Free Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck

parents called to
make arrangements about when her body can be picked up?”
    Dr. Schmidt just shrugged. “No, not that I know of, which is strange.”
    Don walked out, while Fred quickly followed Don out of the room and
caught up with him down the hallway.
    “What’s gotten into you?” Fred asked as he stopped and just stared at
Don.
    Don shook his head and then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he
replied.
    Fred stared at Don. “Do you think by wanting her alive you can change
what happened last night,” he said as he turned and walked away. He then
suddenly stopped and turned back to Don. “Face it, she’s dead. She’s just
another broad wasted. Nothing you do or say now will bring her back.” Fred just
raised his arms and then continued. “God, I can’t believe what you just did.”
    Don walked up to Fred and held up his hands for him to stop. He took a
deep breath.
    “What if it’s not our girl?”
    “Then who is it?
    Don shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said and then touched his
forehead as if he had a headache.
    Fred hit Don in the arm. “Listen to yourself. Our job is to find out
who did this,” he said as he paused a moment before he continued. “And if it’s
not her, then maybe she’s our prime suspect. Did you ever think about that?”
    “Yeah,” was all Don could muster up to say.
    “And if it isn’t her, where is she?”
    “I wish I knew those answers, but something isn’t adding up.”
    Fred laughed at Don. “I know, and I wish to hell you’d get help.”
    Fred walked off down the hall to the elevator. Don stood rubbing his
head to make the pain go away. Fred turned back to Don.
    “I think that hit to your head sent you over the edge.”
    Fred only hoped Don would snap out of it, but knew he was like a pit
bull when it came to setting his sights on something. But there was no valid
reason for why he should actually think Raven VanBuren was not the woman who
was killed in that car. Fred tried his darndiest to think back to last night
and analyze step-by-step to see if there was anything he in his own mind could
come up with why Don could feasibly think she was still alive but could not
come up with anything. It was just wishful thinking on his part.
    Once they talked to Senator Maxfield’s wife maybe they would get a few
more pieces to the puzzle on this case. If the Senator’s wife was the one
making the threats, then maybe that would put an end to Don’s fixation with the
dead girl.

Chapter 10
     
    Don drove up to the estate of Senator Maxfield. It was in a gated
community with mansions surrounded by high security fences. Some even had
guards posted out front. Don drove through the open gate and up the long
winding driveway. He knew senators didn’t make the kind of money that bought a
house like this, so there had to be old money behind this lifestyle. It was at
times like this he thought about the family he was born into. His parents
always struggled to make ends meet, and, looking at this estate, he wondered
why some people seemed to have it all and others had to work hard for
everything they had.
    Don parked near the front door. He glanced at the four pillars that
graced the two-story mansion. The structure looked like it came right out of
the book Gone with the Wind , even
down to the cluster of old Magnolia trees that graced the front lawn.
    Fred was out of the car, walking up the path to the front door as Don
slowly got out while looking around. Fred pressed the doorbell. The chimes were
loud enough to be heard on the porch.
    It didn’t take long before the maid opened the door. She had on a
dark-blue dress with a white apron like you see on the television, which
surprised Don because he never really knew what maids in real life wore. Her
matronly figure wore the uniform well. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun.
Don half expected a perky little white cap, but then that would have been too
much. The woman stood staunchly and stared at Don and Fred