Had he been there and picked up the scent of cops?
Without taking so much as a second to think about it, Sam opened the back door and bolted from the vehicle, charging toward the man while dodging several people on the sidewalk until she was right behind him.
And then she jumped, taking him down in a crash to the pavement that would’ve taken skin off both elbows if she hadn’t been wearing a coat. Thankfully, she didn’t reinjure her hip or wrist in the takedown, but her elbows would be sore.
“What the fuck?” he cried, bucking against her tight hold.
She had him cuffed and relieved of a nine-millimeter Glock that’d been hidden in the waistband of his pants in the time it took Vernon to catch up to her.
The agent glared at her, clearly furious. “What the hell, Sam?”
She smiled up at him, thrilled and relieved. “Sorry about that.”
“Honest to God,” he said with a huff of aggravation. “You’re going to be the living, breathing death of me.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve heard that before.” She pressed the mic on her radio. “This is Lieutenant Holland. I’ve got Harlan Peckham in custody on Connecticut Avenue.”
“Only you, Holland,” Malone replied. “Only you.”
Epilogue
After notifying Leslie Forrester, Avery Hill and Cori Sawyer of Peckham’s arrest, Sam stood before the lectern an hour later to face the media and announce the arrest. Only Vernon and Jimmy had accompanied her outside. Farnsworth and Malone had told her to make the statement on her own since it was her arrest.
“We’ve arrested Harlan Peckham of Corbin, Kentucky, for the murder of U.S. Attorney Tom Forrester and the shooting of FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Avery Hill. Peckham came to our attention after we learned the bullets recovered from Forrester and Hill came from the same weapon, which was identified as a nine-millimeter Glock. The only case Hill and Forrester had in common was the investigation and eventual prosecution of Willy Peckham, which also included the prosecution of twenty-one members of his extended family. Upon being released from prison a few weeks ago, Willy Peckham and his new wife, Amber, showed up at the home of Agent Hill, intending to kill him. Agent Hill wasn’t home at the time, but the Peckhams held Hill’s wife and son hostage for about two hours before they were rescued and the Peckhams arrested on new charges.”
“How do you know they intended to kill him?” a reporter asked.
“Amber Peckham told us Willy intended to ‘gut Agent Hill like a pig in front of his pretty wife and son.’”
“Damn,” the reporter said.
“We believe that Amber went along with the plan because Willy threatened her and her children. After Willy’s plans for Hill were foiled, we believe his son Harlan picked up where his father left off on the retribution tour by stalking and killing Forrester, who prosecuted the case, and shooting Hill, who’d infiltrated their family in an undercover investigation that spanned a full year almost fifteen years ago. Thanks to Agent Hill’s excellent work, twenty-two members of the Peckham family were indicted and convicted on gun charges, fraud and other crimes in a Medicaid scheme that cost the federal government tens of millions of dollars.
“We believed Peckham’s third target was Appellate Court Judge Corrinne Sawyer, who sentenced the Peckhams to the longest possible prison sentences allowed by law. Earlier this week, a campsite belonging to Harlan Peckham was located in Rock Creek Park. Despite the efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, we’d been unable to locate him. Today, we executed a multiagency operation intended to draw out Peckham at one of Judge Sawyer’s regular weekly engagements. Much to our dismay, Peckham failed to show. I was on my way back to HQ to regroup with my team when I spotted him walking briskly on Connecticut Avenue. I was able to take him by surprise from behind and quickly neutralize him. A nine-millimeter Glock, the weapon used to kill Forrester and injure Hill, was found tucked into the waistband of his pants.”
“Did you use a federal judge as bait to lure a killer?” Darren Tabor asked.
“Since we believed that Peckham intended to kill her, she was more than willing to help us locate him before that could happen.”
“So yes, the judge was bait?”
“That’s your word, not ours.”
“How did you know it was Peckham if you only saw him from behind?”
“His body had been described to me in detail by Agent Hill, who came to know him well while undercover with the family. Harlan was described as five foot, seven inches at most and very muscular. I was also told he often wears his hair in a braid down his back. When I saw a man matching his description walking away from where Sawyer had just been, I went after him.”
“Should you have waited for backup?”
“If I had, he would’ve slipped away again. I’d like to thank Judge Corrinne Sawyer for her courage and everyone from our department as well as the FBI who came together today in a joint effort to catch a killer. I don’t care how it happened. I only care that he’s off the streets and no longer stalking a federal judge with plans to kill her for doing her job. I only care that the man who killed my friend and colleague Tom Forrester and tried to kill my friend and colleague Avery Hill for doing their jobs has been apprehended. An official release with additional details will be issued shortly. Thank you.”
They were still calling out questions to her when she went back inside, where Farnsworth and Malone watched the briefing on the lobby TV.
“Well done, as always, Lieutenant,” Farnsworth said.
He beamed with proud-uncle energy.
“Just another day at the office.”
Freddie came over to them, a grim expression on his face. “Juan Rodriguez’s body has been found in a clothing-donation bin on New York Ave.”
