Death and Vengeance by Seeley James

Author:Seeley James [James, Seeley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thriller
ISBN: 9781732238879
Publisher: Machined Media
Published: 2020-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

Pia drove to the Wharton School in part because the two hours of travel would give her time to think about her mother. And what better place to do some thinking than on the highway in her Aston Martin convertible?

She buzzed Cousin Elmer to let him know she was keeping the car out awhile longer. Then she started thinking.

The acrimony had been thick when Hunter departed for her speech at the business school’s banking seminar. Had it been any other president’s picture on the face of the phone, Pia wouldn’t have touched it. She didn’t feel bad about attempting to hack the contents. But Pia hadn’t liked getting caught. Should she apologize and piece their relationship back together? Or just dump the mother-drama and go after Roche on her own? She certainly had the ammunition to call for impeachment. But it would only work if someone killed Jacob Stearne. That was a price not worth paying.

Her thoughts turned to her team in Mumbai. Bianca convinced her not to attempt contacting them for fear it would expose their position. They had survived warzones for years; this scenario was nothing new. Bianca had a backchannel for communicating with them that was sporadic at best. Last word: they knew where to find Dhanpal. Nothing about Wilkes. Which led her to speculate on what the admiral could know that made her so valuable. In the end, she decided if the Redjackets wanted Wilkes, why didn’t matter. Pia needed to find her first.

By the time she flew past the Philadelphia Airport, she had concluded her plan. No matter how she went about it, she needed Hunter’s blessing. Which meant she had to keep on Hunter’s good side. Which meant apologizing to a mother who’d abandoned her. Which sucked.

Was the Major right when she accused Pia of running off like a child with some serious mommy-issues? Who could blame her?

With lots of time before arriving at her destination, she decided to call her attorney. After exchanging pleasantries, she asked, “Hypothetically, if I plead guilty to murder, can I use the Texas Defense?”

“You mean, will the jury let you off if you can prove he needed killing? Most, but not all, juries go for it. It’s a big gamble.”

“What if the dead man was on a list of enemy combatants targeted for death during the War on Terror?”

“That would help the hypothetical Texas Defense, but the Feds would go a long way to blocking any such list. For political reasons, they’d claim a matter of national security and squash you like a bug.”

Not the answer she was hoping for, but realistic enough. She thanked her attorney and clicked off and turned off the highway into downtown Philly.

Wharton’s downtown campus bustled with activity. She had rounded the block before she found a parking space on the street near the lecture hall’s back door. She did a doubletake when she realized why it was open. Secret Service agents protected the VP’s official limo, making the space look unavailable. Pia parked in it and walked around to the front entrance.

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