Sean followed Reis out of the office and to the basement of Hart where the two men boarded the underground train that connected the Senate office buildings to the Capitol. It reminded Sean of the monorail at Disneyland, except that there were no crowds and the railcars each had the Senate Seal, not Mickey, affixed to the walls.
“The senator has another office?” Sean asked. In his years at the Justice Department, Sean had visited many government agencies, but rarely found himself at any of the congressional facilities or the Capitol. He’d assumed that all the senatorial offices were in Hart or Dirksen or Russell and didn’t realize that the Capitol itself housed senators.
“Yes,” Reis said. “We’re going to his hideaway office. Every senator gets an office in the Capitol building so they don’t have to run back and forth. It’s small, but really convenient if there are breaks between votes and floor appearances.”
They got off the train, and Reis walked Sean through a small archway from the rail platform to the basement of the Capitol. Before them was a dank hallway. Brick walls with caked-on beige paint and a ceiling with exposed pipes. Along the hall were several plain wooden doors, which Sean assumed were storage closets. He was surprised when Reis walked to one of the doors and knocked before turning the knob.
As the door opened, Sean saw Senator James sitting on a couch in a windowless office the size of a small hotel room. Not a suite, a basic room. Another man rose from his seat and stared at Sean. He was tall with lifeless eyes and a slit for a mouth. And he had a mole on his left cheek.
CHAPTER 59
The door shut and Sean felt a bead of sweat slide down his back. His T-shirt was damp. He wasn’t sure if it was the cramped quarters or the stony stare from the man with the mole. Though Sean’s chest was pounding, he felt vindicated to actually see Mole Face for himself. It meant that he and Em weren’t crazy; they hadn’t been conjuring conspiracies. The senator was involved in all this.
Senator James gestured for Sean to take a seat across from the sofa. He pointed the remote control at the television and clicked off the set. He glanced at his chief of staff, who had taken a seat at a table near the door, and said, “You can leave us, Brendan.”
Reis looked surprised, but left without questioning his boss. The man with the mole, who the senator introduced as his chief of security, moved his muscular frame to the door behind Sean. Sean heard the click of the lock. He forced himself not to turn and look.
Sean spoke first. “Abani Gupta asked that I come by so we can discuss how you want to proceed with the prep sessions.” It came out forced. “I thought the most productive route would be for me to give you some suggested reading and excerpts from past confirmation hearings where the committee raised constitutional law questions. We could then schedule a prep session before the formal murder boards.”
Senator James narrowed his eyes, still studying Sean. “Or,” the senator said, “we can cut the bullshit and talk about your visit to Sussex prison. And perhaps you can explain why you’d have your daughter investigating my background. Did you really think you could steal my nomination by digging up dirt on me?”
Sean didn’t flinch. He’d spent his career training himself to remain calm under tough questioning—oral arguments with nine Supreme Court justices. He sat back in his chair and took in a controlled breath. “I think the real question is how you knew anything about what my daughter was doing and where you and your friend here were the night she was killed.”
Senator James scoffed. “You can’t be serious.” He glanced up at the man with the mole, who was still standing behind Sean’s chair. “I’m sorry about your daughter, I am, Serrat. But you’re delusional if you think I was involved. For one, we were at a fund-raiser in St. Louis the night she was murdered. Check it out if you want. And two, why would I kill her?”
“Because she knew something about you that could tank your nomination and probably end your career in the Senate, if not worse. That’s why you followed her.” Sean twisted around and looked at Mole Face. “That’s why you threatened her.”
“All she knew, Serrat,” the senator said, “was that a convicted murderer was a friend of mine in college. That’s not worth killing for.”
“But it was worth having someone follow her, worth scaring her?” His tone had a sharp, desperate edge.
“You need to take a deep breath, Serrat.” The senator was calm, cool almost.
“Fuck you,” Sean spat out.
The senator gave an exasperated shake of the head.
“And I don’t know where the hell you found Kenny,” Sean said, “but whatever it is you think you have on me, I don’t give a shit. Tell the world for all I care.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Liar.” Sean stood to leave.