desperately wanted to get laid tonight. Wanted to be inside a woman. She
had given him her body, no questions asked. Technically she had
committed rape. Realistically she was confident she had fulfilled many a
male’s dream. It didn’t matter if he had no recollection of the.event,
of her sacrifice. But he would damn sure know what she was going to do
for him now.
The President’s eyes came in and out of focus. Collin rubbed his neck.
He was coming around. Russell glanced at her watch. Two o’clock in the
morning. They had to get back. She slapped his face, not hard, but
enough to get his attention. She felt Collin stiffen. God these guys had
tunnel vision.
“Alan, did you have sex with her?”
“Wha …
“Did you have sex with her?”
“Wha … No. Don’t think so. Don’t remem . .
“Give him some more coffee, pour it down his damned throat if you have
to, but get him sober.” Collin nodded and went to work. Russell walked
over to Burton, whose gloved hands were dexterously examining every inch
of the late Mrs. Sullivan.
Burton had been involved in numerous police investigations. He knew
exactly what detectives looked for and where they looked for it. He
never imagined himself using that specialized knowledge to inhibit an
investigation, but then he had never imagined anything like this ever
happening either.
He looked around the room, his mind calculating which areas would need
to be gone over, what other rooms they had used. They could do nothing
about the marks on the woman’s throat and other microscopic physical
evidence that was no doubt imbedded in her skin. The medical examiner
would pick those up regardless of what they tried to do. However, none
of those things could be realistically traced to the President unless
the police identified the President as a suspect, which was pretty much
beyond the realm of possibility.
The incongruity of attempted strangulation of a small woman with death
caused by gunshot was something they would have to leave to the police’s
imagination.
Burton turned his attention back to the deceased and started to
carefully slide her underwear up her legs. He felt a tap on his
shoulder.
“Check her.”
Burton looked up. He started to say something.
“Check her!” Russell’s eyebrows were arched. Burton had seen her do that
a million times with the White House staff.
.They were all terrified of her. He wasn’t afraid of her, but he was
smart enough to cover his ass whenever she was around.
He slowly did as he was told. Then he positioned the body exactly as it
had fallen. He reported back with a single shake Of his head.
Are you sure?” Russell looked unconvinced, although she knew from her
interlude with the President that chances were he had not entered the
woman, or that if he had be hadn’t finished. But there might be traces.
It was scary as hell, the things they could determine these days from
the tiniest specimens.
“I’m not a goddamned oh-gyn. I didn’t see anything and I think I would
have, but I don’t carry a microscope around with me.”
Russell would have to let that one go. There was still a lot to do and
not much time.
“Did Johnson and Varney say anything?”
Collin looked over from where the President was ingesting his fourth cup
of coffee. “They’re wondering what the hell’s going on, if that’s what
you mean.”
“You didn’t te-”
“I told them what you said to tell them and that’s all, ma’am.” He
looked at her. “They’re good men, Ms. Russell.
They’ve been with the President since the campaign. They’re not going to
do anything to mess things up, okay?”
Russell rewarded Collin with a smile. A good-looking kid r and, more
important, a loyal member of the President’s pe sonal guard; he would be
very useful to her. Burton might be a problem. But she had a strong
trump card: he and Collin had pulled the trigger, maybe in the line of
duty, but who re- i ally knew? Bottom line: they too were in this all
the way.
LUTHER wATcHED THE Acnvrff wrm AN APPREcm-rion THAT he felt guilty about