The Innocent (Will Robie 1)

Blue Man held up pages from the file. “He didn’t have to. I could read the arrest and conviction reports for myself. All small-time, petty stuff. All quite stupid.”

Julie stood and said defiantly, “You didn’t know my dad, so you have no right to judge him.”

Blue Man glanced at Robie. “She always this shy and unassuming?”

Robie didn’t answer.

“And none of that happened while he was in the Army,” added Julie. “Or he wouldn’t have left just for medical reasons. They would have kicked him out or arrested him. So why did they discharge him?”

“As I said, cognitive issues.”

“But not related to drugs. So it had to be something else,” countered Julie. “And you read from the file. It said that he’d been exposed to this DU stuff and it had adversely affected him. That’s what you said.”

“Those were his claims. They were never substantiated. But I do see your point. I guess the Army thought there might be some validity to his claims.”

“Did they run any tests on him?” asked Robie. “To

see what the cognitive issues stemmed from?”

“No.”

“They probably didn’t want to prove that this DU crap messed with his mind,” said Julie, glowering at Blue Man.

He said, “When you graduate from college, why don’t you apply for a position in the intelligence field? From what I’ve seen you might have what it takes to be a first-rate field agent.”

“I think I’ll pass on that. I’d prefer to use my life in a more positive way.”

Robie pulled out the glossy of Rick Wind showing the tattoo. “This is from Rick Wind’s autopsy. Julie confirmed that her dad had a tat just like this one.”

Blue Man looked at her. “Did they know each other?”

“I’ve never heard of Rick Wind and I’ve certainly never seen him before,” said Julie.

Robie said, “Can we find out if they ever served together?”

Blue Man rose, went to a phone on a credenza, and made a call, while Julie looked down at the tattoo and Robie looked at her.

“You okay?” he asked in quiet voice.

“Should I be okay?” she snapped.

Blue Man returned to them. “We will have an answer shortly.”

“Anything on this eyewitness?” asked Robie.

“Michele Cohen? Not yet. We’re checking. She’s definitely in FBI custody as we speak.”

“If she can ID me and Julie?”

“That would be slightly more than catastrophic,” Blue Man said.

“Maybe she’s lying,” said Julie.

“Maybe she is,” agreed Robie. “But if so we need to find out her motivation.”

Blue Man said, “How will you handle this with Vance? You can’t keep ducking her.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

But right now Robie had no idea what.

His phone buzzed. He looked at the screen.

“Super agent Vance?” said Julie.

Robie nodded. The text message was clear: Come now or I’ll come and get you wherever the hell you are.

He phoned her back. “Look, I told you I was in a meeting,” he said.

“Cohen gave us enough to get a BOLO on the two people from the bus.”

“That’s great.”

“Might be a father and his daughter.”

“Okay,” said Robie. “You said the girl was a teenager?”

“Right. Light-skinned. The guy was much darker, according to Cohen.”

“Come again?” said Robie.

“African American, Robie. Can you get your butt over here?”

“I’m on my way.”

CHAPTER

62

ROBIE SAT ACROSS from Michele Cohen. She was in her late thirties, with soft dark hair coiled around a long neck. She was petite, about five-two, with a narrow build. She seemed nervous, and Robie would have been surprised if she weren’t.

Vance sat next to Robie in the small conference room at WFO. She was making some notes on her electronic tablet while Robie stared across at Cohen. She had told him her story in great detail. Coming out of a nearby hotel seconds before the explosion occurred. Seeing the man and young woman get off. Being stunned and blown back against a wall when the bomb had detonated. Running down an alley to her car. Driving home to the suburbs where her cuckolded hubby was waiting for her and accepted her story of forgetting the time over dinner with a girlfriend.

The hotel had confirmed that Cohen had come in at the time she said she had. A man was also with her. His story had checked out. He was unemployed and had been for a year. There was no reason why either he or Cohen would lie about this.

And yet of course Robie knew they had lied.

She had given detailed descriptions of two black people getting off that bus before it had exploded, and Robie knew that had never happened. But he couldn’t tell Vance that without revealing his own secret.

These people are playing me and Cohen is part of it. They’ve got me screwed between two packs of Semtex and I have no wiggle room. They’re counting on that. They want to make me sweat and they’re doing a good job.

He wondered if Cohen knew that he was the man who had gotten off the bus. Would she have been told that? Or did she simply have her part to play? Robie wondered where they had found her. Maybe she was a former actress who needed some fast money, and that was her limited role in all this. Yet she knew she was lying to the cops. To the FBI. That would not be done lightly. She had to be very sure that the truth would not come out. And there had to be a very large incentive for her to do this.

Well, if they want to play with me, then I’ll smack some of it back at them and see how they like it.

“Have you ever cheated on your husband before, Ms. Cohen?” he asked.

This question got a stare from Vance, but he ignored it.

Cohen pressed a tissue to her right eye and said, “Twice before. I’m not proud of it, but I also can’t change it.”

“Have you told your husband the truth?”

This time Vance didn’t simply stare. “What does that have to do with anything, Robie?” she exclaimed.

Again, he ignored her. “Could you pick the guy and teen out of a lineup?”

“I’m not sure. There was so much going on. And their backs were to me for some of the time.”

“But you’re sure they were African American? Even though it was dark, there was distance between you and them, and as you said, there was a lot of stuff going on?”

“They were definitely black people,” she said. “I’m not wrong about that.”

“But initially you didn’t go to the police. You only did days later.”

“I explained that to Agent Vance. I was worried about being exposed.”

“You mean your affair being exposed?” amended Robie.

“Yes. I love my husband.”

“Right. And I’m sure you’re very sorry for being an adulteress, but your hubby probably doesn’t understand you,” said Robie.

This comment drew another hard look from Vance.

“I’m not proud of what I did,” Cohen said stiffly. “But I did come forward. I’m trying to help your investigation.”

“And it’s much appreciated,” cut in Vance, with another incredulous glance at Robie. “And despite my partner’s comments he appreciates it too.”

“Will that be all? Can I go now?” asked Cohen.