Chapter 80

80

Cushing woke from a deep sleep to find his cell phone on the nightstand ringing.

Still groggy, he wondered if the ringing would wake Jodi beside him.

It took a moment to remember Jodi would never be beside him again.

The ID screen said TRAVERS.

"Yes?" Cushing said.

"Can I come over and talk?" said Travers.

"Now? Why? What's happened?"

"Chief Garner and I need to talk to you," Travers said.

"In private," Garner cut in. "And not on the phone. We're a minute away."

"Okay," Cushing said yawning.

He found his tablet next to his phone and brought up the house security app and opened the gate with it. After he went in and took a leak and came back to his room, he saw Travers's car pulling in on the screen.

Thirty seconds later, he was downstairs at the front door in his stockinged feet and silk robe.

Opening the door, he was startled as Travers bumped into him hard.

Cushing almost fell himself as Travers crashed down, sprawling face-first onto the foyer.

Chief Garner followed quickly. Like Travers, he came in off-balance and fell down hard into the foyer on his belly with a woosh of outrushed breath.

Cushing had just registered that they were both handcuffed behind their backs when he saw the broad-shouldered man suddenly standing there, filling the open doorway.

He was in his forties, very fit and stocky. His pale face was square-jawed and his hard unsmiling blue eyes had the least amount of fear in them that Cushing had ever seen on anyone.

Cushing felt his heart rate suddenly kick up several notches as he noticed the man was holding a gun. Then Cushing's breath caught as he raised it.

"Move back," the man said.

A woman appeared behind him as Cushing followed orders.

It was the New York investigator, Colleen Doherty.

"Hands behind your back," the man said as Cushing was shoved against the wall.

"Good morning, President Cushing," Colleen Doherty said as Cushing felt cuffs bite into his wrists.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to you yesterday morning," she said. "My name is Colleen Doherty and I'm an investigator representing Emilio Ramos. We need to review a few things with you if that's not too much trouble."