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Chapter Eleven
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January 2022
Tuesday — 11:43pm
Hehadnothingtoworry about.
Seven men had already been found guilty of murdering those women. There was no evidence to the contrary.
He'd made sure of it.
There had been some rumblings for a while now that General Graham Elliott had actually gone to the extreme of luring Brooklyn Sloane away from the FBI in order to investigate his daughter's murder. One where the court had already tried and convicted another man for the crime.
A part of him relished that General Graham Elliott couldn't move on with his life. The bonus, of course, had been his wife's suicide. Not even he could have planned something so perfect. It was the crescendo to his masterpiece.
These high-ranking officers walked around as if they had the world in their hands, and that was so far from the truth. General James Snyder was proof of that, and he'd suffered deeply when he had to lay his daughter six feet under.
There was no better reward than making those suffer who deserved it so dearly, and that included the men who'd been convicted of his victims' murders.
None of them were truly innocent.
Not one.
He thought back over every detail of every murder that he'd meticulously planned to the last footnote, and nothing came to mind that would cause the various NCIS supervisory agents to reopen their cases. How could they? They would only place their own closure rate at risk.
There was no need to worry.
None.
He smiled to himself as he stared out over D.C., taking a sip of the expensive whiskey that he'd purchased for himself in a self-congratulatory gesture. It was rare that he splurged on such an extravagant luxury, and it gave him confidence for the future.
There was nothing wrong with a contingency plan, was there?
As a matter of fact, one was already forming in the back of his mind, and he congratulated himself of the perfect set-up that would refocus the investigation on where it belonged...squarely on someone else.
Chapter Twelve
Brooklyn Sloane
January 2022
Wednesday — 1:12pm
Brookpulleduptherelatively long driveway of General James Snyder's modest suburban home. While the residence was located nearby an upscale neighborhood maybe forty minutes from Quantico, the Snyders had purchased sixty acres of farmland off a secondary rural route. They'd built a sprawling ranch style house, along with a large barn to the right of the main house with a mammoth Christmas wreath hanging on the door of the loft. The barn appeared to be original to the property, though it had obviously been updated with a modern metal roof and what appeared to be a fresh coat of paint on the old, weathered boards.
Technically, all the holiday decorations around the property were still in place. Garland was strung along the bannister of the porch, and strands of colored lights could be seen lining the edge of the roof. Reindeer were positioned strategically in front of a sleigh filled with various sized presents. The festive scene was probably very beautiful at night, especially since the yard was currently covered in a blanket of snow.
She slowly brought the car to a stop, shoving the gearshift into park. She'd borrowed Sylvie's vehicle, not trusting that an errant reporter might attempt to follow her from the city. The last thing she or S&E Investigations needed was more press coverage hindering their investigation. Sylvie hadn't inquired how Brook had known that General Snyder would be at his residence, and she hadn't offered it up.
Unfortunately, there were three other vehicles in the driveway, along with a car and a pickup truck parked in the garage. Whoever had pulled into the attached garage last had left the door open. Brook surmised that she might have possibly picked the worst moment to pay the Snyders a visit.
General Snyder was a few years away from retirement, but he'd taken some leave around the holidays. He was due back next week, and word had it that he was being issued his unit's deployment orders first thing Monday morning.
As Brook scanned the various vehicles and residence, she noticed the first video camera installed above the garage at the peak. General Snyder no doubt already knew about her arrival, so it was pointless to try and leave without at least attempting to get some answers to her questions. She just hadn't counted on telling him that she'd gotten his daughter's case reopened in front of others. After speaking with NCIS Agent Clemmons earlier today, he'd been eager to join forces with S&E Investigations. As a matter of fact, he had already sent over his own personal files covering the case.
Brook turned off the engine and palmed the keys. Picking up her purse off the passenger seat, she finally opened the driver's side door and stepped out into the crisp air. The sky was overcast, so there were no rays of warmth to provide respite from the cold. She tightened the belt on her dress coat and secured the strap of her purse over her shoulder before closing the door. With a press of a button on the fob, she locked the car up tight as she walked toward the front door.
