Read Online Flowerbed of State by Dorothy St. James - Free Book Online Page A

get past them.
    Lorenzo was slumped in my desk chair, his head cradled in his hands. “Lorenzo? Why did you call me? Has something happened to my presentation boards?”
    No, the boards were exactly where I’d left them.
    “Ah, Ms. Calhoun.” The stouter of the two men, the one dressed in the tweed suit, turned toward me. A slow, cautious smile spread across his wide mouth. “We need to speak with you.” He introduced himself as Special Agent Cooper from the FBI and his taller, thinner buddy with a shaggy salt-and-pepper mustache as Detective Hernandez from the D.C. Police.
    “Is there a problem?” I asked impatiently. I had a meeting to get to.
    “Ms. Calhoun, I’m afraid you’ll have to clear your schedule for the rest of the day.” Cooper, who was several inches shorter than my five-foot-seven-inch height and built like a bulldog, gestured for me to come fully into the office. When I did, he shut the door and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “We need you to tell us everything you saw or heard this morning.”
    “But I thought that’s what I’d just finished doing with the Secret Service.”
    “That may be true. But their duty is to the security of the President and the White House. We’re in charge of investigating the murder. And as of right now, you’re our only witness.”
    “Oh.” That was a problem. I didn’t want to be the only witness. Certainly they could find someone else in the park who’d seen more than I had. “I need to make a call.”
    Using my cell phone, I dialed the First Lady’s office while secretly hoping Gordon or the First Lady would tell me that I was needed at the meeting and that the investigation could wait. Louise Fenton, the First Lady’s secretary, put me on hold to fetch Gordon as soon as I’d explained the situation.
    “Don’t worry, Casey,” Gordon said when he came on the line. “I’ll handle things on this end for you. You know I can explain the basics of the proposal to the committee.”
    “But you don’t have the presentation boards or my notes. And what if there are questions? I should be there. I should be the one giving the presentation.”
    Establishing an organic garden at the White House was pretty much my entire job description. The First Lady had hired me for my expertise in order to implement the plans I’d spent the past three months developing, plans that required the Grounds Committee’s approval. The same Grounds Committee that convened only once a quarter.
    “I agree,” Gordon said. “This proposal is your baby. You should be the one to present it.” He was quiet for a long time. “There are several other items on the Grounds Committee agenda. I’ll work through those, give the basics of the proposal, and then schedule a time for the committee to reconvene before the end of the week when you can be here to explain how you propose we should implement the organic gardening practices.”
    “But—” The chance of shoehorning something into the First Lady’s busy schedule tomorrow or the next day was about as likely as finding a rosebush in full bloom in the dead of winter.
    It wasn’t going to happen.
    “It’s the best we can hope for, Casey.”
    “I just . . .” I heaved a deep sigh. “I just wanted to be there. It’s my job to be there, you know?”
    “I know. Listen, I’ll let you know what happened as soon as the meeting’s over. I’ve got to go. The First Lady is waiting.”
    I ended the call and looked up to find Lorenzo and the two investigators staring at me.
    Heat rose to my cheeks as I realized how coldhearted my single-minded obsession with getting to the meeting must have sounded to everyone else in the room. A woman had died this morning and I was worried about job security?
    In my defense, it’d been easier to worry about the meeting than to shatter into a million pieces over what had happened—or what could have happened—this morning. Someone had died. And someone had tried to kill me .
    Oh, God .