Blowout

time in New York, do you think?”
    “The truth is we all have a ticket to just about anywhere, Callie. I don’t know about Danny’s future. He was really bright, but sometimes he’d talk and talk, and you’d know he hadn’t read enough or thought enough about the topic to even give an opinion. He trusted his ability to bullshit. Maybe that’s what he did here, only this time it didn’t turn out well for him.”
    Sonya slammed her fist down on the counter. “Why the hell would he be so stupid as to get involved with a murderer? Didn’t he care about Justice Califano’s death? Did he really believe the guy who had the balls to kill a Supreme Court Justice in the Supreme Court library was going to pay him money because of any threat he made?” She shook her head, and paused. “Poor Eliza. She liked to think of Danny as an Irish lad filled with ideals. She was really wrong.”
    Callie took a drink of the water, placed the glass back on the kitchen counter. “What do you think about Dennis Palmer?”
    “Dennis is okay. I just wish he’d get over this black thing. He likes to think of himself as Justice Gutierrez’s token black boy, although he’d never admit it. I think he’d do better with one of the white Justices—conservative, liberal—it wouldn’t matter. I swear none of them would give a damn if you were pink or black or green. Female, now, that’s another matter. Isn’t it ironic that you have sex discrimination in the Supreme Court?”
    “Yes, it is. And Tai?”
    “He works hard, puts in his two cents, but keeps his head down. He expends a lot of energy being careful about what he says and how he looks because he’s gay, and hasn’t advertised it outside our chambers. I have no clue if Justice Wallace has picked up on that.”
    “What does Tai think of Eliza Vickers?”
    “He admitted to me once, after three beers on a Friday night at George’s Pub, that he thought she was too smart for her own good, that it would get her into real trouble some day. She saw things she shouldn’t see, he said, and she didn’t know enough to look the other way.”
    Callie finally decided to ask. “Did he ever say anything about Eliza and my stepfather?”
    Sonya looked genuinely surprised. “No, never. As I said, Tai keeps his head down, except around me and Justice Wallace’s other law clerks. Then he’ll mouth off, particularly if he thinks someone is attacking gays.
    “As you can imagine, rumors abound in the Court. We’re always in each other’s chambers, gossiping, telling each other where our Justices stand on this or that issue and what we’re working on.” She paused a moment. “I’m really sorry about Danny. I’ll tell you, Callie, if I had him here in the kitchen with me, I’d punch his lights out for being so damned stupid.” She stood there, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Oh, poor Danny. It’s scary. This is just too close to home, you know?”

CHAPTER
20
    T HE K ETTERING HOME
F AIRFAX , V IRGINIA
S UNDAY EVENING
    B EN STOPPED OFF in Georgetown to let Savich get his Porsche, then led the way to the Kettering home in Fairfax. They pulled into the driveway just after seven o’clock that evening.
    There weren’t any reporters or TV vans hanging around. The media hadn’t yet learned where the widow was stashed.
    But there were four cars parked along the curb, two Mercedes, a Lexus, and a BMW. Callie said to Ben, “It looks like Mom’s friends are here.”
    Ben wasn’t listening. He was staring at the display of automotive affluence, and grunted. He wasn’t a snob, dammit, but couldn’t any of them drive a plain old Ford? A truck, something useful, something that didn’t smack you in the face with dollar signs and twelve cylinders, something like his? The Crown Vic had plenty of muscle, but that was different.
    He realized Callie was staring at him, and grunted again. “I drive a Beemer too,” she said, and gave him a shameless grin. “All right, so it’s one of the cheaper models. You’re a truck guy, right? Maybe you’ve got a dog hanging out the window?”
    Savich and Sherlock joined them at that moment.
    “I know it’s late, Callie,” Sherlock said, taking her arm, “but we’d like to see how your mom’s holding up, see if she’s remembered anything more. We won’t keep her long. Looks like she’s got lots of company in any case.”
    Callie nodded. “All her longtime friends are here. There’s a couple of cars I don’t recognize.”
    The