“I know he dressed nice and always seemed to have a lot of cash. Look, we had no proof of that or the hammer would have come down, I promise,” he hastily added. “But you can’t get rid of somebody here based on speculation. He covered his tracks well.”
“You would think the ladies would have wised up or warned others off.”
“I think that’s exactly what happened. Because when we finally had enough complaints and asked Draymont to voluntarily resign, he put up no fight.”
“But you didn’t ding his record?”
“No, we didn’t,” admitted Nash. “It wasn’t worth the trouble. Besides, police forces are so hard up for cops he would have had no trouble getting another job even if we had trashed him.”
“He didn’t go back to being a cop. He went down to Florida and was hired by Gamma Protection Services.”
Nash looked intrigued. “Kanak Roe’s shop?”
“Yeah, that’s right. You knew him?”
“I was just a twenty-year-old rookie cop in the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service when he was an agent there. That’s before I came over here. Of course I know the success he had in the private sector. Heard him speak at some conferences, and he’d come back for Secret Service reunions every now and then. Didn’t he die or something?”
“Or something. You know a lady named Alice Lancer?”
He thought for a few moments. “No, doesn’t ring a bell. Who is she?”
“Worked at Gamma with Draymont.”
“Was he bedding her, too?”
“Not sure. But she worked on Capitol Hill as a lobbyist for a while, and had the rep for keeping her ear to the ground and maybe profiting off it, just like Draymont.” White pulled out her phone, found the photo, and held it up. “This is Lancer. She would have been younger, of course, when you might have seen her.”
Nash said, “Yeah, I recognize her. I never knew her name, but I would see her at the Capitol from time to time. Good-looking woman.”
Not anymore, thought White. “She worked for a lobbying firm, the Kingston Group, on K Street.”
“Bloodsuckers. So, she and Draymont were a couple, huh?”
“And maybe a lot more. Did you ever see her and Draymont together?”
“No, but I probably wouldn’t have. For years I’ve been mostly behind a desk.”
“Did Draymont have any buddies on the force that he might have hung out with? They might know.”
Nash picked up his phone. “I think I know just the guy.”
White smiled. “You seem very eager to help me. I’m not complaining. But it is unusual.”
Nash punched in the number. “I didn’t like Alan Draymont. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy he’s dead, but if I can help you clear this matter up, I will.”
***
Five minutes later a man in his early thirties entered the office. He wore the uniform of a Capitol Hill police officer.
“Agent White, this is Officer Stan Daniels.”
They shook hands, and White showed him the picture of Lancer and asked about her and Draymont.
“Oh sure, Alice. Yeah, she and Alan were a thing. I mean, I think they were.”
“Why the ambivalence?” asked White.
“He told me they were sleeping together, but Alan was sleeping with every skirt that came by. So I hesitate to call them a couple. She’d sometimes be there when I’d go by Alan’s place.”