Power Play (FBI Thriller 18)

“You want us to think you were firing only at me last night?”

“I didn’t shoot at you!”

“You’re a smart guy, Mr. Abbott. You’ve got to see it’s the way to go. If you’re cleared, you may never have to see me again.”

Day Abbott said, “I am exercising my rights, nothing more. I don’t know anything about my father’s Smith and Wesson. You have no basis for a warrant of any kind. You have absolutely no reason to be here now. I want no more of your harassment. Leave.”

Davis continued holding out the Q-tip.

Day splayed his big hands on his desktop, leaned toward them again. He said, his voice low and vicious, “You’re nothing but a yahoo, Sullivan, brandishing a gun. Perry won’t fall for you. You’re too low-class. You’re spitting in the wind. Get out of here and take pretty boy with you.”

Davis said to Griffin, “Well, truth be told, I wouldn’t want him for my lobbyist.” He saluted Day Abbott and strolled to the door, Griffin on his heels. They heard Day Abbott’s thick, fast breathing behind them. Davis opened the door, turned back. “This could be your best chance to get back with Perry quickly. Otherwise, we might have to ask you down to the Hoover Building later for more questions.”

Day Abbott shook his head, gave him a disgusted look. “You know what, Sullivan? You’re a liar; I’m not. Give me the swab. Believe me, you and I will never talk again without my lawyer present.”

Davis handed him the swab, watched him rub it on the inside of his cheek. He carefully slid it back into the bag.

“Thank you. Won’t take very long to check this out,” Davis said. “Hey, it didn’t hurt, did it?”

Day stood behind his desk, arms crossed tight over his chest, holding himself still. That was the last look Davis got of the man who hated him now, and who happened to be the son of the secretary of state. Savich would not be pleased. Davis closed the door behind him, with no good-byes.

Davis stood against the mirrored elevator wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “All right, Griffin, what do you think of Mr. Day Abbott?”

Griffin said slowly, “Other than he’s so jealous of you he’d like to drive a stake through your heart, he’s probably a decent guy.

“I think he wants this over, and that’s why he gave us the cheek swab. You know as well as I do he had nothing to do with the shooting last night. You never thought he did. I’m glad it didn’t get physical. Even so, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tells his mama two idiot agents were all over him.”

Davis said, “Unfortunately, I agree with you. Hey, Abbott nailed you, though, pretty boy. Will I see you modeling underwear in a magazine someday?”

Griffin laughed. “Nope, I’d make a crappy model. Except maybe for Anna.”

Criminal Apprehension Unit

Monday afternoon

Savich was surprised it took his boss Jimmy Maitland several hours to call him. He put the delay down to the secretary of state being in transit from New York that morning. Davis and Griffin had filled him in on their interview with Day Abbott, starting with the good news about getting a DNA sample and an alibi from him for the previous night, which they could check on. But neither of them would quite meet his eyes. The only other good news Savich heard was that Davis hadn’t slugged him. Savich asked him, “So he insulted you? How?”

“Let’s see, he called me a low-class slug, a liar hiding behind his shield, basically a loser, that sort of thing,” Davis said.

“So you lost control of the situation. Tell me that isn’t what you had in mind all along, is it, Davis?”

“No,” Davis said. “Yeah, it was a mistake.”

Savich sat down, waved to the chairs in front of his desk. “Tell me about it.”

Maitland said now to Savich over the phone, “Director Comey relayed a call from the secretary of state. She gave him an earful about Agents Sullivan and Hammersmith doing a number on her son this morning while they were interviewing him, said they were completely inappropriate. This is, alas, the secretary of state we’re talking about here, Savich, a woman with so much mojo she gets our director on the phone and reams him out. Please tell me Madame Secretary has been misinformed.”

“Sir, Sullivan and Hammersmith interviewed him about the attack on Perry Black’s home last night, entirely appropriate, since Day Abbott is closely involved with her. I’m told it was Abbott who started with the insults. You know Davis, though, he’s not very good at lying still while getting kicked, but he didn’t let things get that far out of hand. We had Griffin along as a witness.”