“How was your trip?” he asked.
“Lance, is that you?” she asked, perturbed, as she lowered her pistol and continued into the living room. She shut the door behind her. “What the hell are you doing here and how did you get in my house? You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you. I could have killed you.”
“Are you always so dramatic, Agent Alexander?” He casually walked the length of her living room. “I left the door ajar for a reason. You seem to forget that I’m an investigative reporter and I have means and access, too. So, again, did you enjoy your trip?”
Clearly, the fragile Lance she had encountered a month ago — the angry Lance who had coldcocked her — was now a determined man with a purpose.
“Yes, I did,” she said sarcastically. “Is this where I say, ‘Thanks for asking’? As she turned and walked to her foyer to grab her luggage and shut the door.
Lance didn’t take the bait and Teddy was glad because she really didn’t want to alienate him. She continued, “I was able to accomplish what we needed to do so we can solve this mystery.” She put her keys and firearm on the credenza.
“You mean the mystery you find yourself in, Agent Alexander. My goal is to find my wife. So what’s your goal?”
“Our goal is the same, Lance,” she replied, perturbed. “We both want the same thing, but before we can do what we need to do for Kennedy, you and I have to talk. There is something I need to tell you.”
When Lance finally turned to face her, Teddy could see he really had pulled himself together. He no longer appeared to be fragile and/or a loose cannon, willing to explode at any perceived slight.
“Okay,” he said. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”
“It’s about Kennedy. We have to talk about Kennedy before you and I can do what we need to do as a team.”
“Will it be the truth this time, Agent Alexander or are you still dancing around the issue?”
At that moment, Teddy recalled her earlier conversation with God and she could not believe how swiftly He had answered her prayer. Everything about Lance’s disposition suggested he was ready.
“Your assumptions are correct. Kennedy and I were lovers.”
Not knowing what to expect, Teddy anticipated everything. But Lance said or did nothing. A silence so thick took over the atmosphere; a precise stillness was left in the room. Inside, Teddy was relieved. She had finally done what she had been so reluctant to do, and now, her truth was their truth.
For several minutes, Lance sat on the large white leather couch staring out the window and Teddy sat on the other end doing the same. She could only imagine what he was thinking and feeling. When she had met Kennedy, all she had wanted to do was love and be loved again and Kennedy offered love in unlimited supply. Yes, it had concerned her that Kennedy was married, but as their love grew, the only thing that concerned her more was the fact that she hadn’t ended her relationship with her husband sooner. And now it was up to her. She had to tell him his relationship with his wife had been a lie.
Sitting no longer worked for Teddy. She had to get up and move around or the silence, coupled with the sun setting, would take her to a place she just didn’t want to go.
As Teddy began to move around the condo, Lance noticed there was an air of uneasiness about her so he seized the moment. He was now ready to talk.
“I want to know everything,” he said. “I want to know when it started, how it started, why it started. I need to know, Teddy, and I need you to be completely forthright with me.”
From the cracking of his voice, Teddy could tell that the strong confident man who had first greeted her in her condo was now teetering again on being broken, but she had to do what she had to do if they were ever to get past this awkward moment.
For the next couple of hours, Teddy shared everything with Lance. Not only did he take in the information, but most times, he was clearly engaged. He listened intently as Teddy described what Kennedy had been feeling about their marriage. She talked about how Kennedy felt neglected and how she had felt she was competing with his job. When Teddy told Lance that Kennedy described herself as his mistress rather than his wife, she could tell by his expression he had heard those words before — and he recognized the truth when he heard it.
“I tried to give her what she wanted,” he said as he stood up and headed again for the picture window. By now, the sun had set and the aura of night had fallen. “But to be honest with you, I don’t even think she knew what she wanted from me or our relationship. She felt stuck and blamed me. I really did try, but regardless of what I did, it never seemed good enough. So, eventually, we went back to doing what we knew how to do. It was a cycle, one we both repeated.”
Lance sat down again and held his head in his hands. Now that Teddy had heard him confess that he too had had a role in his failed marriage, she had to wait to see what would be next. Would he help her or would he just walk away? She knew he needed more time, but time wasn’t their friend. If the plan was going to work, Lance had to be on board.
Once more, silence had taken over the room and there was literally nothing Teddy could do. Lance had to come through the valley and she simply had to wait for him on the other side. She knew he wasn’t done talking, but for the moment, he had nothing more to say. When he was ready to talk again, she would be ready to listen.
For another hour, Lance simply stared out the living room window, apparently taking in all the sights. DC didn’t have the high-rises Chicago did, so the view wasn’t the same kind of skyline, but it was magnificent nonetheless. No matter where you were in the condo, the vistas were panoramic. You could see the Potomac River, Georgetown University, downtown, Howard University and the city’s far south side.
“Teddy,” Lance said suddenly, and softly, as he turned to face her, his ginger red hair now glistening as the evening light shuffled in “I want to apologize for hitting you and leaving you in the park. I’ve never hit anyone before and the thought that I hit a woman is very disturbing to me. It’s no excuse, but I hope you understand that, at that point, my world had been stolen from me and I just snapped. I also want to say thank you for finally telling me the truth. In the last month, I’ve experienced every emotion possible. I even contemplated killing you and then committing suicide. I did a story once on a man who killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself. I walked away not understanding what could make a person do that. What I didn’t understand then … well, let’s just say I understand now how a man can be driven to such extremes. When hurt turns to rage and rage turns to despair, a man is capable of doing anything.”
As Teddy sat there listening, she found herself questioning whether the man in her living room could really have done it. Could he be driven to a place so deep he would take a life and end his own life at the same time? Why not? I was once so fragile that I too contemplated such atrocities.
“Am I boring you, Teddy?” he asked, noticing she appeared to be somewhere else.
“No, Lance you are not boring me,” she said, voice barely audible. “I was thinking about what you said and you reminded me of the emotions I once harbored, too. So, please, go on. Finish telling me what you have to say.”
Taken somewhat aback, Lance didn’t quite understand what she meant, but he did continue with his story. “Anyway, something changed for me the night I got fired for failing to attend a meeting at the paper. Whitherspoon’s murder had been assigned to me, but I just couldn’t keep it together. My boss was throwing out all these absurd speculations as to what was going on and I knew, based on what you had shared with me, that his murder was connected to something so sinister that if I had shared my assumptions, they would have thought I had finally lost it. So, I guess I inadvertently orchestrated my own demise by missing the meeting.
“Once I got home, the only thing I could do was drink and as I drank, I began to feel incredibly stupid. The last thing I had needed was to get fired. At least at work I was having conversations with others. At home, it was just me and
a bottle of scotch. Don’t ask me why, but on this one particular night, something changed. I was so drunk, I’m surprised I didn’t die.”
Lance shook his head. “In fact, I think I was out cold for a couple of days and the entire time I was out, I was in this euphoric state. When I woke up, I knew I was supposed to be in the mess I found myself in. I just didn’t know exactly why or how I had gotten there, but I knew everything would be okay. While I was out, I can remember hearing this voice say, ‘Look back, go back and seek the truth.’ At first I didn’t get it, but then I started to think about our conversation and how you believed that Kennedy’s kidnapping as well as Isabella’s death were somehow connected to the work she and I had done. And so I started to look at some old stuff that I had in my storage area and I found —”
Before he could go any farther, Teddy abruptly stood up and motioned to him to be silent and follow her. In just moments, they had grabbed their coats, were out the door, down the elevator and on the sidewalk.
“Lance, I had to get you out of there before you said anything incriminating.”
“I understand,” he said nonchalantly. “Was it because you thought your place could be bugged?”
“Yes,” she said shortly. “But, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to check things out. As you may remember, I had unexpected company when I arrived home this evening.”
“Well, I checked,” he said. “And this is what I found.” He pulled from his jacket pocket six bugging devices.
Teddy didn’t know what to think. Clearly, Lance had more skills than she had originally thought, but that was the least of her concerns. She had seen those bugging devices before. They were agency-issued. Whoever was interested in her was much closer than she had thought.
She pulled herself together. “Well, one thing is for sure, you have some skills. Okay, now that you’re on board, you’ll be a formidable partner. You are on board, aren’t you?”
“Well, thanks,” he said. “I guess I should take that as a compliment. And, yes, I’m on board.”
“Listen, Lance, if my place was bugged, there is a great likelihood that when Kennedy was abducted, your place was bugged, too. And for now, we need to keep it that way. Whoever bugged my place had to expect I would find them sooner or later. But your place is a different story.”
As Lance listened, he was shocked to realize that everything he had gone through since Kennedy’s abduction may have been recorded. And if Teddy was correct, he knew whoever was listening had heard a man confront his worst enemy: himself. Now he was embarrassed. The pain and the sense of betrayal he had felt were his and his alone. How dare they? Was nothing sacred? His wife had been stolen from him twice, first by Teddy and then by the abductors. And now, to find out that his most private moments had also been stolen was excruciating.
Teddy could see by his expression that what she had just shared with him was having a profound impact, but she had to stay focused. So, instead of going straight back to her condo, they continued to walk.
“Let me ask you a question,” she said. “Have you ever heard of a man named Dr. Basil Rhodes?”
“No. Why?”
“Well, he will be joining us in our crusade. We’re going to meet him in Maryland. He is as instrumental to this case as you and I are and we need him.”
“Why is that?” Lance said. “Why do we need him? What? You don’t trust me?”
“We need him,” Teddy said unapologetically, “and once you meet him and get to know him, you will understand why. He will be a great asset to you, too. And, yes, I trust you and you should trust me. Because we are all that Kennedy has.”
For a moment, Lance hesitated. Teddy could see that he still had questions, but rather than force the issue she said nothing.
“I’ll see you at Union Station on the fourth, right?” She asked. “Lance!”
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” he replied as he turned and walked away.
Within twenty minutes of leaving Lance on Pennsylvania Avenue, Teddy was again in her building. She stopped at the concierge’s desk to pick up the newspaper. She also wanted to catch up on the District news before she penned her message to Basil. What a day. She couldn’t believe her conversation with Lance. Nor could she believe he was as savvy as he was. He had more skills than she had anticipated and he obviously knew how to use them. Just the fact that he was able to bypass the security in her building and enter her home was impressive. Who was this guy? According to Kennedy, he was a man who had lost his way, who had fallen from grace, who, in her eyes, was no longer worthy of her love.
What a day she thought. First it was Reverend Whiley then Lance. Teddy was drained. All she wanted to do was check in with Lauren and sleep.
“Hey, girl, sorry for calling so late. I don’t want anything; I just want to let you know I made it in safely.”
“Good. I’m glad you had a safe trip,” Lauren said sleepily. “Did you get a chance to do what you set out to do?”
“Yeah, I did,” Teddy said, “but let’s talk later. I’m pretty tired right now.”
“Okay. Just one more thing. Remember God does not give us more than we can handle. He told me to tell you that.”
“Okay, Lauren. Until next time.”
After Teddy hung up the phone, she immediately kneeled and prayed. She was grateful for her blessings and felt a need to say so before she went to sleep. More important, she now knew where her blessings were coming from.
Basil again spent hours working nonstop, only to realize he had been looking for the wrong thing. When he had last met with Teddy, she had indicated that Isabella and Lance had decided to create an antidote to correspond with the biological weapon they’d created. After searching through all his literature, Basil found no mention of an antidote. Everything he had about the program explained its purpose and what the students would be charged to do, but there was nothing to indicate they would be responsible for creating a mechanism for stopping a biological weapon — only for creating one and following its course from host to host.
Now, things were becoming even clearer. The deaths of the scientists were to erase the fact that the program had ever existed. Kill everyone involved and you have no story or at least, no evidence left. Isabella and Lance must have realized right away something was wrong. Why else would they have taken the risk they took by developing an antidote? Their entire careers could have been ruined.
It was late and Basil needed to rest. He had uncovered more than he had bargained for and was now both physically and mentally exhausted. At this point, all he could do was sleep. Tomorrow would be another day.
The long holiday weekend had passed since the news of Jeffries’s indictment and Councilman Yeager still had not signed off on the press release. This was unusual. It was as if the damage had been done and Jeffries was no longer a thorn in his well-chiseled waistline.
“Good afternoon, Councilman,” Taylor said casually. “Can you believe all this chatter about Councilman Jeffries? Everybody is talking about it. Last night and this morning, the local talking heads were having a field day. I can’t wait to see what the Herald and the Washington Daily News are saying, not to mention The Cutting Edge.”
Yeager didn’t even budge. He just stood looking out his window. The world could have come to an end and it would not have fazed him.
“Councilman,” she said, still trying to engage him, “I noticed that you didn’t sign off on the press release. Was there something wrong with it?”
Yeager left the window and headed to his chair, still seemingly untouched by Taylor’s questions and her persistent attempts to get his attention. In all her years working for him, Taylor had never seen him so aloof. The demeanor was both unrecognizable and a cause of great angst for her.
“Have you found out anything on Edelstein yet?” he asked calmly. Now facing the door, Taylor was hesitant to turn around and respond. She’d known that eventually, he would get around to asking the question, but she had been hoping for a little more time to f
rame her response.
“Not yet, sir,” she said. “But you will be happy to know that I did find some interesting information concerning Blake —”
Before Taylor could finish her sentence, Yeager was on her. “Blake Jones? What information? And why has it taken you so long to tell me? You spent your entire time in here talking about that parasite Jeffries when we should have been talking about Jones and the information you uncovered.”
For a brief moment, Taylor was stunned. She was used to Yeager’s outbursts but she hadn’t seen this one coming. Yeager’s tone and his blank stare made her feel as though he had lost his mind. If looks could spew out venom, then his eyes were paralyzing every muscle in her body. Suddenly, she felt as if she were in a catatonic state looking at a man who appeared to be crazed.
“Well, Councilman,” she said, slowly regaining her poise as she backed away from where he stood, “I was waiting for the information to be confirmed before I shared it with you.”
“Damn it, Taylor! Either you have information or you don’t.”
“I do, Councilman, but again, based on our conversation, you said you wanted legitimate information or no information at all.”
“Enough!” He waved his hand as if it were a magic wand. “Tell me what you know.”
Furious and unwilling to take his madness sitting down, Taylor reacted in kind.
“Fine! But if the information doesn’t pan out, don’t blame me. I was told that Blake Jones had a brother who died in October. Again, don’t blame me if it’s not true.”
Yeager’s face turned fire red and he immediately sat down as his knees buckled.
“Councilman, are you all right?” Taylor asked, fearing he was having a heart attack. “Councilman!” she yelled. “Are you all right? Do I need to call an ambulance?”
“No, Taylor, I’m fine. Just get out of my office and leave me alone.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, still sensing something might be wrong physically.
“Damn it, Taylor! I said get out of my office and leave me alone. I do not want to be disturbed for anything, do you hear me? Do you hear me?”
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