“He’s married, though, so that could explain his silence, right? And his job…”
Sean nodded. “He’s got life tenure, but if the affair went public, he’d face insurmountable pressure to resign. What I can’t figure out is something he said about that night. He said that he heard the elevator and got out of the library quickly through a back stairwell. But Malik Montgomery’s testimony is inconsistent with that. Malik said that he saw Abby and a man together on the library’s couch. If Justice Carr and Abby heard the elevator—which has gotta be at least a couple hundred feet from the back of the library—they wouldn’t have been on the couch by the time Malik came upon them. But Malik testified that he saw them without them knowing it.”
“Someone’s obviously lying.”
Emily weighed in: “Or, there was a third person in the library that night. Malik crept in and saw Abby and Justice Carr without them realizing it and left, then a third person took the elevator up there. Carr and Abby heard it and Carr took off, leaving Abby and the person there alone.”
Before Pacini responded, Ryan came into the living room.
“Yes, sweetie,” Emily said.
“Jack and I were watching TV and there was a breaking news story.”
“Yeah?” Sean said.
“It says there’s police cars at a Supreme Court justice’s house. The justice, the man we met at the court that day, has gone missing or something.”
CHAPTER 78
“Thanks for letting me come,” Sean said from the passenger seat of Pacini’s car. Pacini had contacted the Supreme Court Police and learned that Justice Carr’s detail had put out an alert that the justice was missing.
“No problem.” Pacini kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. “But you need to let me do all the talking.”
Pacini drove past several parked news vans and pulled up to an officer manning a sawhorse that blocked the street. Pacini flashed his credentials and the officer nodded, then waved him through. In front of Justice Carr’s home were three black SUVs and a black sedan, the Supreme Court Police and an FBI team. The justice’s home was a turn-of-the-century mansion in Cleveland Park. Sean followed Pacini up the porch steps. The curtain was open, and Sean could see into the place. Two men in suits sat at a formal dining table speaking to an elegant woman in her late thirties. Her hair was pulled back, and her sleeveless black dress revealed the arms of a woman who spent substantial time at the gym.
A young agent met Pacini at the door. “Justice Carr’s detail got concerned when he didn’t show up at home after work. His wife said they were scheduled to appear at a speaking engagement at seven o’clock, and he isn’t answering his cell phone. There’s a GPS tracker on the justice’s phone and his car, but neither are giving off a signal. He also has an implanted device.”
“The implant isn’t working?” Pacini asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Sean looked at Pacini, not understanding.
“High-level officials are often given an option to have a GPS chip implanted under their skin in case of abduction. It’s not invasive, and is activated only in extreme emergencies.”
“Who would know about that?”
“Only Carr and his police detail.” Pacini turned back to the young agent. “His detail, weren’t they with him when he left work?”
“No, apparently he rarely uses them. His wife said that Carr isn’t usually recognized, and he thinks the security detail only draws attention to him. His wife said they typically use the detail only for the justice’s public appearances, and on those occasions the detail picks him up at the house.”
Pacini looked at Sean as if to confirm.
Sean nodded, “That’s pretty common for the justices. Most don’t want to have officers hovering around.”
Pacini peered inside at Carr’s wife. She smiled at something one of the agents said. “She doesn’t look too worried.”
The agent shrugged. “She said she and Carr have been separated for about a year. They have an agreement that she’d attend events with him until they finalized the split and went public. In the past few months he’s been slipping away; she presumed he was seeing someone. But his security detail got concerned because it was unlike him to miss a speaking event. And his GPS isn’t giving a signal…”
Inside the house one of the agents stood abruptly, talking on his phone. The young agent at the door pressed a finger on his earpiece.
“What’s going on?” Pacini said.
“They found the justice’s car. It’s at Union Station.”
CHAPTER 79