Ultimately, I think Riordan recognized her lack of options, and she agreed to pull Vance in for questioning.

When Doshi insisted the interview take place off site, the FBI had no objection to the demand. They quickly settled on the Eisenhower Building.

“This is Cross again,” I said into the speaker. “Can I assume Dan Cormorant is already on duty at the Kennedy Center?”

“Why do you want to know?” It was Agent Silo Ridge this time; I hadn’t even realized he was on the line.

“Cormorant’s been my Secret Service contact on Zeus,” I said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t have information we could use.”

The full truth was that I had some questions of my own for Cormorant, and I wanted to see him face-to-face before I said anything I might regret later.

They never answered me, but it didn’t matter. I’d find out soon enough. I could see the Kennedy Center looming straight ahead.

Chapter 110

THERE HAD PROBABLY never been a takedown like this one, not in the annals of police history, definitely not in my police history.

We convened on the Kennedy Center’s River Terrace just outside the Grand Foyer, where the party was in full swing. I’d already seen a handful of movie stars floating by the sixty-foot-high windows, but as yet there was no sign of Teddy Vance. No sign of Zeus?

Luke Hamel from the Bureau had brought another senior agent with him, James Walsh, whom I didn’t recognize and didn’t think I’d met before. My old boss Ron Burns was keeping his distance on this one, but he’d also made sure there was a place here for me and Mahoney. I’d return the favor someday if I could.

From Secret Service, we had Riordan and Ridge in addition to the operational team already on site. That meant agents in tuxes paired up on all the doors, a heavy MPD presence down at street level, and a chopper and EMTs on standby, all standard for any presidential event.

Other than the White House, there wasn’t a more secure building in Washington tonight. I could feel the tension spreading everywhere in my body.

Once we were in place, Riordan put the center on a temporary “crash condition”—no one in or out until the First Gentleman was away. Next, traffic was routed away from the building. A lot of drivers were about to be seriously inconvenienced, but that was the least of our problems right now.

The First Gentleman was in all probability a murderer.

Less than a minute passed before Dan Cormorant stepped outside in his tux. He reported straight to Angela Riordan and ignored everyone else.

“Ma’am. We’re good to go inside.”

“All right. I want a nice, quiet exit on this, understood, Dan? Montana will come out this way, and we’ll proceed to the EEOB.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He caught me staring at him as he turned to go. I didn’t know how much Cormorant had already been told, but my presence spoke for itself. He’d have to know what this was about. Still, I couldn’t get a read on him, and he was already headed back in, radioing orders into his cuff.