by Lynn Faye
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to be the bad cop here,” investigator Roland said. “How can we take your word that you were on your couch watching a movie with your wife all night?”
“Officer Roland, I don’t mind any questions you have for me. Like I said before, I will cooperate with you one hundred percent. You can get the video footage from my house for any time period you would like. I will give you full permission. No need for a warrant or anything like that.”
“Mr. President, are you saying that your whole home has video monitoring that is recorded? Doesn’t that seem a bit unusual?”
“Not at all. I had a new, very beautiful fiancé and the Vice President had recently gone missing and ended up dead. I was trying to protect myself and my soon to be wife. I also asked that the Secret Service set up a secure location in my basement so there were in my home at all times.”
“I believe Agent Clint Bomber was on your detail at that time. Was he part of that decision process?”
“Yes, I believe he was.”
“Did you fire Mr. Bomber after an argument between you and him where you wanted to attend a meeting without him knowing where it was at?” The lead investigator asked.
I knew where they were going with this. Clint Bomber was a good guy, a very honest one at that. But I had been careful during our conversation and I knew there was no audio recording of the actual fight between the two of us. It was clearly going to be my word against his, and I was the President of the United States.
“Mr. Bomber has a little different memory of the events that lead up to me asking him to be placed on a different detail. I simply was unhappy with the coverage during my wedding and he was argumentative with me. There was no giant blow up and I wished him all the best. But I needed agents who would do whatever was possible to keep me and my wife safe. I didn’t feel like he was the best person for the job.”
I sat back and calmly took a few deep breaths as the two investigators talked and tried to decide what other questions they wanted to ask me. I was certain there were plenty more and they were just warming up to the really good stuff.
I think I had caught them off guard because I was so willing to come in and be questioned. They probably thought I would want to wait for a lawyer or at least get some sort of legal counsel before I agreed to talk to them. But I had my own plan. I was going to try and head off any suspicion right away by being totally cooperative with them.
Obviously, it was suspicious that I had been moved into the Vice President position and then quickly into the Presidency. I knew there was going to be chaos and investigations. But that was partly why I finally caved in and asked Senator Masson for a truce. Everyone knew that we didn’t get along; I still didn’t get along with him, but having him as the Speaker of the House was what I needed. He had plenty of secrets that he wanted to keep in the closet and that was the kind of man I could control if I took him with me to the White House.
“During the time that the Vice President went missing, you did not have Secret Service detail, correct?”
“Yes, I was just a Senator, there was no security detail.”
“You left Washington D.C. for several days and did not stay in contact with your office. One of your staffers noted that they had tried to reach you for a whole day straight before you returned their call. Where were you?”
“I was with Michaela in Chicago. Her father was very ill and we were in the hospital with him all day that day. There were no cell phones allowed to be on in his room because of interference with the machines and monitors.”
“So you were with Michaela during your entire stay?”
“Yes, and you can refer to her as The First Lady,” I said with a stern look.
“Excuse me sir, I apologize.”
They were scrambling to find more questions. Anything that would trip me up, but I knew there was no evidence for them to find. This plan had been laid out for years and by people with more power than I had. The careful planning and forethought behind it was something that none of these investigators could even imagine. They thought crimes were committed out of passion and reason. But the truth of the matter was that crimes are committed out of desire; a desire for power. And the people who wanted me in the White House had more desire than all three of us in that investigation room combined.
Desire to have something or be rid of something could motivate a person to commit a crime they never thought was possible. I could sit in that questioning room for days and they would never get anything interesting on me. I hadn’t committed a crime. I wasn’t at Camp David, I didn’t shoot the President. My body was at home on my couch and there was never going to be evidence that I participated in any wrongdoing.
The questioning continued for what seemed like days, but was probably close to four hours. They asked about my family, my financial situation. Of course, they asked about the young girl who had committed suicide that had worked in my office. My pleasant demeanor and forthrightness was surprising to them, I could see it in their eyes. But I was as cooperative as I could possibly be.
“Thank you again for coming in and sitting through all these questions. This is just standard procedure when something like this happens. We really appreciate all your cooperation,” investigator Roland said as he shook my hand as he started leading me out of the room.
“Thank you. Anytime, if there is anything else you need don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Oh, Mr. President, one last questions,” the junior investigator said. “Since when did you and Senator Masson become so friendly? I’ve always thought the two of you hated each other.”
“I still can’t stand the man.”
“Really? I heard you worked closely with him to get the Speaker of the House position and that you and he met for a long meeting after you became Vice President.”
“You heard correctly. I’ve always believed it was best to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” I said as I started to walk out of the interview room. “Please let me know if you have any further questions. I would be more than happy to come in again if needed.”
“I think we have what we need for now. Thank you.”
Kayla
“I would like a lawyer,” I said to the investigator the second I entered the room with him.
“Mrs. Storm, you aren’t under investigation. This is not an interrogation room and you are not under arrest. We are just trying to get some facts straight in the case so we can find the person or persons involved in the president’s murder.”
I was scared and I knew there was no way of hiding it. Never had I dealt with the police or any sort of real investigation. In my heart I knew Matthew had been involved somehow, of course, there was no proof and I trusted that Matthew made sure of that, but I couldn’t risk saying something stupid.
Matthew was a smart man, much too smart to get himself mixed up in the wrongdoing of a murder. But there were still those thoughts that lingered in the back of my brain. He knew something, I wasn’t sure just how much he knew or how involved he had been; but I was pretty damn sure he knew something about the incident that happened with the President.
“I’m sorry sir. I know a lot of lawyers and I think it would be best if I conferred with one before the questioning continues,” I said as I stood up. “Am I free to leave?”
The investigator looked beyond annoyed at me but I knew if I wasn’t being arrested I had the right to leave when I wanted to. Matthew and I hadn’t had a chance to discuss our plan for questioning because the investigator had bombarded us at the White House. Certainly I didn’t want to make a scene there and refuse to come with them, but I wasn’t about to get myself in trouble.
I hadn’t done a thing wrong, but I knew how words and actions could get twisted around, I wasn’t going to risk it. When I was in college a friend of mine was charged with breaking into a home all because he was brought in for questioning and admitted he had been drunk the previous night and didn’t know how he got home from the bar
. It didn’t matter that people turned up and said they dropped him off at home. My friend still had to go through a lengthy court case to prove his innocence. I was going to do everything possible to make sure I didn’t say or do something stupid and that meant I wasn’t talking until I had a lawyer.
“Where is Matthew?” I asked as I was leaving the room.
“He’s in there cooperating with questions.”
“Fine, tell him I went home when he gets done,” I said and then walked straight out of the building with one of the Secret Service agents who was assigned to me.
I felt my body shaking from the adrenaline and I could hardly keep myself in control as I got to the SUV we had parked out back. My vision was blurry and I felt my heart pounding nearly out of my chest as I tried to calm myself down. It was almost impossible as my blood continued to thrust harshly through my body.
“You’ll have to send someone back here to pick up the President, I want to leave,” I said as I got into the vehicle.
“It is fine. There are three agents inside with him, I’ll just have another SUV come over,” the agent said as he called someone and then drove us away.
My hands were shaking with adrenaline and I really had no idea why. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t hired anyone to kill people. I didn’t even know what was going on, but my gut told me that Matthew did and I couldn’t understand why he would sit in that room and agree to be questioned without a lawyer. He was the President of the United States now and people were going to go after him. Didn’t he understand that?
Of course, he understood, but Matthew had a plan that I wasn’t part of, again. I was getting sick and tired of not being included in his life plans. It was about time he and I had a good talk about our future. I had my own life plan; I couldn’t be sitting around always trying to figure out his life plan. My life wasn’t going to be determined by what he wanted; I was going to make some of my own dreams come true.
“Are we just going home?” my agent asked.
“Yes please.”
I did my best to appear calm and not rattled as we made it back to the house and I went straight up to the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed I slid down against the wall and tears just started flowing out of me. I felt so out of control. Nothing in my life was going the way I wanted it to go. But I knew I shouldn’t complain. Women around the world would kill to be married to Matthew. I was the First Lady now. I was one of the most powerful and influential women in the world.
I felt like I had no control over my life at all. I wasn’t in charge of my life anymore. Matthew made the decisions. The secret service made the decisions. My press secretary made the decisions. Nothing was my own anymore. It was like I was just some puppet that others were bossing around. Life had been one hundred times happier when I was just a wide-eyed college student hoping to become a Senator some day. Never had I even thought about the White House, it wasn’t something I had wanted or even dreamed about.
Sure I tried to dream big as I grew up, but big was relative to where I was. To me, I was dreaming big by coming out to Washington and working in Senator Storms office. That had been my dream and I was so excited to make it come true. The far off other dreams I had were just so far in the future that I never let them even peek out.
Matthew was someone who I had dreamed about though. A strong, powerful man who went after what he wanted. Sure, I didn’t agree with his tactics, or what I thought had been his tactics. But he was the man I loved and that I was certain of. I just wished he actually trusted me and worked with me on all these plans of his. I knew I could have come up with better solutions than murder.
Murder…was that what he had done? The thought sent chills through my body and I just couldn’t imagine that Matthew would do something like that. Sure he wanted into the White House, but was he really capable of murdering someone? I still didn’t think that was possible. Maybe I was being extremely naive, but I didn’t think Matthew had the ability to actually kill another human being.
“Kayla, open the door,” I heard Matthew say as he tried to open the bedroom door when he got home.
His voice instantly brought me out of my daydreaming and I realized I had been sitting on the floor for hours. It wasn’t like I had meant to just sit there, but there was just so much going through my mind that I couldn’t get a hold of it all.
“I just need some time alone,” I said as I stood on the other side of the door.
“Open it now,” he said firmly.
I didn’t think it would be useful to argue with him so I did as he asked. I was exhausted though and wasn’t even in the mood to argue with him. The last few weeks had been mentally and physically exhausting and I needed a break.
Basically, we had both gone from relatively unknown people to having to clear our schedule before we went to get coffee. In fact, I didn’t think I had even got my own coffee at all since Matthew had become Vice President.
“Whatever they said, just remember they are trying to get leads. They have nothing,” Matthew said as he gently grabbed my arms.
“Let go of me,” I protested as I pulled away. “I refused to answer their questions so you don’t have to worry.”
“Okay, well that’s one way to do it,” he said with a snide side glance.
“You know what…you know… I’m sick and tired of this. We are supposed to be a team. You promised me you would tell me everything and you just keep lying. I’m a big girl Matthew, I can handle the truth. Did you murder them? Just tell me. Let’s get it all out on the table and then see if we can move forward from there.”
The look of shock and surprise on his face was actually quite funny as he looked at me while I yelled at him. I hated yelling and arguing, I didn’t want that to be my marriage, but I seriously couldn’t take the secrets another moment longer. Matthew was so good at pushing me away and keeping me at a distance. I couldn’t take it, that wasn’t how I wanted things to be between us. I wanted to trust him and have him trust me. I wanted to be his partner so we could grow old together and love each other forever. Sure it was sappy and romantic, but I didn’t care.
“I love you. I’m just trying to protect you,” Matthew said calmly.
His level of calmness was noticeable compared to my loud angry yelling and I felt like I needed to bring it down a notch. He often did that when we had arguments and I knew it was a way that he controlled the situation. I had seen him do the same thing with other Senators, but it was very effective and I did take a few breaths and try to calm down a little.
“Then talk to me, Matthew. You trusted me enough to marry me. You said you loved me. Do you honestly think I would leave you at this point? Why won’t you just tell me the plan? Tell me what I’m supposed to be doing? I’ve given up my entire life and dreams of my own to be here with you and I deserve to be included.”
Matthew leaned in and grabbed my face gently and kissed me. But I pulled away this time, I wasn’t going to just sit back and be the meek quiet wife that he wanted. I deserved answers and I was going to get them that night.
He tried to kiss me again in an effort to distract me from wanting my answers, but this time I slapped him. I didn’t mean to, but my body just reacted from all the anger and frustration I was going through.
“Tell me the truth, damn it Matthew. Stop playing these games.”
“You don’t have to beat me,” Matthew said with a smile as he grabbed my hand and brought me over to the sitting area in our room. “I trust you. I want you to be involved in everything. I just don’t want you to feel like you are an accessory to anything I’ve done.”
It was the first honest statement I had felt like Matthew had made in a very long time. Accessory was a strong word and I started to believe my concerns that Matthew had been involved in the disappearance of the Vice President and President. I still didn’t think he actually murdered them, but certainly there were way too many coincidences for him not to be involved somehow.
“Matthew, since we first met
I knew you wanted to get into the White House. I knew you were motivated and I helped you. I let that slime ball George Masson touch me because it bettered our plan. How could you not trust me after all I’ve done?”
Matthew again tried to lean in and kiss me. His charismatic smile was hard to resist, but I finally felt like we were making progress and I didn’t want to stop talking now. I wanted my answers and for the first time in a very long time I felt like I was getting close to getting those answers.
“You said I ruined your plans. What were your plans?” Matthew asked as he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Didn’t you want to get married, have babies, live the happily ever after life?”
“No!” I said as I pushed him away. “You don’t know me at all if you actually think that’s what I wanted when I came to Washington.”
Matthew laughed at my reaction. It was like he purposely wanted to get me angry. I knew I had told him I didn’t want babies anytime soon. He was just trying to get me worked up. He smiled at me the angrier I got.
“You wanted to be a Senator,” Matthew said as he sat up straight and looked more seriously at me. “You wanted to work your way up through my office and possibly other offices until you decided to run for Senate yourself. I know you Kayla, trust me, I know you.”
“Yes, that’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to get married and have babies.”
“So let’s have you run for Senate.”
“Matthew don’t be stupid. I can’t do that as the First Lady. You took that away from me.”
“Stop. You need to focus. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you here. If being a Senator is your goal, then let’s make a plan. Nobody has taken anything away from you, darling. You’re young, you have your whole life ahead of you.”
Matthew grabbed a notebook from the table and flipped it open as he started to write. He had a serious expression on his face as he looked toward me to ask me some questions.