“He’s had it forever. I doubt he’s ever even fired it.”

  “When was the last time you saw it?”

  “It’s probably been years. He used to keep it locked in a box when I was a kid.”

  “Your dad said no one had been over to the condo for a while.”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “It matters because if your dad didn’t use that gun to kill two people, then someone took it, used it, and then returned it. There were four rounds fired from it, Tyler. Those four bullets killed two people.”

  “Do you think that’s what happened? Someone’s trying to frame him?”

  “It’s possible. In fact, the way I see it, it’s the only way your dad gets out of this.”

  Tyler looked down at the grass. “I can’t lose him.”

  “I understand that,” said Decker.

  “Can I see him?”

  “That can be arranged.”

  “What do I tell him?”

  “That you love him. That you’ll always be there to support him.”

  Tyler nodded, wiped his face off with the towel, and trudged from the field.

  “That kid is right on the edge,” noted White.

  “Hopefully we can bring him back.”

  “Is that our job, Decker?”

  He looked at her. “Maybe it should be.”

  “You earlier gave Barry Davidson some good legal advice. I didn’t think that was our job, either. So why was that?”

  “Everyone deserves a fair shake. And something about this whole thing is off. I mean, someone who kills someone else with a gun rarely offers up the murder weapon so freely to the cops. If he did kill with it, there’s a big body of water right around here he could have dumped it in.”

  “So someone really might be framing him? Who?” asked White.

  “Who stands to benefit if he goes down for this?”

  “Tyler already gets his mother’s money, so he’s out. Maybe Langley framed Davidson.”

  “Motive?” said Decker.

  “Just to screw over Davidson. I think both men were still in love with Cummins.”

  “If so, he would have had to kill Cummins, too.”

  “Lots of men kill the women they supposedly love,” noted White.

  “Let’s talk to Gloria Chase then, and see how much she loves Langley.”

  “Apparently enough to marry him,” said White.

  Chapter 66

  CHASE WAS AT HER OFFICE located in the downtown area. The space was done in a minimalist but costly manner. There was an energetic flow of young, enthusiastic people and large computer screens with fascinating images and reams of data pouring over them. Decker felt like he was on some hip film set where they drank flavored sparkling water, wore chic clothes, and drove exotic cars, which meant he was as far out of his element as it was possible to be.

  She met them in her spacious, light-filled office that was full of high-end build-outs and expensive furnishings. She looked equal parts indifferent and bored.

  “I hear the ex-husband has been arrested,” she said.

  “News travels fast,” said White.

  “Like a bullet.”

  The emphasis on the word showed them its use was intentional.

  “So if he killed his wife and her guard, why are you here?” she asked.

  “That ‘presumed innocent’ thing,” said Decker. “But first, I understand congratulations are in order.”

  Chase smiled and held up her hand. A four-carat diamond rose from her finger like a miniature crystal mountain.

  “Nice,” said White. “Even if it doesn’t work out, be sure to keep the rock.”

  “Oh, it will work out. We love each other very much.” She glanced at White. “He did the knee and everything. Very romantic.”

  “He’s close to fifty, right? Big age gap,” White noted.

  She frowned for a moment, but then smiled. “But he looks far closer to forty. And wants kids, same as me.”

  “Big wedding planned?” asked White.

  Chase looked a bit crestfallen by the query. “No. Um, we’re getting married next week in a very low-key affair, just the two of us. And then flying to Vegas for our honeymoon.”

  “Vegas, interesting choice. Do you like to gamble?”

  “No, but they have great restaurants and shows.”

  “And as soon as you say your vows, everything he might have told you about Julia Cummins or anything related to her death will be confidential,” pointed out Decker.

  Chase glanced sharply at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Florida has a spousal communication privilege. So Langley can invoke it to prevent you from talking to the police or anyone else about any communications he might have made to you about Julia Cummins or anything else that might be incriminating. He could have told you that he killed her, but once you’re married, your lips are legally sealed.”

  “He didn’t kill her. He was with me!”

  “So no worries there. I’m just wondering if that law was the impetus for a quickie marriage as opposed to some societal extravaganza. But maybe you didn’t want that.” He looked around the posh space. “I mean, you don’t strike me as someone who likes to make a big splash.”

  “Look, I won’t deny that I had plans for something here that was going to be pretty fabulous, but Dennis explained things to me. I mean, why pay all that money for what’s basically a big party for everybody else? Instead it’ll just be us and we’ll pamper ourselves, not three hundred guests.”

  “Makes perfect sense,” said White. “What every woman wants, right?”

  Chase scowled at her and finally said, “Well, this woman does.” She turned to Decker. “And besides, didn’t Barry Davidson kill his ex-wife?”

  “He’s been charged with murder, but not that murder,” pointed out White.

  “What?” said a confused Chase.

  “Did you know that your fiancé wanted to marry Julia Cummins?” said Decker.

  “That’s crazy. Who told you that?”

  “Someone close to her said the judge broke it off because Langley wanted to tie the knot but she didn’t.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “And you know about the prostitute?” said White.

  “The what?”

  “Your fiancé was charged with assaulting a prostitute and nearly beating her to death. But the charges were dropped.”

  “Because they were untrue! The woman was trying to blackmail Dennis. I remember now, he told me all about it.”

  “So he admits being with a prostitute?” asked Decker.

  “No…he…he…it was a stupid thing to do. He was drunk.”

  “Then did he beat her up in a drunken stupor? Because I’ve seen the photos of her from that night. She was in the hospital for several days.” He took out his phone. “I have the pictures of her if you want to look at them.”

  “I don’t!”

  “Twenty minutes, liquor store and back, you’re sure?”

  “Yes! Now if there’s nothing else, I have a meeting.”

  Decker stood. “I wish you a happy marriage.”

  “Yeah, sure you do,” she said with a sour expression.

  As they walked out White said, “So, what do you think?”

  “She’s either telling the truth, or, more likely, the truth she desperately wants to believe, because she’s invested a lot in this guy and doesn’t want the deal to go south.”

  “And the quickie marriage?”

  “Maybe Langley is cheap when it comes to stuff like that. And I wouldn’t put it past the prick to be marrying her for another reason. But we need to refocus and grab a new angle, or Barry Davidson is going down for this.”

  “But what would be Davidson’s motive to kill Draymont and Lancer?”

  “Draymont obviously because he was there when Cummins died.”

  “And Lancer?” asked White.

  “What if she and Draymont were blackmailing Davidson somehow?”

  “How?”

  Decker said, “Maybe they found out he was spying on Cummins. They were going to expose him if he didn’t pay up. So we need to check his finances again to see if payments went out to any unusual parties that might be connected to Draymont or Lancer.”

  “That could be.”

  “Yeah, it could. But I don’t think that’s it. I still think there were two unrelated killers.”

  With hiked eyebrows she said, “You do have unusual ways of working a case.”

  “Oh, you’ve just barely skimmed the surface so far.”

  Chapter 67

  YOU LOOK TIRED,” DECKER SAID to White as they later sat down to dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.

  “I was just on a Zoom call helping Calvin with math. I hate math, I’m no good at it. And it wears me out.”

  “Is he good at it?”

  “Better than me. And I don’t remember doing the kind of math he is when I was that age.”

  “And your daughter?”

  “Jacky’s still easy. I’ve got a couple more years before I can’t help with her homework.”

  Decker idly stacked his fork on top of his spoon. “My daughter was good with numbers. She could see them line up in her head. Made it easy to do the math problems.”

  “That’s cool,” White said quietly, watching him closely.

  “She got that from her mom, not me. Cassie was a nurse. She was good at figures and stuff, too.”

  “What were you good at?”

  “Before I became what I am, you mean?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t remember, really. Maybe just football.”

  “I thought your memory was infallible.”

  “Yeah, well, what’s really infallible? Clearly not people.”

  They ate their meals and discussed the case.

  “It seems to me that we’re no further along than when we got here,” said White in a frustrated tone. “We’ve got a hodgepodge of clues, all pointing in different directions, one guy under arrest, another guy who might have done it. But with both of them the clues add up one way, but not all the way.”

  “Maybe we’re looking at the wrong suspects then,” said Decker, plunking a fry in his mouth and chewing it. He hefted his beer and took a drink.

  “Which means we have to find new suspects. And if you think those people dying are also tied to Kanak Roe’s disappearance, we need a whole new set of facts. And maybe a parallel universe to reside in.”

  He put his beer down. “You know what I wonder?”

  “No, Decker, but I’m sitting here with bated breath just waiting to hear.”

  “How did Kanak Roe, after leaving the Secret Service without his federal pension, manage to start a security business in Miami and grow it into Gamma?”

  “Hard work, perseverance, some luck?” she suggested. “Isn’t that the American Dream?”

  “Lots of people try to do that, and yet most of them don’t build their dream into a billion-dollar enterprise.”

  “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m just wondering if he had help,” said Decker.

  “Help? What kind of help?”

  “Any kind of help.”

  “You mean from his Secret Service days?” asked White.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, he guarded presidents, met a lot of wheeler-dealers, no doubt. They might have supported him in the private sector.”

  “I’m thinking about something other than legal means,” said Decker.

  “Why are you thinking along this line all of a sudden?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it ever since I learned the man was terminal and headed out on his boat never to be seen again.”

  “What’s the connection with his illness and a boat ride?” asked White.

  “I just think researching his past might not be a bad thing. Like we did with Draymont and Lancer. That definitely panned out for us because we found out they knew each other in DC and were running a blackmail business.”

  “How do you propose to do that?”

  “We can start by talking to his daughter,” noted Decker.

  “You want to call her or go see her tomorrow?”

  “The night’s still young. Why don’t we drive there? I’ll call her first.”

  “That’s not a quick trip,” White pointed out.

  “Pack a bag. We can stay over in Miami.”

  “Okay, but she might not know much.”

  “She strikes me as a daughter who knows pretty much everything about her old man. Maybe more than he wanted her to,” added Decker.

  “If you’re wrong, then we are wasting time on something totally unrelated to four homicides. John Talbott back in DC will not be happy.”

  Decker gazed at her. “Is that how you judge your work performance? By how happy your boss is?”

  “Not necessarily. But it is how I keep score on my career trajectory. And, unlike you, apparently, I need my job and my path to keep moving upward.”

  “I’ll make a deal with you, Freddie. We go to Miami and talk to Roe. Nothing pops from that, we come back here, stay in our lanes, and make Talbott a proud poppa.”

  “I don’t need you to patronize me, either.”

  “You want to hear something?”

  “I don’t know—do I?” said White.

  “You got great instincts. You read people well. You know what to look for. You know when to hold a suspect’s hand and when to bring the hammer down.”

  “But?”

  “Who says there’s a but?”

  “Just tell me, Decker.”

  “I got this shit going on in my head that gives me insights sometimes, but also makes me a pain to work with. I’ve got no family to support, and if the FBI wants to can me, so be it. Fuck them and I’m on my way somewhere else.”

  “So where does that leave me?”

  “I don’t know. But it leaves me in no position to second-guess you and your career choices. I haven’t walked in your shoes. In fact, I don’t own any heels in your particular color.”

  “Why do I think, in a really screwy roundabout Amos Decker sort of way, you’re trying to pay me a compliment?”

  He rose. “I’ll call Roe. When will you be ready?”

  “Just as soon as you are. And in every way you can think of.”

  Chapter 68

  OKAY, WOW, THIS MIGHT MAKE me think of jumping to the private sector one day,” said White as she looked around the wraparound deck of Roe’s palatial high-rise Miami Beach home. Roe had gone to get them some coffee. The woman had not been put off by their late visit.

  “It’s a little over the top for me,” noted Decker.

  “Well, I’d like the opportunity to try, at least once in my life.”

  Decker looked out to the Atlantic Ocean, where Kanak Roe had disappeared from the face of the earth. Since people and large boats didn’t just vanish, something had caused them to do so.

  Kasimira Roe came out onto the deck carrying a tray of full coffee mugs and a pot with cream and some sweeteners and spoons. The women doctored their coffees while Decker drank his black. The air was refreshingly chilly and the breeze invigorating as they sat around the flaming outdoor gas firepit.

  Roe was casually dressed in jeans and a sweater, and boat shoes without socks. Her hair was pinned up and she wore rimless glasses.

  “Thanks for agreeing to meet us on such short notice and this late,” said Decker.

  “No problem. I haven’t been sleeping much. I heard about the arrest. The judge’s ex. Think it will stick?”

  “His gun was the murder weapon for Lancer and Draymont,” said White.

  Roe looked at Decker. “What do you think?”

  “He had motive, means, and maybe opportunity.”

  “But?”

  Decker glanced at White. “There’s not always a but in my remarks.”

  “I’m sure. But why would you be here if you thought you already had your killer?”

  “Maybe to discuss your father’s case?”

  “But you said you would only do that if you thought it was connected to these killings.”

  “Maybe I do.”

  “So there is a but,” noted White.

  Decker leaned forward. “What can you tell us about your dad founding his firm?”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Pretty much everything. He joined the Service right out of college. He put in sixteen years. If he put in twenty-five he could have retired with a full ride. That’s a big sacrifice to go off and start your own firm. He could have finished his tour of duty with the Service, banked his pension, and then started his company. That’s what lots of people do.”

  “But not my father.”

  “Did he ever talk to you about why he left the Service?”

  “Not really. But I left after only five years.”

  “There’s a big difference between five and sixteen years invested,” noted Decker.

  “And Gamma was already established and successful,” added White. She looked around the luxurious space. “You had some place to go. Groomed to take over an empire.”

  “I don’t think it’s suspicious that my father was naturally an entrepreneur. Lots of immigrants build businesses.”

  “Yes, they do. But a lot of them do it right away. So I’m not sure how natural an entrepreneur he was.”

  “What exactly are you suggesting?” said Roe in a bristling tone.

  “I’m not suggesting anything,” said Decker. “I’m just trying to fully understand your father’s motivations.”

  “Then I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Did he keep in touch with anyone he worked with in the Service?”

  She sat back and mulled over this. “There was one agent that he was good friends with. I don’t remember the name offhand, but I can look it up.”

  “Can you do it now?” asked Decker.

  She glared at him. “You’re very impatient.”

  “I like to think of it as very motivated to do my job.”

  “Let me get my phone, it might be on there.”

  She rose and left them.

  White turned to Decker. “Okay, where are you going with all this?”

  “We have one definite lead, Freddie,” Decker said in a low voice. “Slovakian money in the mouths of two dead people. That does not tie into either Barry Davidson or Dennis Langley. But it might be connected to Kanak Roe and Gamma Protection Services. And the two dead people worked for Roe. So unless leaving that money behind was some giant coincidence—which stretches plausibility beyond belief—it’s symbolic, and all symbols have meaning.”