He scrubbed his face with his hand, not wanting to hear what he knew she was going to say.
Malin looked into his eyes. “I’m glad he’s dead, Dutch.”
“You are?”
“I don’t care if I have to go into the witness protection program, or live my life in outer Mongolia. I’m done with this whole thing. Even the attorney general is in on it. What they did is reprehensible, but I still can’t prove it. It’s time for me to let it go.”
“No, it isn’t. Burns recorded the whole thing.”
“Flatley didn’t say a word. I did all the talking.”
“Montgomery doesn’t know that.”
“Do you think he’ll confess?”
“I do. That, combined with Ghafor’s statement, and I feel confident heads are going to roll.” He laughed out loud.
“Why are you laughing?”
Dutch put his arm around her shoulders, and they kept walking. “I’m sorry, but earlier—it may have been yesterday or even the day before—I pictured the president’s head rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue.”
“It would be what he deserves. What happens next? I mean, I know he can be impeached and even prosecuted, but does the vice president get sworn in even though there’s proof that the election results were fraudulent?”
“I have no idea, but I bet I know who would.”
“Who, Burns?”
“Exactly.”
21
“Sofia’s going to be fine,” Onyx reassured Malin when he called to say he’d be spending the night with her at the hospital. “Flatley roughed her up a little, but she doesn’t have any broken bones, just a minor concussion.”
“Please tell her how sorry I am.”
Malin heard muffling sounds on the phone and then voices in the background.
“Sofia said there’s nothing for you to be sorry for.”
“Can I come see her?”
“She’ll be out of the hospital tomorrow, and I’m taking her straight home.”
“Back to South Carolina?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That sounds so nice.”
“I’d be willing to bet that Dutch would jump at the chance to take you back there too.”
Malin smiled. “Goodnight, Onyx. Take care of Miss Sofia, okay?”
“What was that all about?” Dutch asked when Malin came to sit next to him.
“Onyx is taking Sofia back to South Carolina tomorrow.”
He groaned. “God, I envy them.”