Jordan Knight flinched. “Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”
“I let you in to see Rufus because I was a greenhorn scared private and I had a captain ordering me to. And then Rufus came busting out of his cell, knocked me down and changed everybody’s life forever. For twenty-five damn years I’ve wondered what really happened in there. I kept quiet about all of you because I was scared. Rayfield was the most senior. He probably would’ve remembered me. Guess no one mentioned my name to him. Lucky. Rayfield fixed it up so I wouldn’t get in trouble, but he made it clear I had better keep my mouth shut about all of you being in there. And I never knew what had happened anyway. And by the time I got the courage to say something, it was all over, and Rufus was in prison. I’ve lived with that guilt all these years. But I got off easy.” McKenna looked over at Rufus. “I’m sorry, Rufus. I was weak, a coward. It probably doesn’t make any difference to you, but there hasn’t been a day gone by that I didn’t hate myself for it.”
Jordan cleared his throat. “Very touching, Agent McKenna. However, if you think you saw me in the stockade that night, you’re mistaken.”
“CIA records will show that you were at Fort Plessy conducting PCP tests on soldiers stationed there,” McKenna pointed out.
“If you can get those records, get them. Even if I was there, so what? I was in the intelligence service back then. That’s no secret. The public is aware of that.”
“I wonder if your constituents would be bothered by the fact that you were administering PCP to soldiers,” Chandler said heatedly.
“Even if I did — and I’m not admitting anything — the program was perfectly aboveboard and legal, as my wife could certainly tell you.”
“U.S. v. Stanley?” Sara said bitterly.
Jordan’s gaze did not leave McKenna. “Quite a coincidence that you claim to have been in the stockade and now you’re involved in this matter,” he said.
“It was no coincidence, it was intentional,” was McKenna’s surprising reply. “After I left the Army I finished college, and then went to the FBI academy. But I kept tabs on you and the others. Guilt is very strong motivation. Rayfield and Tremaine moved around with Rufus. That I found suspicious, but not conclusive. Perkins and Dellasandro moved around with you. They had positions in your various businesses. I got myself transferred to the Richmond Field Office so I could be close to you. When you jumped into politics they again went with you. When you went to D.C., you got Dellasandro and Perkins jobs at the Senate. So I got transferred to D.C. When you were given a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years ago, you got them their positions at the Court. Real nice of you. It must be part of the payback, the agreement all of you made. Rayfield and Tremaine baby-sat Rufus. You took care of Perkins and Leo. I bet if we checked their accounts, we’d find some nice little retirement funds somewhere.
“When I got wind of Michael Fiske’s murder, I jumped on it only because it was at the Court. When I discovered Rufus was connected somehow, I prayed all those years of following you were going to pay off. Now the truth has finally come out.”
“Absurd speculation, you mean,” Jordan Knight countered. “From your own words, it’s obvious you have some deranged vendetta against me. I find it outrageous that you’ve come into my home making all these accusations, particularly after I’ve had a man try to murder me, forcing me to kill him. And other than Detective Chandler, who has to investigate this act of obvious self-defense, I want the rest of you to get the hell out of my home.”
McKenna pulled a cell phone from his pocket, spoke into it and listened to the response. “I’m placing you under arrest, Senator Jordan. I’m sure Detective Chandler will do the same.”
“Get the hell out of here. Now!”
“I’m going to read you your rights now.”