Trail of Destruction

Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Brad sat in his hotel room, nursing a nightcap. It had been a good day. In spite of his weak performance during the presidential debate, thanks to the low ratings for the event, he had only slipped a couple of points in the latest polls. Election Day was less than two weeks away, and he was still well ahead of Ellington. He felt as relaxed as he had been for a long time. He could hear Carolyn singing in the shower, and he was looking forward to her joining him.

When his cell phone rang and he saw the caller was Terry, he almost ignored the interruption. His friend had been acting more strangely each day. Brad was wondering whether he should have taken Ryan and Carolyn's advice and sent him home for a break, but it was too close to the end of the campaign. He couldn't lose his manager in the home stretch, and he still thought he was better off keeping Terry close by so he could keep an eye on him.

After the election, he planned to ship Terry off to the Caribbean for an extended stay, away from the prying eyes of both the FBI and the media. With luck, once Brad was elected president, Terry would see that killing Amy had been the right thing to do. After all, it was Terry who had said he could kill her for the greater good. Brad couldn't understand why Terry had taken her death so hard. Maybe a couple of months of sun and sand, knowing he was slated to be Brad's chief-of-staff, would help Terry put things back into perspective.

Brad was about to hit the End button to send the call to voicemail, when he sighed and pressed Talk - might as well deal with whatever it is. "Hey, Terry. How are you?"

Terry's words came out in a rush. "Not good. We have to talk."

"All right, why don't you swing by in the morning?"

"No, we have to talk now."

"Shit, Terry. I was just about to go to bed. Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

Terry's voice went up an octave. "No, it can't. That FBI agent was here asking questions again. I think she's on to us."

"What?" Brad felt a trickle of dread as he gripped the phone hard, his knuckles turning white. "What did she say? Wait! Don't say anything over the phone."

"I'll come see you."

"No, Carolyn's here. We'll have to meet in your room. I'll be right there."

Brad hung up before Terry could respond. On his way out, he stopped in the bathroom and told Carolyn he had to go see Terry for a few minutes to go over some details about tomorrow's schedule. When he walked out of his room, his two Secret Service agents looked up in surprise.

"We thought you were in for the evening, sir."

"I have to meet Terry in his room. Something's come up, and I don't want to disturb Mrs. Newcomb."

The three men walked down the hall and took the elevator up a floor. The agents stepped out first, looked down the empty hallway, and then motioned for Brad to follow them. When they got to Terry's room, one of the agents went in first to do a quick search while the other waited with Brad at the doorway. After the agents verified that Terry was alone, Brad entered the room and shut the door behind him while the agents stationed themselves outside.

The candidate looked at Terry and held his finger to his lips, then motioned to the far side of the room where there was a desk and chair sitting by the window. He walked over and closed the drapes before turning to his friend who had followed at his heels. "These rooms are pretty soundproof, but we need to keep our voices down just in case." He waited until Terry nodded his acknowledgement. "Now why don't you fill me in?"

"Like I said, I think that FBI agent's on to us," Terry hissed, his eyes wild. "I think she knows you were the one who knocked up Amy."

"That's bullshit. There's no way she could know that. All she has to go on are some rumors. There are no voicemails or emails - nothing that could prove an affair."

"What about DNA? You know how sophisticated they are these days. What if they have DNA linking you to the baby?"

"They don't. My DNA's not in any system, and I'm certainly not going to volunteer to give it to them. And they sure as hell don't have enough evidence to get a warrant for it."

Brad was trying to keep his voice calm, but his attempt was having no effect on Terry. His friend's face was drenched in sweat, and his hands shook.

"Well, they sure as hell have my DNA from when I was in the military. I thought I wiped down my rifle good, but what if they found something? That agent was all over me about my sniper training."

"If they had any evidence, they would have charged you." Brad reached out and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You need to relax. Maybe get away for a few days."

Terry brushed Brad's hand away, his voice getting louder. "Are you not fucking listening to me? She knows I did it. I can't fucking take this anymore!" He turned and slammed his fist against the wall.

Brad listened to his friend losing control and knew Terry could destroy his chances for election. He panicked - his throat closed up; he couldn't breathe. He had to stop him! He grabbed a paperweight from the desk and smashed it against Terry's skull. There was a moment when everything seemed suspended in time - Brad's arm raised, Terry's head tilting to the side, an eerie silence filling the room, and then Terry fell to the ground with a quiet thud as his body hit the floor. Brad looked down and saw blood oozing from a small gash on the back of Terry's head. His friend lay still. Brad dropped to his knees and felt for a pulse. There was none.