under the circumstances. These men were good: methodical, careful,
thought things through, and didn’t miss anything. Dedicated lawmen and
professional criminals were not so different. The skills, the techniques
were much the same, just the focus was different, but then the focus
made all the difference, didn’t it?
The woman was now completely dressed, lying exactly where she had
fallen. Collin was finishing with her fingernails. A solution had been
injected under each, and a small suction device had cleaned away traces
of skin and other incriminating remnants.
The bed had been stripped and remade; the evidence-laden sheets were
already packed in a duffel bag for their ultimate destination in a
furnace. Collin had already scoped the downstairs area.
Everything any of them had touched, except for one item, had been wiped
clean. Burton was now vacuuming parts of the carpet and he would be the
last one to leave, backing out, as he painstakingly extinguished their
trail.
Earlier Luther had watched the agents ransack the room.
Their obvious goal made him smile in spite of himself. Burglary. The
necklace had been deposited in a bag along with her plethora of rings.
They would make it appear as if the woman had surprised a burglar in her
house and he had killed her, not knowing that six feet away a real-life
burglar was watching and listening to everything they were doing.
An eyewitness!
Luther had never been an eyewitness to a burglary other than those he
had committed. Criminals hated eyewitnesses These people would kw Luther
if they knew he was there; there was no question about that. An elderly
criminal, a three-time loser, was not much to sacrifice for the Man of
the People.
The President, still groggy but with Burton’s aid, slowly made his wa
out of the room. Russell watched them go. She y did not notice Collin
frantically searching the room. Finally, his sharp eyes fixed on
Russell’s purse on the nightstand. Poking out from the bag was about an
inch of the letter opener’s handle. Using a plastic bag, Collin quickly
pulled out the letter opener and prepared to wipe it off. Luther
involuntarily jerked as he watched Russell race over and grab Collins
hand.
“Don’t do that, Collin.”
Collin wasn’t as sharp as Burton, and certainly wasn’t in Russell’s
league. He looked puzzled.
“This hashis prints all over it, ma’am. Hers too, plus some other stuff
if you know what I mean-it’s leather, it’s soaked right in.”
“Agent Collin, I was retained by the President as his strategic and
tactical planner. What appears to you an obvious choice appears to me to
require much more thought and deliberation. Until that analysis has been
completed you will not wipe that object down. You will put it in a
proper container, and then you will give it to me.”
Collin started to protest but Russell’s menacing stare cut him off. He
dutifully bagged the letter opener and handed it to her.
“Please be careful with that, Ms. Russell.”
“Tim, I am always careful.”
She rewarded him with another smile. He smiled back.
She had never called him by his first name before; he had been unsure if
she even knew it. He also observed, and not for the first time, that the
Chief of Staff was a very goodlooking woman.
“Yes, ma’am.” He began to pack up the equipment.
“Tim?” He looked back at her. She moved toward him, looked down, and
then her eyes caught his. She spoke in low tones; she almost seemed
embarrassed, Collin felt.
“Tim, this is a very unique situation we’re faced with. I need to feel
my way a little bit. Do you understand?”
Collin nodded. “I’d call this a unique situation. Scared the hell out of
me when I saw that blade about to go into the President’s chest.”
She touched his arm. Her fingernails were long and perfectly manicured.
She held up the letter opener. “We need to keep this between us, Tim.
Okay? Not the President. Not even Burton.”
“I don’t know-2′
She gripped his hand. “Tim, I really need your support on this. The
President has no idea what happened and I don’t think Burton is looking