First Family (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 4)

“Don’t keep us in suspense,” joked Sean.

“The water the person drank. That’s reflected in the hair isotope too. The lab narrowed it down to a three-state area.”

“Which three?”

“Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.”

“That dovetails with the mail triangulation,” noted Michelle.

“Three across,” said Sean softly, staring at his drink. “Three states right in a row.”

“Apparently both the rain and drinking water down there has some pretty distinctive markers,” said Waters. “And it’s been mapped pretty comprehensively over the years. That’s why the lab feels very confident about the findings.”

“Could they tell if it was well or city water?”

“Well,” said Waters. “No commercial chlorine or other purifiers like that.”

“So that means rural?”

“Possibly, although there’re certainly some subdivisions on well water down there. I used to live in one of them before I got assigned here.”

“And with diets high in unprocessed animal fat and veggies?” exclaimed Sean.

“Okay, quite possibly rural. But with all that, it’s still a big area to focus on.”

“But those states don’t square with the Koasati piece,” said Michelle. “Texas or Louisiana.”

“But the Koasati are from Alabama originally,” pointed out Sean.

“Originally, yeah, but not now.”

“Can you still run down the Koasati angle?” he asked Waters.

Waters nodded. “I’ll have agents down there get started immediately on it.” He studied them both. “So is that all you know?”

Sean finished his drink and rose. “It’s all we know that’s worth sharing.”

They left Waters to his second beer and walked back to the SUV. Along the way Michelle’s phone buzzed. She looked at the screen.

“Who is it?” asked Sean.

“My caller ID says a Tammy Fitzgerald.”

“Who’s she?”

“Somebody I don’t know.”

She put the phone away and said, “You didn’t mention the letter the First Lady received to our little FBI chum.”

“That’s right, I didn’t.”

“But why not?”

“Because I’m willing to let her come to her senses before I throw her to the Feds on an obstruction charge. That’ll probably screw the election for the president too. And he’s done a good job.”

“Are you kidding me? Who the hell cares what it does politically to the First Couple? What if it costs Willa her life? Isn’t that what you care about, getting Willa back? Or was that a load of shit you were shoveling Waters back there?”

Sean stopped walking and turned on her. “Michelle, I’m doing the best I can here, okay? It’s complicated. It’s damn complicated.”