She stared at him. “What’s going on, Martin?”

Holtzmann’s head spun. What could he tell her? Jesus.

“Come with me,” Holtzmann told his wife.

He dragged her down to the basement, to the laundry room, past it, to the room with the old furnace, the room with no windows a laser could be bounced off of, the room least likely to be bugged. He closed the door behind them, and then leaned close to her, and whispered.

“Anne. Who had the most to gain from the assassination attempt? Who benefited?”

She frowned at him. “What the hell are you talking about?” Her voice was angry, impatient.

“The President, Anne.” He glared back at her. “You said it yourself! The PLF couldn’t shoot straight! And Stockton was losing!”

Anne scoffed. “You’re paranoid, Martin. You’re worse than Claire! Those were Stockton’s friends that died. Cabinet members.”

He took her by the shoulders. “Think, Anne! Think about it!” He needed to make her understand.

“You think, Martin. Didn’t the President overrule Barnes on killing those kids? Would a man who’d kill his own friends do that?”

Holtzmann stared at her.

“And why the bomb in Chicago? He was already up in the polls. So that wasn’t him.”

Holtzmann kept staring at her, a terrible feeling of disorientation washing over him. He’d been so sure… It made so much sense.

“And you’re running around trying to dig into this conspiracy? You need help, Martin. You need a psychiatrist. Get yourself together!”

Holtzmann sat in his office after Anne had gone to bed.

Something kept tickling at his head. Something she’d said. You’re worse than Claire!

Claire. Warren Becker’s wife. And what had Warren said? It had been the Spears kidnapping. The one the files blamed on the PLF.

Mexican cartels, Warren Becker had told him once over drinks.

Cartels. Not the PLF. Cartels.

So why did the official record read differently?

It was thin, very thin. But if the PLF wasn’t what everyone thought… Perhaps that one thread…

A notification chimed in his mind. From the Nexus board. A new message.

[Files look good. Get your friend to the ER at Vincent Gray tomorrow night, between 10pm and 4am. We’ll provide appropriate care.]

Holtzmann stared at the message, then deleted it.

Vincent Gray was the closest hospital to DHS Headquarters. Now all he needed was to get Rangan Shankari there.

Chapter 58: Alone Together

58

ALONE TOGETHER

Tuesday October 30th