CHAPTER SIX
The last thing that Elizabeth expected when she went in to work on Friday morning was to find herself stuck in the city all weekend, and waking up at 745 Sunday morning in the elite Roerbach Hotel, just two blocks from Washington’s National Cathedral. She heard the shower running, and remembered that Mark woke her fifteen minutes earlier, saying he needed to get in first, to get ready to go the airport in a couple of hours.
Her Catholic sensibilities offered a brief sense of guilt for sleeping with Mark, but she got over it quickly. She had slept with him before, and she hadn’t gone to hell yet. “Besides,” she thought, “God’s busier with much more important things than me.”
Growing up, Elizabeth’s family occasionally went to mass, but it was more a perfunctory attendance; holidays, important family events, that sort of thing. God was there, hanging above the altar, and hanging in the hallway at their home. He didn’t live in the real world. She had seen enough reality to understand that if God had cared about people, He had given up on them a long time ago. In her mind, religion, and the people involved in it, seemed to create more problems than it solved. She saw more victims than anything else.
Getting up out of bed, she grabbed the throw blanket to cover herself and walked to the window. Looking outside, the DC skyline was painted with a layer of early fall snow, an unusual snowfall for this time of year. She still admired the beauty of God’s handiwork in nature, and was pleased by the view. The snow, a meeting yesterday with the deputy director on a special project, and Mark were the three reasons she found herself here this morning.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the capital building. The sky had cleared overnight, and the snow that had fallen Friday night and Saturday during the day, would quickly melt as the temperatures climbed up into the more seasonal fifties before the day was out.
Coffee, she thought, I need coffee. She looked on the counter and found the room sized brewer and added the filter packets to the maker. She then opened a complimentary bottle of water and added it to the bin. Within about a minute, the smells of French Moroccan Roast began to lift and make its way through the suite.
She sat on the bed and opened her bug out bag, grabbing clothes and her spare makeup and toiletry cache’, having them ready for when Mark got out. Setting them on the table, she noted the file folders that he had left out the night before, and began to look through them.
One folder had the presentation that Mark had given Friday morning at the task force meeting. Missouri and several other states were being added to the mix, expanding the investigation, and this was their opportunity to make the case for their area of emphasis.
She had been given a heads up on his presentation, because he was waiting for her in her office Friday morning. Seeing him sitting there that morning had stirred up a flood of contradictory emotions. She never really expected to see him again, nor did she really want to. Yet, here she was now, in his room, picking up on their relationship from her days in Texas as if no time had passed.
She remembered his first words to her after four years: “Hello, Lizzy. You look great.”
Oh! He looked great, too! She had missed him. She had missed his scent, his Texas drawl, and his passion. Her heart was lifted up when she saw him, but then her mind engaged. She was still angry with him about their last night together four years earlier. She remembered she was cold in her response, at least at first.
“What are you doing here?” She had asked.
He went on to explain that he was in from Missouri, for the task force meeting. His boss, the Attorney General, was making a big push in the state in the near future regarding a crackdown on child trafficking and other issues, and had sent him to DC for the event. He also explained that he had a meeting lined up later on with the assistant US Attorney General and the bureau’s deputy director, Carl’s boss. There was a ‘special project’ that the Missouri office was getting ready to launch, and Mark was there to secure some of the initial support for the project before Attorney General Terhune arrived in Washington Sunday afternoon for several broadcast interviews and meetings with law enforcement.
After his explanation of the why, he had added, “Lizzy, I missed you. And…” he trailed off, looking around the room to focus on something besides her, “you were right.”
She saw something in Mark that she hadn’t seen when they were together back in Austin. Was he actually being apologetic? Surely this agnostic cowboy hadn’t found compassion and forgiveness in his exile from Texas?
“You were right about our office. There were inconsistencies. I didn’t want to see them. I didn’t see them until after you left. There were times that our office had been complicit in covering the backside of Child Protective Services in the raid. There was hell to pay internally, both for those that went along with it, and those that spoke up about the contradictions. That was why I was asked to leave the Texas AG’s office. Thankfully, I found a position in Missouri, with a friend of my dad’s from college. I’ve been working for Terhune since.”
“I may have said some things that night,” she had replied, “that I now regret,” then looking up at him softly, “and I missed you, too.”
They agreed to definitely have lunch later that day. He also said that he wanted to talk to her about the project he was working on for the Missouri AG.
They left together for the task force conference, Elizabeth explaining she had to get everything set up. She looked forward to his presentation later that morning.
The meetings proceeded with FBI precision. The standard greetings of various agencies, the presentation of accounts and statistics of successes with the child trafficking task force were laid out by Elizabeth, with Carl and the deputy director giving their input on how ‘cooperative inter-agency efforts’ such as this one, gave them confidence at catching future predators. Then, the new states, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, were each to give their acceptance into the expanded investigation, and outline their strategies.
Mark had stepped up to give his presentation, “Fellow law enforcement officials, attorneys general, and Deputy Director Sullivan, thank you for the invitation to the Show-Me state to participate in this important effort.
“Attorney General Terhune has taken a leadership role in Missouri in outlining a precise plan at tackling issues that some have been afraid to face. He has been aggressive at prosecuting drug crime in our state. He has been at the forefront of reducing recidivism from our state prison population. He has also made the protection of families, and especially children, a high priority of his office.
“Human trafficking can take many forms,” Mark spoke to the attendees, “and whereas the focus of this task force has been on the international aspect of this serious problem, we must be careful to stay aware of the potential for domestic incidents within our states.
“Our office has noted in recent years a disturbing trend within our state. In the past several years, we have seen an increase in the number of polygamous families and networks spread out across Missouri. Within our state, we have several of these groups and communities that have established strong footholds in some of our rural areas.
“Several of us in this room,” he said, glancing at Elizabeth’s table, “have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the fallout of allowing these groups and networks to remain unchecked. We know from the past that many of these groups have openly violated many laws, stockpiling weapons, and allowing the mental, physical and sexual abuse of woman and children to occur. These families and groups have traditionally been a drain on state and federal revenues, with many taking advantage of aid such as welfare and food stamps, thus putting additional tax burdens on honest, hard-working citizens. And let us not forget the issues of tax avoidance at the state and federal level for which these groups are constantly cited. Ladies and gentlemen, in the view of the state of Missouri, this is a domestic human trafficking issue, and our office intends to work in cooperation with other state and federal law enforcement agencies, and end this problem before it begins. We look forward to a future where Missouri will be a model for other states, providing them with the tools, resources and experience in dealing with this growing problem. Thank you.”
It was a great speech when he gave it, and just as good sitting here half-naked reading it. The bells signaling the 8 AM mass at Washington Cathedral began to sound, and as if on cue, Mark stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist.
“Good morning, again.” He said, “Still not a morning person, huh?”
She smiled and gave a fake stern stare, “No. Need coffee. Now.”
“Okay, Momma Bear. Back in bed. I’ll fix it for you. You still take it black with one sugar?”
“Not today. I need to wake up. Put two in there,” she said. “I was just rereading your speech you gave. You did really well. But,” she said looking up at him, while she climbed back under the blankets, “I did not appreciate being shanghaied by you and my bosses yesterday.”
He laughed, “I told you at lunch on Friday that I wanted you on this project. You are perfect for it. Didn’t YOU agree that there was definitely something our two agencies could do to crack down on this?”
“Yes,” she said, then smiled and continued, “but I also know a set up when I see one. Who was it that spoke to Sullivan about me being TDY’ed to Missouri? Was it you?”
“What? Me?” he asked as he carefully brought the coffee over to her side of the bed, and sat on the edge. He confessed, “Actually, it wasn’t me, it was my boss and Sullivan. Apparently, they go back a long ways. But, I might have mentioned to him that you had experience in dealing with polygamous families, and I might also have mentioned that you would love to get out of Washington, even if for just a few months.”
He leaned over and began to kiss her, “Besides,” he said, “it was all part of my evil plan to get you back in my life.”
“Yes,” she kissed back, “you are evil. How on earth did I let you talk me into staying with you last night?”
“It didn’t take much as I recall,” he teased. “You were always pretty easy…”
“Ah! You TURD!” she exclaimed playfully, pushing him off of her and climbing on top of him, pinning his arms above to the mattress, “You are under arrest for being a jerk!” She reached down and kissed him.
“Police abuse!” He mocked, “Torture! Someone help me!” He moved suddenly had her pinned now, “I’ve got some moves, too,” he said.
An hour later they found themselves now rushing to get to their respective appointments. Mark had to get to the airport, and Elizabeth had promised to meet up with Paula and her daughter for an outing at the Smithsonian. She was tempted to call her partner and just be with Mark, but the little girl was like the daughter she never had, and likely, wouldn’t have, at least in the foreseeable future.
“How soon do you think it can be before you can come to Missouri?” Mark asked.
“Probably in a month,” she answered, “I promised Carl that I would get Paula up to speed on my case files.
Finishing her makeup as Mark straightened the room, she recalled their last night together four years earlier. In the course of her investigation then, as evidence pointed to the AG’s office being in collusion with the CPS, she had suspected that Mark knew more than he was letting on. For some reason, her gut was telling her the same thing now.
“Mark,” she said, “you know how I feel about this issue with these families. I don’t blame them. I see them being abused at the hands of others. Please tell me that we are not in the business of destroying lives.”
“Lizzy,” he said, “we a simply enforcing the laws on the books. Their leaders have ignored those laws, skirted those laws, and defied those laws, and have encouraged others to do so. We want to protect all the families of Missouri, not just the ones on the compounds.”
That wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, but she knowing Mark, knew that was about as good as it was going to get.
“Hey,” he said, kissing her on the neck, “thanks. I can’t wait to see you again. I gotta get out of here. Terhune is coming in at the airport right around noon, and I’ve got to get him to his hotel, and then over to Fox to tape a show with Mike Huckabee. I’m flying out late tonight. I will call you in the next several days and we can start coordinating our resources, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, finishing her makeup, “I get to play tour guide today.” She kissed him again, “I missed you,” she said.
“Talk to you in a few days,” he said, opening the door to the hallway, “watch Fox News tonight. I’m going to be on TV with the Attorney General. See you!”
“I’ll try,” she called out, but he had already gone out and the door was closing.
Picking up her bag, the one she kept at the office in case agents have to suddenly go out on a field assignment, she looked around to see if she had forgotten anything, and noticed the file folder that Mark had left. She had accidently placed her bug out bag on it, and he hadn’t seen it.
She walked out the door, and called Paula to let her know she was on the way to meet them.
She put the file folder in her attache’, and made a mental note to give it to Mark next month when she made it to Missouri.
CHAPTER SEVEN COMING SOON!
The last thing that Elizabeth expected when she went in to work on Friday morning was to find herself stuck in the city all weekend, and waking up at 745 Sunday morning in the elite Roerbach Hotel, just two blocks from Washington’s National Cathedral. She heard the shower running, and remembered that Mark woke her fifteen minutes earlier, saying he needed to get in first, to get ready to go the airport in a couple of hours.
Her Catholic sensibilities offered a brief sense of guilt for sleeping with Mark, but she got over it quickly. She had slept with him before, and she hadn’t gone to hell yet. “Besides,” she thought, “God’s busier with much more important things than me.”
Growing up, Elizabeth’s family occasionally went to mass, but it was more a perfunctory attendance; holidays, important family events, that sort of thing. God was there, hanging above the altar, and hanging in the hallway at their home. He didn’t live in the real world. She had seen enough reality to understand that if God had cared about people, He had given up on them a long time ago. In her mind, religion, and the people involved in it, seemed to create more problems than it solved. She saw more victims than anything else.
Getting up out of bed, she grabbed the throw blanket to cover herself and walked to the window. Looking outside, the DC skyline was painted with a layer of early fall snow, an unusual snowfall for this time of year. She still admired the beauty of God’s handiwork in nature, and was pleased by the view. The snow, a meeting yesterday with the deputy director on a special project, and Mark were the three reasons she found herself here this morning.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the capital building. The sky had cleared overnight, and the snow that had fallen Friday night and Saturday during the day, would quickly melt as the temperatures climbed up into the more seasonal fifties before the day was out.
Coffee, she thought, I need coffee. She looked on the counter and found the room sized brewer and added the filter packets to the maker. She then opened a complimentary bottle of water and added it to the bin. Within about a minute, the smells of French Moroccan Roast began to lift and make its way through the suite.
She sat on the bed and opened her bug out bag, grabbing clothes and her spare makeup and toiletry cache’, having them ready for when Mark got out. Setting them on the table, she noted the file folders that he had left out the night before, and began to look through them.
One folder had the presentation that Mark had given Friday morning at the task force meeting. Missouri and several other states were being added to the mix, expanding the investigation, and this was their opportunity to make the case for their area of emphasis.
She had been given a heads up on his presentation, because he was waiting for her in her office Friday morning. Seeing him sitting there that morning had stirred up a flood of contradictory emotions. She never really expected to see him again, nor did she really want to. Yet, here she was now, in his room, picking up on their relationship from her days in Texas as if no time had passed.
She remembered his first words to her after four years: “Hello, Lizzy. You look great.”
Oh! He looked great, too! She had missed him. She had missed his scent, his Texas drawl, and his passion. Her heart was lifted up when she saw him, but then her mind engaged. She was still angry with him about their last night together four years earlier. She remembered she was cold in her response, at least at first.
“What are you doing here?” She had asked.
He went on to explain that he was in from Missouri, for the task force meeting. His boss, the Attorney General, was making a big push in the state in the near future regarding a crackdown on child trafficking and other issues, and had sent him to DC for the event. He also explained that he had a meeting lined up later on with the assistant US Attorney General and the bureau’s deputy director, Carl’s boss. There was a ‘special project’ that the Missouri office was getting ready to launch, and Mark was there to secure some of the initial support for the project before Attorney General Terhune arrived in Washington Sunday afternoon for several broadcast interviews and meetings with law enforcement.
After his explanation of the why, he had added, “Lizzy, I missed you. And…” he trailed off, looking around the room to focus on something besides her, “you were right.”
She saw something in Mark that she hadn’t seen when they were together back in Austin. Was he actually being apologetic? Surely this agnostic cowboy hadn’t found compassion and forgiveness in his exile from Texas?
“You were right about our office. There were inconsistencies. I didn’t want to see them. I didn’t see them until after you left. There were times that our office had been complicit in covering the backside of Child Protective Services in the raid. There was hell to pay internally, both for those that went along with it, and those that spoke up about the contradictions. That was why I was asked to leave the Texas AG’s office. Thankfully, I found a position in Missouri, with a friend of my dad’s from college. I’ve been working for Terhune since.”
“I may have said some things that night,” she had replied, “that I now regret,” then looking up at him softly, “and I missed you, too.”
They agreed to definitely have lunch later that day. He also said that he wanted to talk to her about the project he was working on for the Missouri AG.
They left together for the task force conference, Elizabeth explaining she had to get everything set up. She looked forward to his presentation later that morning.
The meetings proceeded with FBI precision. The standard greetings of various agencies, the presentation of accounts and statistics of successes with the child trafficking task force were laid out by Elizabeth, with Carl and the deputy director giving their input on how ‘cooperative inter-agency efforts’ such as this one, gave them confidence at catching future predators. Then, the new states, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, were each to give their acceptance into the expanded investigation, and outline their strategies.
Mark had stepped up to give his presentation, “Fellow law enforcement officials, attorneys general, and Deputy Director Sullivan, thank you for the invitation to the Show-Me state to participate in this important effort.
“Attorney General Terhune has taken a leadership role in Missouri in outlining a precise plan at tackling issues that some have been afraid to face. He has been aggressive at prosecuting drug crime in our state. He has been at the forefront of reducing recidivism from our state prison population. He has also made the protection of families, and especially children, a high priority of his office.
“Human trafficking can take many forms,” Mark spoke to the attendees, “and whereas the focus of this task force has been on the international aspect of this serious problem, we must be careful to stay aware of the potential for domestic incidents within our states.
“Our office has noted in recent years a disturbing trend within our state. In the past several years, we have seen an increase in the number of polygamous families and networks spread out across Missouri. Within our state, we have several of these groups and communities that have established strong footholds in some of our rural areas.
“Several of us in this room,” he said, glancing at Elizabeth’s table, “have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the fallout of allowing these groups and networks to remain unchecked. We know from the past that many of these groups have openly violated many laws, stockpiling weapons, and allowing the mental, physical and sexual abuse of woman and children to occur. These families and groups have traditionally been a drain on state and federal revenues, with many taking advantage of aid such as welfare and food stamps, thus putting additional tax burdens on honest, hard-working citizens. And let us not forget the issues of tax avoidance at the state and federal level for which these groups are constantly cited. Ladies and gentlemen, in the view of the state of Missouri, this is a domestic human trafficking issue, and our office intends to work in cooperation with other state and federal law enforcement agencies, and end this problem before it begins. We look forward to a future where Missouri will be a model for other states, providing them with the tools, resources and experience in dealing with this growing problem. Thank you.”
It was a great speech when he gave it, and just as good sitting here half-naked reading it. The bells signaling the 8 AM mass at Washington Cathedral began to sound, and as if on cue, Mark stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist.
“Good morning, again.” He said, “Still not a morning person, huh?”
She smiled and gave a fake stern stare, “No. Need coffee. Now.”
“Okay, Momma Bear. Back in bed. I’ll fix it for you. You still take it black with one sugar?”
“Not today. I need to wake up. Put two in there,” she said. “I was just rereading your speech you gave. You did really well. But,” she said looking up at him, while she climbed back under the blankets, “I did not appreciate being shanghaied by you and my bosses yesterday.”
He laughed, “I told you at lunch on Friday that I wanted you on this project. You are perfect for it. Didn’t YOU agree that there was definitely something our two agencies could do to crack down on this?”
“Yes,” she said, then smiled and continued, “but I also know a set up when I see one. Who was it that spoke to Sullivan about me being TDY’ed to Missouri? Was it you?”
“What? Me?” he asked as he carefully brought the coffee over to her side of the bed, and sat on the edge. He confessed, “Actually, it wasn’t me, it was my boss and Sullivan. Apparently, they go back a long ways. But, I might have mentioned to him that you had experience in dealing with polygamous families, and I might also have mentioned that you would love to get out of Washington, even if for just a few months.”
He leaned over and began to kiss her, “Besides,” he said, “it was all part of my evil plan to get you back in my life.”
“Yes,” she kissed back, “you are evil. How on earth did I let you talk me into staying with you last night?”
“It didn’t take much as I recall,” he teased. “You were always pretty easy…”
“Ah! You TURD!” she exclaimed playfully, pushing him off of her and climbing on top of him, pinning his arms above to the mattress, “You are under arrest for being a jerk!” She reached down and kissed him.
“Police abuse!” He mocked, “Torture! Someone help me!” He moved suddenly had her pinned now, “I’ve got some moves, too,” he said.
An hour later they found themselves now rushing to get to their respective appointments. Mark had to get to the airport, and Elizabeth had promised to meet up with Paula and her daughter for an outing at the Smithsonian. She was tempted to call her partner and just be with Mark, but the little girl was like the daughter she never had, and likely, wouldn’t have, at least in the foreseeable future.
“How soon do you think it can be before you can come to Missouri?” Mark asked.
“Probably in a month,” she answered, “I promised Carl that I would get Paula up to speed on my case files.
Finishing her makeup as Mark straightened the room, she recalled their last night together four years earlier. In the course of her investigation then, as evidence pointed to the AG’s office being in collusion with the CPS, she had suspected that Mark knew more than he was letting on. For some reason, her gut was telling her the same thing now.
“Mark,” she said, “you know how I feel about this issue with these families. I don’t blame them. I see them being abused at the hands of others. Please tell me that we are not in the business of destroying lives.”
“Lizzy,” he said, “we a simply enforcing the laws on the books. Their leaders have ignored those laws, skirted those laws, and defied those laws, and have encouraged others to do so. We want to protect all the families of Missouri, not just the ones on the compounds.”
That wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, but she knowing Mark, knew that was about as good as it was going to get.
“Hey,” he said, kissing her on the neck, “thanks. I can’t wait to see you again. I gotta get out of here. Terhune is coming in at the airport right around noon, and I’ve got to get him to his hotel, and then over to Fox to tape a show with Mike Huckabee. I’m flying out late tonight. I will call you in the next several days and we can start coordinating our resources, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, finishing her makeup, “I get to play tour guide today.” She kissed him again, “I missed you,” she said.
“Talk to you in a few days,” he said, opening the door to the hallway, “watch Fox News tonight. I’m going to be on TV with the Attorney General. See you!”
“I’ll try,” she called out, but he had already gone out and the door was closing.
Picking up her bag, the one she kept at the office in case agents have to suddenly go out on a field assignment, she looked around to see if she had forgotten anything, and noticed the file folder that Mark had left. She had accidently placed her bug out bag on it, and he hadn’t seen it.
She walked out the door, and called Paula to let her know she was on the way to meet them.
She put the file folder in her attache’, and made a mental note to give it to Mark next month when she made it to Missouri.
CHAPTER SEVEN COMING SOON!
