“I did, but they were already committed to her, and it would’ve looked bad for him to backpedal at that point.” After a pause, Sam added, “I, um… I need a minute.” To Freddie, she added, “Start that deep dive on Bingham, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m on it. Are you okay?”
“I… I don’t know what I am. I need to talk to him. I’ll be right back.” She went into her office and closed the door, leaning back against it for a minute, eyes closed, trying to imagine what must be happening at the White House. She pulled the BlackBerry from her back pocket and called him, not expecting him to answer.
“Hey.”
“I just heard...”
“That you’ve got Gretchen’s Russian in your morgue?”
“Yes. Nick… What happens now?”
“That’s the question of the day here. The FBI is talking to her. I’ll be surprised if they don’t file some sort of charges, but I don’t know exactly what to expect. That part of it will be determined by the AG and the Justice Department.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. We’ll deal with it and keep pushing forward.”
He sounded exhausted and demoralized, which infuriated her on his behalf. “I wish there was something I could say other than I love you and I’m here for you.”
“That means the world.” After a deep sigh, he said, “I should’ve listened to you and your legendary gut.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I don’t know. It’s such a fucking mess. I guess you could help figure out who killed him so we can get some answers on that.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“You might hear from the Russian Embassy. I’m not sure if they’ll want him back.”
“They can’t have him back until we’re finished with him. Do you think they had anything to do with him being killed?”
“I mean… I wouldn’t put it past them, as he was a major thorn in Petrov’s side. He was constantly organizing dissent with a goal of overthrowing the regime. If they knew he was hanging out with the U.S. VP, which I’m sure they did, that might be motive.”
“Am I allowed to say that it sounds like he was one of the good guys?”
“He was, all things considered, but the fact that my vice president was secretly meeting with him is problematic in so many ways, I can’t even begin to articulate them.”
“Why would she do that?”
“She claims she was just hanging out with an old friend, but it astounds me that she wouldn’t understand the optics of the vice president of the United States meeting with a friend who’s also the Russian opposition leader.”
“You know I didn’t really trust her, but I never thought she was stupid. There’s got to be more to it than what she’s told you.”
“Possibly, but in reality, it doesn’t matter what more there is to it. She’s created a diplomatic nightmare for me. It’s only a matter of time before Petrov accuses the United States of colluding with his most outspoken critic to overthrow his government, which I’d love to do, but that’s not happening.”
“I wish I was there to hug you.”
“I’ll take a rain check on the hug for when I see you. Don’t worry about me. We’ll figure it out, the way we always do. I can’t believe people actually spend years running to hold this office. If they only knew…”
“Right? I’ll be home as soon as I can. Invited the Hills to dinner. Hope that’s okay.”
“That’ll be fun. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Same, babe. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Be safe out there.”
