“God, you were great tonight, Mace.”

“We both came up with the plan, sis.”

“Yeah, but you were in the line of fire executing it, not me. You could have died.”

“You’re the chief. I’m expendable.”

The two women stepped apart and Beth looked at the bandage on Mace’s face and the bulge under her thigh. “Are you okay?”

“I got hurt worse than this falling out of bed.”

“Liar. How’s Kingman?”

“Out of surgery. They said I could see him for a couple of minutes. Do you want to come?”

Roy was still heavily sedated but his eyes opened when he heard Mace’s voice. She wrapped her hand around his.

He said weakly, “Everything okay?”

“Everything is great,” said Mace. “Beth is here.”

Roy slowly turned his head to look at the chief. She reached down and touched his face gently.

“Hey, Roy, I need to tell you something.”

“What’s that?” he mouthed.

Beth glanced over at Mace before answering. “If you want to keep hanging around Mace, it’s okay with me.” She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

As the sisters walked down the hall to the waiting room Mace said, “You know, you finally called him Roy.”

“Yeah. That’s because he earned it.”

CHAPTER 112

SO AS I SAID, I’m thrilled to be here today to announce that all charges against my client, Louis Dockery, have been dropped. He has been released from custody and the Veterans Administration has taken it upon itself to see that such a decorated soldier will no longer be living on the streets.”

This time Roy was having no problem handling the siege of reporters in front of the steps to D.C. Superior Court. His shoulder and side bandaged, he had just finished his remarks. Standing a few feet from him, a look of absolute revulsion on her face, was Mona Danforth. The only reason she was here was because the mayor and the head of the Justice Department had “requested” that she be present.

One reporter called out, “Mr. Kingman, how did you injure yourself?”

Roy smiled. “During the course of the litigation I accidentally impaled myself on one of Ms. Danforth’s legendary stilettos.”

The roar of laughter lasted so long that Mona finally stalked off, her face nearly as red as her lipstick. As she made her way inside the court building she bumped into someone.

“Hey, Mona,” said Mace. “Isn’t it a great day when justice finally triumphs?”

“Go to hell!”

“Nah, it’ll be way too crowded with both of us there.”

“I’m still going to press assault charges against you for attacking me in the ladies’ room. You chipped one of my teeth.”

“God, I’m really sorry, Mona. But there’s somebody here who wants to give you something.”

They turned to see Beth walking up to them with an envelope in hand.

“Here you go, Ms. Interim.” She thrust the envelope in Mona’s hands.

“What the hell is this?”

“Affidavits from my two detectives you coerced into working with you. They are prepared to testify that you initiated contact with Lou Dockery without benefit of his counsel being there, breaking numerous ethical canons and also the law. Since the U.S. Attorney’s Office will be conflicted out over this one, the Justice Department will be prosecuting you.”

Now Mona’s face turned as white as the envelope she was holding. “Prosecuting me?”

“Yeah,” said Mace. “You know, that whole court thing that ends in the bars being slammed behind your ass? If you want I can give you some tips on prison etiquette.”

After the press conference was over, Mace, Beth, and Roy climbed into a government sedan and headed to a meeting that they really would rather have avoided. On the way over, they discussed what had happened.

“So the Captain is really going to be taken care of?” asked Mace.

Roy nodded. “The VA guy said he would take it as his personal mission to get him the care he needs. And I’m going to be checking. But I did tell them to order a truckload of Twinkies.”

“God, Mona was pissed,” said Mace. “You really think they’ll nail her this time?”

Beth replied, “All I know is when I showed the affidavits to the DOJ lawyer he screamed out, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’”

“And Psycho?” asked Roy.

“Signed, sealed, and delivered. When his gang saw the surveillance video from the security camera in the train station parking lot they rolled on him. They should be able to put him away for a long time.”

“And Alisha, Tyler, and Darren?”

Mace answered. “Alisha’s enrolled in a GED program. Tyler’s being seen by a specialist from Johns Hopkins, and Mr. Razor is going back to school too. He apparently graduated from high school but never bothered to pick up his diploma. He’s going the community college route for now. He’ll probably be running the world in about ten years.”

“So are you still going to be working for Altman?” Roy asked.

“Hey, I made a deal. I’m not going back on it. What about you? You could go back to Shilling.”

“Haven’t made up my mind yet. But they did drop the lawsuit against me.”

“How’s the wound?”

“Won’t be playing ball anytime soon.”

“I know, I’ll take you on in HORSE, one-handed style.”

“You’re on.”

The smiles faded from both their faces as the car slowed. They looked out the window as they stopped at the armed gate. The driver flashed his creds and they headed on.

“So what do you think is going to happen in there,” Roy said, indicating the two-story building they were heading to. It was set on a multi-acre college-style campus.

Beth spoke up. “I always expect the worst. And today I think I’ll be justified.”

CHAPTER 113

BETH’S GLOCK had been confiscated at the door. Mace could tell that her sister was not happy about that just by the way her right fingers continued to flick at the empty space there. An armed escort led them down a long hallway where every single door was closed and also had a security lock. No open-style cubicle system here, thought Mace.

They were led into a spacious office with the typical wall of photos and shelves of awards and memorabilia that a high-rising public servant invariably collected. The Director of Central Intelligence, or DCI, was there along with a gent in uniform from the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, someone from NSA, and a fourth gentleman that Mace had seen on TV recently and knew was very high up at the White House. There was no one else present.

“I thought Steve Lanier from the FBI would be here,” commented Beth.

“No, he won’t,” said the DCI bluntly. “But I want to thank each of you for agreeing to come today,” he added in a more gracious tone.

“We really didn’t have a choice. And we’re all here for the same reason,” said Beth. “We want information.”

“Well, I’m here to provide it, as much as I can.”

Beth sighed and sat back, her face showing her displeasure at this disclaimer.

“Under normal circumstances your sister and Mr. Kingman would not even be allowed to know the location of this building, much less be here. Even you, as police chief, would not be allowed in.”

“These are not normal circumstances,” said Mace.

“Truly not,” agreed the DCI while the NSA rep nodded.

“Well then, what can you tell us?” asked Beth. “What happened to Donnelly and Burns?”

“Removed from their posts, of course.”

“Removed from their posts?” said Mace, half coming out of her chair. “What, do they get early retirement and a gold watch too?”

“It doesn’t quite work that way in the intelligence field, Ms. Perry.”

“Will they be prosecuted?” asked Roy.

“That is not possible,” said the fellow from the White House.

“The hell it isn’t,” snapped Beth. “They masterminded the murder of at least five American citizens and did their best to make it seven.”