Capital Offense

help – and Katherine’s. I’m being completely honest in revealing my own faults because I don’t feel I can ask for your trust without giving you all of the facts to consider. If you have any questions, I’ll answer them as best as I can.”

Jack sat for a moment searching Carolyn’s eyes.

“You’ve done a pretty thorough job of explaining the situation. And, I have to say that my gut tells me to believe you.”

“I’m stunned,” Katherine said. “But I believe you’re telling the truth.”

Carolyn breathed a sigh of relief. When she formulated this plan, she’d realized that gaining their trust would be her greatest hurdle.

“I do have a couple of questions, though,” Jack said.

Carolyn met his gaze.

“Why not go to the attorney general?”

“For the sake of the country, this has got to be taken care of before tomorrow’s congressional vote. His hands are tied by the rule of law; he won’t be able to act quickly enough. If Richard Young becomes president, he will have the power to potentially squash this investigation.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Katherine said.

“Unfortunately, I’m not. I’ve seen worse happen. More than likely, Richard would come up with a way to neutralize me. So, we’ve got to preempt his ability to strike.”

“I’m too cynical to question your reasoning,” Jack shook his head in disgust. “I assume you have a plan for exposing Young.”

She nodded.

“What do you hope to achieve?”

“As a former prosecuting attorney, I don’t believe that we’ll be able to come up with the evidence necessary to actually convict Young. I do believe, however, that we can keep him from the presidency and remove him from office.”

“He deserves to go to jail,” Katherine said. “If not worse.”

“I agree,” Carolyn said. “But Richard’s a smart man. I doubt that there’s any direct evidence linking him to the murders. Also, once we make this public, this case will be tried in the media. It will not be a matter of right and wrong, or of finding justice, but a popularity contest that will depend on the talent of the spin-doctors and the attorneys. It’ll be a three-ring circus. The best we can hope for is to ruin his political career. That’s where Jack comes in. He has to be the voice of reason in the press.”

“I don’t think I’ll be much help. I’m under a contract that’s not allowing me to publish anywhere.”

“I’m aware of your situation, and by tomorrow afternoon I’ll have it handled.”

Jack nodded.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Carolyn said. “In my professional opinion, the only way to beat Richard is to hit him with a surprise blow. Knock him off balance. He can’t have any time to react. And for the country’s sake, this must be done before he’s sworn in tomorrow.”

“This will tarnish Warner’s legacy,” Jack said.

He was too polite. Carolyn thought, to mention the damage she would also suffer. She smiled slightly. “No doubt. But I can’t worry about that now.”

“What do you need from me?” Katherine asked.

Jack stood, walked to the window, drew back a corner of the curtain, and looked out onto the street. “Katherine, you have no idea what you are signing up for. Carolyn and I can handle this. It’s not your fight.”

“That is such sexist bullshit.” Katherine said. “I don’t need a protector, so knock it off. I’m in, and I will not discuss it further.”

Jack shook his head, but he remained silent.

Carolyn leaned across the coffee table and put her hand on Katherine’s knee. “I’m relieved to hear it, because you are an integral part of our success.”

The tea remained untouched between them.

“How many Secret Service agents came with you?” Jack asked, while still watching the sheet.

“Only one.”

“Can you trust him?”

Carolyn nodded. “Martin Riggs is the only one I do trust. Speaking of which, Martin has the files the Secret Service confiscated from you.”

Jack turned from the window. His eyes narrowed.

“Before we leave tonight, he will bring those in for you.” Carolyn said.

Jack returned to his seat. “So, what’s the plan?”

EIGHTY-FIVE

Carolyn led Katherine through the White House and up to the private quarters. She glanced at her watch. It read 3:16 A.M. A shiver of apprehension ran down her spine, as they walked through the residence.

They moved to the Treaty Room, which Warner had made his home office. Dark greens, burgundies, and navy wove through the furniture and draperies. Normally, the rich upholstery provided a warm and comforting environment, but tonight Carolyn’s world seemed black and white.

“As a precaution, we’ll use Warner’s computer,” Carolyn said.

Katherine sat at his desk.

Carolyn locked the doors.

Painted deep red, the walls provided a masculine backdrop for the mahogany and cherry wood furnishings.

Katherine logged onto the Internet.

“You’re sure you can retrieve deleted messages from my E-mail?” Carolyn asked.

“Positive.”

“I have to warn you,” Carolyn paced in front of the desk. “I don’t know the contents of the E-mails you may find on my account. I just know that Warner, Richard, and Mark were undoubtedly using it. These messages may be gruesome.”

“I can handle it,” Katherine said, while typing on the keyboard. She worked diligently for twenty-five minutes, then sat back while staring at the monitor.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just waiting for the machine to catch up. I’m almost in.” She smiled. “Bingo.”

Katherine hit the print icon. The machine whined to life.

Carolyn pulled the first sheets of paper off the printer. She read the text. “The bastards.”

Katherine moved to her side. “What is it?”

She handed her the E-mail documents, each issuing instructions regarding various deceased individuals, and even one ordering Jack’s beating. There were separate messages that appeared to arrange for payment. “They’re all signed with a ‘C’ as if I initiated these orders. Is there any way we can prove that I didn’t?”

Katherine hurried back to the computer and began to type again. “My specialty.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can track the originating computers as well as the message destinations. It all comes back to the IP addresses. Even the firewall programs can be circumvented. That’s why experienced hackers will try to bounce off other computers to hide their identity, but I spent years with the NSA tracking such culprits.”

“The German spy?” Carolyn asked.

“Exactly.” Katherine continued typing. “And our guys aren’t experienced hackers. Odds are they didn’t believe they could be tracked,” she said. “Cain might have known, but he doesn’t strike me as the type to be terribly protective of his clients.”

“Cain is only protective of his money. Richard and Warner would have considered themselves above