Raven: A political thriller

by J. J. Franck

  Fred turned and glanced down the full expanse of the lawn to the lake. There was a boat house to the left of the property and, judging by the size, there had to be a large inboard boat housed inside because the doctor didn’t look like the twelve-foot-fishing-boat type person.

  Don walked up the steps to the porch and tried the door, but it was locked and no way in.

  Fred turned to Don. “Now what? he asked.

  Don reached in the hanging pot and came up empty. It was then he noticed a rock in the rock garden that didn’t seem to fit in with the others. He bent down and picked it up and laughed to himself when he saw the hidden key in the carved-out rock. As he opened the door instinct took over. They both unholstered their guns in unison and then slowly walked through the door. They had the doctor’s permission to come out there, but neither was taking any chances given what had happened at Raven’s house earlier that day.

  Fred followed Don through the front room. It was on the other side of the porch and had a wall of glass facing the south side of the house overlooking the lake. It was a comfortable room, and Don guessed it was where they entertained a lot given the homey feel to the room.

  Don walked into the kitchen and stared at the dishes in the sink. The table in the far corner hadn’t been cleaned off. He walked over and held up the plates. The food appeared fairly fresh. Don set it down and then walked up to Fred.

  “Looks like he cleared out in a hurry,” Don said and then turned and stomped down the hall.

  When Don got to the first open door he stopped suddenly and turned back to Fred. He wasn’t going to get caught off-guard again.

  “Maybe the good doctor had something to do with it,” Fred added as he hurried to keep up with Don.

  “He said he wasn’t answering the phone.”

  “I’ll bet he finally got through.”

  Don slowly edged his way through the open door. When he was on the other side he glanced inside the room. He reached in and turned on the light and then walked into the bathroom. Once inside the room he noticed the bandages in the wastebasket, along with an empty bottle of Midol. Don picked up the bottle and showed it to Fred.

  “Our boy was with someone.”

  “This whole thing is getting complicated.”

  If the Senator was indeed with Raven at the cottage, why did they separate? It was clear the Senator was injured. It made more sense for the two to stay together. It bothered Don because their separating may have been what got her killed. If only, he thought to himself and then quickly put that thought out of his head, because it was driving him crazy to think about how differently things would have turned out.

  After checking out the four bedrooms, it was clear that two of them had been used recently. Don walked back into the front room, followed by Fred. He stared out at the dock at the bottom of the yard. His breathing was becoming labored. Don then turned and walked through the porch and out of the house. It was frustrating because they were always a few steps behind.

  * * *

  Don was glad to be back at the station house and, if all went well, he would be calling it a day shortly. He would not be letting Fred convince him to do the night on the town gig, no matter how much he wanted to bond. Slowly Don walked through the rows of desks that filled the large room. Once he got to his desk, he unholstered his gun and locked it up. Don then took the flash drive out of his pocket and walked over to Charlie, who was the go-to person when it came to computer issues in the department. Don turned to look at Fred locking up his gun too and then motioned him to come over. Don was glad to be settling in for the day. He was tired of all the chasing they had done and looked forward to going home in a little while.

  Don walked over to Charlie’s desk and handed him the flash drive.

  Charlie glanced up. “The Chief said you had something for me.”

  “So can you tell me if there is anything useful on this thing?” Don asked.

  Charlie stuck the flash drive into the computer slot and waited for it to load. Don just watched the screen intently. Once the menu came on the screen, Charlie maneuvered the cursor and started to pull up the documents, but nothing made sense. He turned and looked up at Don.

  “It’s all encrypted?” Charlie said.

  Don looked puzzled as he turned to Fred, who just shrugged his shoulders, and then he turned back to Charlie. “What do you mean?” he said.

  “Unless you give me the code, your flash drive is useless.”

  “Can’t you fix it?” Don asked.

  Fred was in back of Don shaking his head. He needed something to keep him awake. “I’m getting a cup of coffee, you two want one?” he turned to Don and asked.

  Don shook his head in frustration. Charlie just looked up and said, “Why not, we’re going to be here a while.

  Don turned back to Charlie and just stared at him for the longest time. He had hoped to call it a night shortly. One more cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt.

  “Whoever developed this, didn’t want anyone else viewing the information.”

  “That’s great,” Don snapped. He was about to kick the waste basket but then caught himself.

  Fred walked up with the three cups of coffee in hand. He handed Don one cup that he carried between the other two and then took a sip out of the one in his right hand while setting the other one on Charlie’s desk.

  “We still have the Senator,” Fred said.

  “We’ve been two steps behind the bad guys ever since this case started. Fat chance of finding him alive, unless he decides to turn himself in.”

  The Chief glanced up from his desk when he saw Don and Fred standing by Charlie. Then quickly the Chief got up and walked out of his office. He motioned to Don and Fred. The expression on the Chief’s face was not that of a happy camper.

  “My office,” he mouthed.

  Fred turned to Don and then quickly whispered, “Now what?”

  Don slowly took a sip of his coffee and then walked over to the Chief’s office, followed closely by Fred. This was like being called into the principal’s office. When the door was shut the Chief turned to them.

  “They found the Senator,” he said without emotion.

  “Found him? Where? How?” Don asked, not giving the Chief time to even respond.

  “Rest area off the Interstate. Some tourist reported a man passed out in one of the stalls.”

  “Is he dead?” Fred asked.

  The Chief stared at the two men standing in his office and then quickly answered, “Put it this way, he should be.”

  “Where is he now?” Don asked.

  “Mercy General, under a John Doe.”

  “This makes two attempts. What makes you think he’ll be safe?”

  “Because, I say he’s safe,” the Chief snapped and then pointed to the two. “Understand!”

  “Who do you have on it?” Don asked.

  “Hansen and Babcock.”

  “Good men.”

  The Chief walked around his desk and sat down. “Glad you approve.”

  Don took a gulp of the coffee and then set the cup on the desk. The Chief just glanced up at them.

  Don quickly asked before the Chief could speak up. “What do you want us to do now?

  “Solve this before more people die.”

  Fred stepped forward between the two. “Charlie is working on a flash drive the Senator had hidden in his briefcase.”

  “Does anyone else know he had it?”

  “No,” Don said.

  “Make sure Charlie knows to keep quiet about it. The fewer people who know what’s going on, the better we’ll get ahead of this in the end.”

  Don looked at the Chief and asked, “What are the Senator’s chances.”

  “He’s still in surgery. Won’t know for another few hours.”

  “We must have missed him by minutes.” Fred said, shaking his head in frustration.

  “Was there anybody else reported with him?” Don asked.

  “There was too much activity for anyone to
see anything. Besides you know the old adage,” he said and then paused while looking curiously at Don. “Do you have something?”

  “No, not really. Just a gut feeling.”

  Fred interrupted the two. “Don thinks he was with someone at Diamond Lake,” Fred said mockingly while looking at Don. “Hell, that pill box could have been left there three weeks ago.”

  Don glared at Fred for a moment and then snapped, “I hardly think Mrs. VanBuren needs Midol anymore!”

  “Who do you think was with him,” the Chief asked.

  “How in the hell should I know,” Don snapped and then quickly turned to Fred with a look that could kill.

  Fred nodded and then added, “I think Don is hoping that the daughter is still alive.”

  “Then whose body is in the coroner’s office?”

  “I don’t know,” Don said.

  The Chief laughed a moment. “Well, if believing she’s still alive helps you catch the criminal, then so be it. Just don’t screw this one up!”

  Don gulped the last of the coffee and then tossed the empty cup in the trash. He turned and glared at Fred but didn’t say anything more. He was clearly not happy at what Fred said to the Chief just then.

  Don walked over to his desk and sat down. He contemplated what to do next. It was useless to go to the hospital. As long as the Senator was in surgery he wouldn’t be able to talk. It would be a while after surgery before the Senator would be able to communicate to anyone.

  Chapter 13

  The day didn’t end soon enough for Don and Fred. Wanting to go out for a drink didn’t sit well with him either. Don had wished he took that stance last night and then maybe he would not feel like crap this evening. But he held his ground, and once the clock hit six o’clock he was history.

  Don sat at the kitchen table with a plate of food in front of him. He moved the pieces of meat with his fork but didn’t have the stomach to eat. Maggie was going out to her bridge club so she was not eating that night. She was busy at the sink starting to clean up the dishes so she could leave soon.

  Don held up a fork but it was not to eat the morsel of meat. He teased Bear, who was sitting on his hind legs begging Don for the piece of meat.

  Maggie, hearing Don coaxing the dog, turned to the two quickly. All she did was point an accusing finger at Don as she stared at him for the longest time.

  “Don’t you dare give him food from your plate,” she snapped.

  Don took the piece of pork chop off his fork and tossed it to Bear and then smiled up at Maggie.

  “He’s hungry.”

  “He’d eat his dog food if he couldn’t count on you giving him table scraps.”

  “I’m not really hungry anyway,” Don said.

  Maggie walked up to Don and tapped him lightly on the back of his head. Don winced in pain. He had all but forgotten the injury he sustained earlier in the day.

  “That didn’t hurt,” Maggie mocked.

  “It’s not that. I got hit in the head earlier today,” he said.

  Maggie suddenly showed concern. She ran her hand across the back of Don’s head and felt the goose egg that was there. Then she quickly got closer and examined the wound.

  “Oh my God, you’re hurt.”

  “It’s nothing, really.”

  “Did you have it checked out?”

  Don pushed her hand aside. “It wasn’t that bad.”

  Maggie didn’t want to argue with him just then. She walked back to the sink, shaking her head. “I don’t even know why I bother,” she snapped. “You don’t talk to me, half the time you don’t eat the food I cook, and you wonder why Jackie kicked you out?”

  “It’s not your food, Ma. And leave Jackie out of it.”

  “I’m just saying,” Maggie said and then Don cut her off.

  “It’s this case I’m on. Nothing is adding up, and it’s only getting worse with the body count growing.”

  “Your father always managed to keep the work at the station house.”

  “He had a desk job the last five years on the force.”

  Don thought about his father. He may have had a desk job the last five years, but he was still killed in the line of duty when a drugged up gang banger got a 'hold of an officer’s gun at the station house and opened fire, killing Don’s father point blank.

  Don slowly got up and took his plate to the sink. He put his arm around Maggie and then took the bone off the plate.

  Maggie turned to him with a look that told him she was serious. “Don’t you dare give him that bone. I don’t want grease all over the carpeting.”

  Don stopped what he was about to do and then tossed the bone in the wastebasket under the sink.

  “I love you, you know that,” Don said turning to her.

  “Maybe if you talked.”

  “Nothing to talk about.”

  “When your father was on the streets he always shared his cases with me. You’d be surprised how much insight I can add.”

  Don looked at Maggie and laughed. He remembered those years when his father was alive. Don would sit upstairs near the register and listen to them talk downstairs in their bedroom. He missed those times. And, most of all, he missed his father. Even though he wasn’t home much during Don’s growing-up years, when he was home he was the best father a boy could have. Family was important to him, but his time with the family was limited because of his job and all the crime in a big city.

  * * *

  Maggie sat on the couch with Bear’s head snuggled onto her lap. She stroked his bristly hair as the dog seemingly moaned in pleasure. Don just shrugged and laughed to himself, thinking he should have gotten Maggie a dog a long time ago. He took out his notes on the case so far and then looked over at Maggie.

  Rather than her reading them, he interpreted them from what happened last night when they viewed the Mustang to going to Raven’s house to all the interviews today. Specifically, the interview with the VanBurens. When all was said and done, Don finally turned to Maggie.

  “So, what are your thoughts so far? he asked.

  “And what you’re saying is, you don’t think her parents are showing enough remorse over her death?” Maggie looked up at Don as she stopped petting Bear and then looked puzzled for a moment.

  “You put it that way, I feel like a real heel for thinking it.”

  “From what you said about the mother’s phone messages, you’d expect she would be hysterical over her death, unless...” Maggie stopped talking and just thought for a moment.

  “You’re not thinking what I’m thinking.” A bit of excitement entered Don’s voice.

  Maggie just smiled. “I’m a mother. We have this sense when things aren’t right.”

  Don remembered his youth. He always had a hard time hiding the truth from his mother. Whenever he got into trouble, she seemed to have a sixth sense about it and knew in advance. Don attributed it to everyone in the neighborhood having their sights on him. They kept him on the straight and narrow because no sooner than he would get home after one of his little escapades, his mother was hauling him out on the carpet and reading him the riot act.

  “I thought the neighbors had a lot to do with that.”

  “Never you mind how I was always on top of things. The fact remained, I could always tell when things weren’t right, when you were in trouble.”

  “You ever going to fess up on who always squealed on me?” Don asked.

  Maggie motioned for him to be silent a moment and then she shoved Bear off her lap and stood up and started pacing the floor. She finally stopped and turned to Don.

  “This is a mother talking—who knows nothing, mind you,” she said as she pointed at Don as a warning not to make a comeback remark.

  “If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t be presentable for weeks, let alone talk to the police without breaking down the day after your death. Look how I was when your dad died.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it. You had me worried for weeks.”

  “What does
Fred think about all of this?”

  “He thinks I’m crazy.”

  “Can you talk to her parents, get them to trust you?”

  “No. They trust their daughter. Whoever shot Senator Maxfield means business.”

  Don glanced at his mother. It was late, and he was looking forward to retiring early for the night, but for some reason he knew sleep would elude him until he was able to put this to rest. He turned to Maggie with a look of determination.

  “Don’t wait up for me. I’m going to stake out her place.”

  “What if Fred calls?”

  “Tell him I went to Jackie’s. That should keep him off my back for a while?”

  “And what if Jackie calls?”

  “Trust me, that’s the last person who’ll be looking for me tonight.”

  Don walked over to Maggie and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Maggie just pointed a finger at him as he walked out of the room. “You be careful,” she said.

  Don waved his right hand as he walked out the door and didn’t say another word. It was still fairly early. What Maggie said made sense. He only hoped he wasn’t wasting his efforts. Time would tell, and if nothing happened by midnight he could always head for home and still catch some shut-eye. But at least he would have made the effort to put an end to this.

  Chapter 14

  It took a good hour’s drive to get to Raven’s house in Falls Church. The neighborhood was basically shut down for the night. There were only a few houses who had a light on in a back room. Don guessed there were a few diehard late-night news junkies. He pulled up to Raven’s house, but didn’t pull into her driveway. Instead he pulled up to the house next door, careful to turn off his lights first so as not to wake anyone up. The full moon was an asset for him, as it was easy to make his way across the lawn back to Raven’s house.

  Once he got to her porch he lifted up the mat and was thankful he’d put the key back before the crime lab came in to dust the place. As he opened the front door he didn’t have to turn on any of the lights as moonbeams seemed to dance across the floor from the tree outside the front window. The dog barking in the distance didn’t trouble him at first as he settled into the living room and stared up at the portrait above the mantel. Even in the dark of night he could make out her silhouette and the lines of her face. He knew she was watching him even in the dark of night. He didn’t know if it was truly the case that drew him to this house or being able to look at the portrait once more.