery shook his head. “I bet you didn’t see Offenbach turning on you after you recorded that. Did you? When did it happen? Right after the video? Is that when he shot you? After he got you to confess to what the two of you had done?”

Ramsey’s expression became thunderous. “He shot me by accident.”

Avery laughed. “Is that what you think? One of the most precise marksmen in the world doesn’t make mistakes with a gun, and surely you must’ve realized that when you were hogtied and bleeding on his kitchen floor.

What I’d like to know is how you’ve justified partnering up with the man who killed your kid. ”

The look on Ramsey’s face indicated he would’ve murdered Avery if he could have. “Dylan was only following orders. It wasn’t his fault. I blame Malone and Holland. They gave the order. And he didn’t mean to shoot me. We had plans to make Ruby Ridge look like a Cub Scout meeting. He needed my help.”

Avery laughed again. “What help could you possibly be to someone with his skills? Nah, after he’d gotten you to help him with the details, you were a liability, and that’s why he shot you.

But it’s rich that he got you to confess on video beforehand and then let you live to face the consequences.

I’ll bet you were excited to make that video letting Holland know her time was running out with you two clowns coming for her. ”

“She’s shitting a brick. The crosshairs on her husband’s head was a nice touch, didn’t you think?”

“She’s hardly shitting a brick. She just interviewed Offenbach’s ex-wife and is helping us make the case against the two of you.”

“How can she do that when she’s suspended?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? That was lifted almost as soon as it happened.”

“She roughed up that Reese guy!”

Avery shrugged. “So what?”

Ramsey’s face had gotten very flushed, and spittle collected in the corners of his mouth. “She let a murderer go free, and so did her asshole father!”

He shrugged again. “So?”

“She should be charged!”

“Do you think anyone is worried about charging her after you two idiots killed four innocent people, kidnapped and raped a woman, sent drones to the White House and shot the Secret Service agent protecting the first lady?”

“I never touched that woman!”

“I notice how you don’t deny the rest of it.” Avery stood to leave, having gotten what he’d come for: Offenbach’s plan to make Ruby Ridge look like a Cub Scout meeting, which was horrifying.

“I never admitted to anything.”

“Sure you did.” Avery patted his chest. “Glad I recorded our conversation. I’m sure the USA will find it helpful.”

“You can’t record me without my permission.”

“You were read your rights, and you certainly know by now that anything you say can and will be used against you. See you in court, Jim. Oh, and I hope you have a great time in prison. They love ex-cops in there. I’m sure you’ll be given the treatment you richly deserve. Word to the wise: Watch your back.”

“Fuck you! Fuck Holland and the whole bunch of you!”

Avery walked out of the room while Ramsey was still yelling at him. “He’s all yours,” he said to the two agents as he pulled out his phone to call in the new info to his team, eager to end this madness once and for all.