Split Second

"Whatever you do will be very appreciated," remarked Joan pleasantly.

"But King doesn't seem to think this guy could be involved. Sure, Scott might be ticked at King for what happened. But he had no reason to kill Ritter and ruin his career. And then there's the gun thing."

"I've been thinking about that. Sean told me that the gun he found in Loretta's backyard was a snub-nose.38 revolver."

"So?"

"That's not Secret Service standard issue. So while it might not be suspicious for Scott to be armed, it would be suspicious if he was carrying two weapons, particularly a snub-nose, in case someone did check."

Parks wasn't convinced. "But why have two guns? If his plan was to shoot Ritter too, he could have used his own gun."

"What if another would-be assassin, Ramsey's partner, got cold feet, didn't fire and slipped the gun to the inside man, Bob Scott, to get rid of, thinking no one would suspect him. Then maybe Scott became nervous because he now had two guns, hid it in the closet, and that's when Loretta saw him."

"And Loretta started her blackmail scheme. Okay, that would give Scott the incentive to kill her. But Ritter's death wiped out Scott's career. Why would he do it?"

Joan sighed. "Why do anything? Money! And the fact that he's disappeared doesn't exactly reinforce his innocence."

"What more do you know about him?"

"Vietnam vet before he joined the Service. Maybe he was carrying some baggage from that. He was sort of gun-happy too. Hemight have flipped to the dark side. See, that was never fully explored. It was officially concluded Ramsey acted alone. We're the first people to really look at all the angles."

"Well, I guess it's about damn time. I'll call you if I hear anything. You going back to King's place?"

"Yes, or at the inn where I'm staying near there, the Cedars."

"Catch you later," said Parks.

Joan drove off, very much lost in thought.

So much lost in thought that Joan didn't notice the car following her, or the driver whose gaze was locked intently on her.

49

Dressed in a warm-up suit, Kate Ramsey finally left her office in the late afternoon, climbed into a VW bug and drove off. Michelle and King followed at a discreet distance as the VW drove to Bryan Park, on the outskirts of Richmond. Once there, Kate climbed out, stripped off her warm-up suit, revealing shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt underneath. She did some quick stretching and took off running.

"Great," said King. "She could be meeting somebody, and we won't be able to see a damn thing."

"Yes, we will." Michelle climbed into the backseat of the truck.

King looked at her. "What are you doing?"

She grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around. "Just keep your eyes to the front, mister."

She started undressing. "I keep running stuff in a bag under the backseat. Never know when the urge might hit."

King's gaze flitted to the rearview mirror, where one long bare leg and foot and then another appeared as pants came down and shorts were slid over muscled calves and sculpted thighs.

"Yeah," he said as he looked away when she started taking off her shirt, "you just never know about that old urge thing." He glanced outside and watched as Kate Ramsey's efficient strides ate up chunks of distance. She was almost out of sight.

"Michelle, you better hurry up or you'll never catch-"

He stopped when the truck door opened and closed and he saw Michelle, in a jogging bra, shorts and track shoes, streak across the grass, her long legs pumping and her muscled arms churning. He could only stare in amazement as she effortlessly burned up the distance between her and Kate.

"Friggin' Olympians," he muttered.

At first Michelle kept well out of sight of Kate, until it appeared clear the young woman was out simply to run. Then Michelle changed tactics. Instead of shadowing Kate, she decided to take another shot at talking to her. When she pulled up beside her, Kate looked over, scowled and immediately picked up her pace. Michelle quickly matched her stride for stride. When Kate started to sprint and Michelle effortlessly kept pace with her, Kate slowed down.

"What do you want?" Kate said in a very tight voice.

"To talk."

"Where's your friend?"

"He's not much into running."

"I told you everything I know."

"Did you, Kate? Look, I just want to try and understand you. I want to help."

"Don't try and be my buddy, okay! This isn't some lame TV cop show where we're all of a sudden going to bond."

"You're right, this is real life, and a number of people have lost their lives or been kidnapped. We're trying to figure out what the hell is going on because we want to stop whoever's doing this, and I think you can help."

"I can't help you or anyone else."

"I don't think you've even tried."

Kate pulled up, hands on hips, sucking in quick breaths, and looked angrily at Michelle. "What the hell do you know about anything? You know nothing about me."

"That's why I'm here. I want to know more. I want to know as much as you're willing to tell."