Page 80 of Protect My Heart

“And what about the girl?” The reporter doggedly continued.

Jim saw the tick in young Richard’s jaw. The soldier’s eyes pinpointed and he stiffened. His voice took on a low growl. “I couldn’t save her.”

The reporter continued his questions to Finden’s back as the man entered the building.

“Who’s the girl?” Jim asked.

“Not sure, but did you see Finden’s expression when the guy asked about her?”

“He went from humble and open to pissed. He closed down in a flash.” Jim’s fingers jabbed at the keyboard. When the news article pulled up, he scanned the information. “No female service member was killed in the bombing.”

“So, who was the girl?” CJ asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”

Jim spent the next hour searching newspapers for any mention of a girl killed in that roadside bomb. None existed. The next hour he widened their search to girls killed in that region of Afghanistan. Something popped.

“I got something.” Jim sent the article to print and rolled his neck. He started to rise and CJ motioned to sit.

“I got it.” Snagging the paper off the printer, he handed it to Jim.

“The US ambassador’s seventeen–year-old daughter, Justine Quam, died in a car accident the same day.”

“That could be a coincidence.” CJ’s brow crept up. “You know what I think about coincidences.”

Jim’s heartbeat sped up. “Sure do. I smell a cover-up.”

“You could be right, but we need a hell of a lot more evidence than your nose and my gut.”

“Then we’ll find it.”

“I’m thinking a visit to Davis Sampson might not hurt. He could shed some light on the situation with the girl.”

CJ nodded. “Agreed. Let’s gather all the info we can, then interview him tomorrow.”

Jim and CJ worked for the rest of the day mining for nuggets of information on the ambassador’s daughter. By six o’clock, he was six Tylenol down and itching for a prescription pain pill but forced himself to wait until he was home.

The few articles he found listed Justine Quam as the only child of United States Ambassador, Charles Quam, and his wife. Justine had been a scholar, took first place in her school’s debate conference, and had been accepted to American University in Washington DC for the next fall.

A bright girl, pretty, and had a future ahead of her. “So, why were you hanging out with a bunch of soldiers?”

“I know why?”

Jim startled at the voice behind him. Most everyone had left an hour ago, except Officer Larson. “Tell me.”

She rested a hip on the edge of his desk. “She was a teenager, and they were badass studs that I’m betting her father forbade her to see. If I were her, I’d sneak out and flirt with the cutest one.”

“You think she could have been seeing one of them?”

Amy scanned the photo of the girl on the screen. “She was a knockout. I’m betting she could have her pick.”

Jim thought about this. “Finden was single when he was in the service, but O’Roarke was married with kids.”

“Could be he had an affair. He wouldn’t be the first soldier to cheat.” She cocked her head, gazing off in thought. “Blackmail is always a good motive.”

“Yes, but the warden was single, so why would O’Roarke blackmail him. The girl had been underage, but after twenty-five years the statute of limitations for statutory rape was long passed.” Pieces were still missing. Jim needed to mull it over.

His stomach growled.