Chapter Eighteen
Shae
Two weeks after Edwin Markos’ arrest, he conveniently dies in his sleep while in custody.
At least, that’s the cause of death Leo informs me will go on the man’s death certificate.
He was, after all, an old man. And he was alone in an isolation cell. He just…didn’t wake up the next morning.
I don’t want to know any more than that, because plausible deniability,yo.
No, seriously, I don’t want to know.
But if anyone is ever charged in the bastard’s death, the last thing I’ll do before I leave office at the end of my second term is issue a full goddamned pardon for the person, and fuck the optics, if it’s charged as a federal crime.
What’ll they do, fire me?
Ha!
I hear about this development fifteen minutes after it’s confirmed a little after fivea.m., long before the public is notified. I’m in the workout room upstairs on the third floor in the residence when Leo comes upstairs and notifies me. I hurry to wake Kev and Chris and tell them, where I’d left them sleeping in and comfortably snuggled against each other in bed in the master bedroom.
Yes, that’s one nice thing about not worrying about reelection—I’ve hit the “I don’t give ashit” portion of the festivities when it comes to staff seeing Kev coming and going from our bedroom.
Since Kevin is still the bastard’s next of kin, disposal of Markos’ body is up to him. At Leo’s…carefulsuggestion, Kevin tells officials he wants the man cremated immediately without an autopsy. Less than twenty-four hours after Markos drew his last breath, he’s nothing more than a couple ofpounds of ash and charred bone.
Burn, motherfucker.
Burn.
I hold my breath until that process is completed. It certainly looks like, based upon investigators’ initial work, there might be three more suspicious deaths in Edwin Markos’ orbit that could be attributed to him. Not like Markos would have talked about them, though. He refused to say anything to investigators after his initial arraignment.
Kev admitted to me that he went to the courthouse that morning and confronted him. That’s the only closure he needed. Chris doesn’t know Kev did that, though. It’s for the best, because Chris would worry and fret about future blowback for it.
It’s also for the best that Chris didn’t get to sit in a courtroom with the fucker, because he likely would have tried to kill Markos. At the very leasthe would have created a very ugly scene that the kids didn’t need to hear about later from others. Because Chris keeps telling me, in private, how shook he is thinking about what Markos might have done to Kev had he left the room and allowed the man a few minutes of private time with Kev.
How Kev might not be with us now.
How guilty Chris feels Markos was even allowed in the hospital in thefirst place.
I keep reminding him that we didn’tknow. But the Sadist is a very soft-hearted man when it comes to those he loves and considersHis.
I give him and Kev as much alone time as I can for Kev to try to reassure Chris he’s alive and well and not going anywhere.
Yes, he’s living full-time in the White House from this point on. Again, what is the public going to do, fire me? Consideringwhat happened, anyone who tries to disagree can go piss up a rope. We pay for his food and expenses the way we do for the kids. He’s not a moocher or a freeloader.
And now, for Chris and the kids, Tory’s parents, and for Kevin, and Lauren’s family, healing can finally begin.
A few weeks after that all dies down, Chris and Leo go with Kevin to his father’s house to sort through his belongings.At our attorney’s recommendation, after Kevin retrieves what he knows he wants from the house, we have a professional moving company come in and, under Leo’s supervision, box up everything and empty the house, taking the contents to a storage unit Kevin rents just outside DC.
All papers are kept separate and easily accessible. We don’t know what incriminating evidence might remain. While I knowKevin wanted to light a match to the place, he understands that evidence might give others closure in the future, and he wouldn’t want to deny them that.
For now, Kev hires professional cleaners and then puts the house up for sale.
I’m genuinely shocked his father didn’t change his will to cut Kev out, but apparently the man was so narcissistic he didn’t think he’d die.
Kevin puts the moneyfrom the sale into an account, escrowed in case there are any lawsuits against the estate from others.
He said if none are forthcoming, he’ll keep that aside for the kids, for their college educations.
