Beth cut him off. “I’ve played the national-security-trumps-everything game with the best of them. What I don’t appreciate is being completely cut out of the loop on a homicide committed in my own backyard. I earned my badge and my creds, and I don’t like getting blindsided by assholes with shields from DMV.”
Reiger said, “We think Meldon was killed by domestic terrorists.”
Beth leaned forward. “Domestic terrorists? What’s the connection to him?”
“Case he was working. Remember the guy who tried to blow up the Air and Space Museum almost a year ago using four pounds of Semtex and a cell phone detonator?”
“Roman Naylor? How could I forget? It was one of my officers on K-9 duty that nailed the son of a bitch before he could kill a thousand kids from the Midwest who were there on a summer tour.”
“Meldon was prosecuting the case. Naylor has groups of supporters in various states. United Sons of the American Patriot was one of them. They’ve been linked to three bombings of federal property in the last two years. We think that was just the warm-up act for something that will rival 9/11. A bunch of these homegrown whack jobs went underground after we and ATF came after them on a joint op. We suspect that three of Naylor’s cronies were in D.C. last week to participate in a protest in front of the federal courthouse where he’s being tried, and now they’ve disappeared.”
“Wait a minute, Mona told me she’d reviewed Meldon’s caseload and there was nothing he was working on that would account for his murder.”
“And you trust Danforth?”
“Not really.”
“Good, because that lady would lie to her grandmother on the woman’s deathbed if she thought it would help her career. The fact is, we put Danforth on a short leash and suggested that she pass off the baton to you. She really didn’t seem to mind. Lady doesn’t like getting her nails dirty.”
“Understood, but why did you suggest it?”
“Because we’d much rather deal with you than her.”
“So you really think Naylor’s cronies killed Meldon?”
“Doesn’t take a big stretch.”
“How did he die?’
Hope passed across a single sheet of paper. “This is a summary of the autopsy results. Contact gunshot wound to the back of the head, execution style. We got the slug. It was a .40-caliber round. But we’ll never find a gun to match it to. His ride was found in western Maryland with only Meldon’s prints on it. No trace at the crime scene. Neat and clean and the killers long gone.”
“But if these guys were in D.C. how come I didn’t get notice? How come Meldon didn’t get protection?”
“We said suspected, not confirmed. And if it’s the three we think it is, we didn’t have anything to hold them on anyway except speculation and gut instincts, and the courts don’t look too favorably on that. But we believe that they’ve been tasked to do the next Oklahoma City.”
“If so, why risk it all by killing Meldon?”
“They were tight with Naylor. So it could simply be personal revenge. Now that the guy’s dead the trial will be delayed.”
“Any leads on these three?”
“Not yet. But we’re running it down.”
“And will I be in the loop when you do?”
“We can ask, Chief, that’s all we can do.”
“So by not really telling me anything, why did you call the meeting?”
“We told you our theory on who killed Meldon. And we gave you as much hard info as we could. Let me tell you, it was hell even getting that autopsy summary released.”
“If you give me pictures of the three suspects, four thousand police officers can start looking for them.”
“I highly doubt they hung around town after doing Meldon.”
“Surprise, I also know police chiefs in other cities. And I even have some Feds I call friends.”
“We have all that covered.”
“So, again, why did you want to see me?”
“Professional courtesy,” said Reiger. He paused. “And a high-up buddy of yours asked us to fill you in.”
It didn’t take Beth long to come up with the answer. “Sam Donnelly?”
“He’s not the kind of guy who likes to take credit for stuff, but I won’t deny it.”
“I owe him.”
“I’m sure he’ll call in a favor from you one day. And I know this sounds unfair as hell, but if you get any leads we’d appreciate a heads-up.”
Beth opened the door. “You’ll get it.”
“That easy?” said Reiger.
“Unlike you guys, I just want to catch the bandits. I don’t really give a damn what agency gets the