Part 8
Nearly four weeks later, Donna answered the door to find Mike Casper on the
other side. Her immediate reaction to seeing her husband’s old friend was
happiness, but then she saw the expression on his face.
“Mike?” she asked tentatively.
“Everybody’s fine Donna, but I have some news. The Secret Service told me Josh
was home. Can I talk to you both for a minute?”
“Sure Mike. He’s in his office. Come on back.” Donna noticed her hands were
shaking as she brought Mike through the house and knocked on Josh’s office
door.
“Josh, Mike Casper is here.” She announced as she opened the door. “He has
some news for us.” Josh stood and shook Mike’s hand.
“You didn’t have to drive out here, Mike. You could’ve called.”
“One of the men we arrested just before the Inauguration finally made a deal
through his attorney. In exchange for some preferential treatment at sentencing
and in prison, he gave up Leroy. We just made the arrest about an hour ago. I
wanted to tell you in person.”
“Mike, that’s incredible! I promise to never bad mouth the F.B.I. again…well not
for awhile anyway.” Josh joked, and Mike smiled but the smile didn’t reach his
eyes.
“What aren’t you telling us, Mike?” Donna asked him.
“Leroy killed one of our agents and wounded two others. It was an ugly stand off
that went bad very fast. The only good thing to come out of it is that Leroy will
never get out of prison alive. Once he took the life of a Federal agent, he signed
his own death warrant.”
“Mike, I’m so sorry. Did you know the agent well?” Donna enquired.
“We worked out of the same field office for years. He has two kids around the
same age as yours. I’m headed to their house next.”
“Will you please give the family our sympathy and let us know when arrangements
are made for the funeral? I’d like to be there.” Josh stated.
“We’d like to be there.” Donna added. Mike simply nodded.
“I wanted you to know that Leroy was in custody and his organization is crumbling.
All the heat that President Seaborn, Danny Concannon, and your family have put
out has really paid off.”
“Thanks Mike. It was really wonderful of you to come all the way out here.” Donna
reiterated.
“I’ll walk you out Mike.” Josh said as he walked Mike out of the house and all the
way to his car. Mike new his friend well enough to understand he had something
to say that he didn’t want to mention in front of his wife. That could only mean
trouble for Mike. Hell hath no fury like Donna crossed.
“What is it Josh?”
“I need you to get me inside to talk to Leroy.” Josh said simply.
“Are you nuts? That guy tried to kill your children, threatened all your lives, and
wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire. What could you possibly want with-“
“I need to talk to him, Mike. It’s the only way I’ll get any closure.”
“Yeah, I’ll get closure too. Donna will close her hands around my throat.”
“Let me deal with Donna.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ll be dead by the time she gets to me.”
“Is that your only objection, Agent Casper? Fear of a young mother of two?”
“Don’t try to make this into an ego thing, Lyman. Besides, I’ve seen you shake
when she starts in so don’t pretend you’re immune.”
“I’m not, but I’ll deal with it. You can make it happen right?”
“He’s in maximum security, Josh. He killed a Federal Officer. He’s refusing a
lawyer at the moment, but that could change at any time. I don’t even know if I
could get into see him right now.”
“Mike…”
“I’m just saying it’s a REALLY bad idea. And I can’t make him see you, either.”
“He’ll see me. That’s the least of the complications. You’ll call me when you have
it set up?”
Mike looked at his friend, really looked at him closely. This had really affected
Josh in more ways than one. He looked older and more stressed than he had 6
months ago. Mike would do what he could to help bring some closure to the
situation.
“God help us both if Donna finds out.”
“Thanks, Mike. And please don’t forget to give us the funeral information for the
Agent that was killed.” Mike knew his friend would feel guilty about that life lost
even though it was Leroy who was actually responsible. So Mike nodded again
and got in his car. It was going to be a long day for him.
*********************************************************************
“Joshua, why are you calling me in the middle of the day? Is everyone alright?”
“Everyone is fine, Mom, I promise. I actually called with some good news. Mike
Casper just stopped over to tell us Leroy has been arrested.”
“Thank God! That is such wonderful news. This is just what we’ve been praying
for.”
“Yeah, it is. You’ve been pretty calm through all this. You haven’t even done your
usual nagging to be careful.”
“That’s not my job anymore.”
“Right…”
“Well, I’m trying not to do that job anymore. Besides, you have your own family
now. You know what it is to worry about your wife, your children.”
“Maybe we can all cut down on the worrying now.”
“We can try. Now that you’ve got Sam settled in the White House, do you think
you can spare some time to come down and see me?” Josh had long given up on
getting his mother to call Sam ‘President Seaborn’.
“Hey, I can come anytime. You want me to fly down tonight? Of course, Donna
and the kids have school so they won’t be able to join us, but you really just want
to see me, right?”
“Funny boy. I happen to know Donna can miss a class or two without ruining her
perfect GPA and the kids could take a few days for family trip. You pulled them
out of school during the campaign. I guess Sam is more important to you than
your mother.”
“You may have given up the nagging, but you’re still aces in the guilt department,
Mom. Let me see what I can do.”
“Great, I’ll see you Friday.”
“I said I’d see what I could do, Mom. I can’t guarantee-“
“I have great confidence in you. Anyone who can put three men in the White
House can surely get his family to Florida by Friday.”
“You never let up on the expectations, do you?”
“No, and you’ve never failed to live up to them either. That’s not necessarily a
coincidence, Joshua.”
“See you Friday.” He acknowledged just before he hung up the phone.
“Who are you seeing Friday? Are you seeing another woman, Joshua?” Donna
asked as she came into his home office.
“Yes, I am. I’ve grown tired of you Donnatella and I’m seeking the company of a
more mature woman; perhaps someone who owns some Florida real estate.”
“She conned you into bringing us down there by Friday? You’re getting soft old
man.”
“It means a lot to her. I thought I’d indulge an old woman in her waning years.”
“I am SO telling her you said that.” Donna dropped into his lap as he laughed at
her threat. “You doing okay?”
“I guess it all feels a little anti-climatic, you know?”
“Maybe so, but I’m fine with anti-climatic; more than fine with it as a matter of fact.
I was thinking though. How would you feel about setting up a college fund for the
children of the agent who was killed?” Josh’s heart nearly burst thinking about
how if Leroy got his way, someone might be setting up a fund for his children. He
leaned his head against his wife’s.
“I think that would be perfect. I’ll get the information from Mike. You’ll take care of
the details?” Donna nodded.
“What were you and Mike talking about out by the car?”
For a good 30 seconds, Josh contemplated telling her a lie. He settled for
avoidance.
“I was asking him about what’s going to happen to Leroy. Since he shot and killed
a Federal Officer, he’ll be on death row.”
Donna’s voice was low when she responded. “Do you think it makes me a bad
person to be glad about that?”
“No, no I don’t.” Josh hugged her close. “I’d like to pull the switch myself.” Silence
hummed between them for a few minutes. “It makes me wonder how Governors
and Presidents decide who to pardon. How can anyone be expected to make
choices about whether someone deserves to live or die?” Donna sighed and
moved out of his arms.
“I’ll get us reservations for Florida.” She noted.