Trail of Destruction

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Christine sat watching the presidential debate in her apartment. Her living room was cluttered with whiteboards, file folders, crime scene photos, and hundreds of pages of scribbled notes, all relating to the Newcomb case. She kept switching her attention back and forth between the television and the case. She wasn't that into politics, but since the start of her investigation, she had tried to immerse herself in Newcomb's world.

She had already watched the candidate give a number of speeches and had been impressed with how poised he seemed. So tonight's performance was a big surprise. Instead of his usual Teflon-coated act, Newcomb seemed completely ill at ease. He was stumbling through his answers as though he was unprepared and lacked even a basic knowledge on some topics.

As the debate went on, Christine found herself turning her full attention to the spectacle. Whereas she had planned to vote for Newcomb, she was starting to wonder whether he was qualified to be president. It occurred to her that she could articulate a better response to some of the questions than he was giving. Even at the conclusion, she could still see the man's discomfort in the gleam of sweat covering his pinched face.

As she listened to the media pundits tear apart his performance, Christine realized that she wasn't the only one who thought he was off tonight. The talking heads were even questioning whether the two assassination attempts had rattled the candidate to the point that he was uncomfortable speaking in front of a crowd.

When the networks switched back to their regularly scheduled programs, Christine turned off her television. She leaned back on her sofa and closed her eyes, her mind wandering free, recalling snippets of interviews she had conducted during the last few weeks of the investigation. She keyed in on her talk with Amy's best friend, Tina.

Why had Amy been so secretive about the man she was dating? Tina had assumed he was someone on the campaign staff. But she had told the agent that Amy wouldn't even use the man's first name. Could he have been someone that Tina would have known? Someone high profile - maybe even the candidate himself?

Brad Newcomb had dismissed the rumors of Amy's crush on him. He had sworn his loyalty to his wife, but how many politicians had made that same claim and then had their indiscretions revealed. If Amy had been involved with the candidate and then gotten pregnant, wouldn't that be the mother of all motives?

Christine's eyes flew open and she launched herself from the sofa. Her hands scrabbled through the file folders until she located the one she was searching for. It had her notes from her interview with Terry Brinson. When she had questioned the campaign manager about Amy's pregnancy, he had denied knowing about it. And yet, she had made a note to herself that she thought he was lying.

If Brinson did know about the baby, why not admit it? And if he did know, how did he find out? He had said that he wasn't very close to Amy, so it was unlikely that she would have taken him into her confidence. But if Amy didn't tell him, then who did? The baby's father, most likely, which brought her right back to Newcomb - Brinson's best friend.

It made perfect sense that the campaign manager would cover for the candidate. But would he go even further than that? If Brinson knew that Amy was pregnant with Newcomb's child, how far would he go to protect his friend?

As the agent reviewed her notes, she noted that Brinson had been in the military. With growing excitement, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed her go-to analyst at the bureau.

"Do you have access to military records?"

"Depends if they're classified. Tell me what you're looking for and we'll see."

Christine gave Brinson's name to the analyst. There was more than one Terry Brinson in the system, but working with his age and probable dates of service, they were able to pinpoint the right one. There was silence on the phone as the analyst did a quick read-through of the man's file. When he finally spoke, Christine realized she had been holding her breath.

"I'll email you the whole file. Looks like he was in Special Forces. He was a sniper. Is that helpful?"