Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck

face.
    “I could get a search warrant.”
    Ellen stared at Don for the longest time and then she turned to Fred,
as if to ask if he was serious.
    “He’ll do it, and then the press will be on it like vultures.”
    All she did was shake her hand. “I couldn’t have that. They’ve just
stopped calling.”
    Ellen didn’t say a word as she slowly got up and walked out of the
room. The cat took the opportunity to scurry out quickly, following its
mistress. Don turned to Fred.
    Fred just shrugged. “What do you think?”
    “Definitely not the woman on the tape,” Don said.
    “My thoughts exactly.”
    “With what that doctor has her on, I don’t think anything is going to
bother her for a while.”
    Fred took the opportunity to walk up to the window and stare at the
surroundings. Don walked over to Fred at the window and stared out at the
manicured lawn.
    “I wonder how much something like this sets a person back?”
    Fred turned to Don and laughed. “Trust me, it’s out of your league.”
    “Do you ever stop to wonder what crossroad you missed?”
    “I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is,” Fred said and then
he glanced around and laughed. “You regretting what happened to Jackie?”
    “No. It’s not that.”
    “You being philosophical?”
    “Maybe that’s the difference between us, that and ten years on the
force. You been at this as long as I have, you wonder why there isn’t more to
life.”
    “Maybe Jackie will take you back.”
    “That’s one crossroad I won’t go back to. It wasn’t what I meant,
either.”
    Mrs. Maxfield walked back into the room. She handed the briefcase over
to Don, who took it from her and then set it down on the coffee table. He
quickly sat down on the sofa. Don slowly opened the clasps and then opened the
case. It was empty. Don glanced up at Mrs. Maxfield with a look of surprise.
    “Did you remove anything from this?” he asked.
    Don watched her intently for a hint of whether she was lying to him.
    “No,” she snapped. “I never gave it a thought until you brought it up
just now. You’re the first person to touch it since Willie gave it to me that
day.”
    Ellen walked over to Don on the sofa and sat down next to him. She
reached over and flipped a hidden lever, and the back panel released. An
envelope quickly fell out. Ellen reached over and picked it up. She handed it
to Don and shrugged her shoulders.
    “That was a feature Willie liked. He sometimes carried confidential
information and felt he wanted the added precautions.”
    Don opened the envelope and took out the 16 GB flash drive. “Mind if I
have a look at this?” Don asked.
    Don held it in his hand and then turned it over. He looked at Mrs. Maxfield,
who seemed to be deep in thought.
    “I’m not sure I should,” Mrs. Maxfield said with concern.
    “Your husband is missing. This could help in the investigation.”
    “What if it has something to do with national security on it?”
    “Then I’ll gouge my eyes out when I’m done,” Don quipped.
    Mrs. Maxfield just glared at Don for the longest time. She might have
been medicated, but she knew there were things that her husband dealt with on a
daily basis that even she wasn’t privy to. Yet at this point, after two weeks
of Willie being missing, she was desperate to have her husband back. The
investigation into his disappearance seemed to have hit a dead end. She was
about to throw caution to the wind as she glanced over at Don.
    Don got serious and looked sternly at her. “I promise whatever is on
this,” he said while holding up the flash drive, “won’t go any further than me.
And I’ll return it immediately if it’s nothing pertinent to the case.”
    “I trust you,” Mrs. Maxfield said with a look that was one of relief.
    Mrs. Maxfield reluctantly let Don take the flash drive. She had been
frustrated with the investigation into her husband’s disappearance. It was like
everyone was dragging their feet and didn’t care