Free Premeditated Murder by Ed Gaffney Page B

wrestled him away from the tiny teenage girl, and Pete quickly grabbed her from behind.
    “Let me go, you asshole!” she screamed, flailing uselessly as Pete scooped her up and moved her away from her target.
    “Calm down,” Pete shouted over the music, right into her ear. “I'm a police officer, and I'm way bigger than you are. Just calm down and let's figure this thing out so nobody else gets hurt, okay?”
    Way bigger indeed. What was she? Fourteen? Fifteen at the most? Maybe a hundred pounds, soaking wet. She could've been one of his daughter's classmates. But she just kept kicking and flailing and screaming. Until she went limp.
    Pete looked down at her skeptically. Pretending to give up was not a new method of escaping, and since seconds before she had been battling to get away, Pete assumed that she was just hoping he'd release his hold, giving her another chance to do whatever nutty thing she wanted to do next.
    Then he saw the back of her head.
    Dark blood matted her hair and was still oozing from her scalp. Whatever had hit her back there had hit her hard. “Hey,” he said, holding her still with one hand, while turning her by the chin to face him.
    Her eyes rolled back in her head.
    “Paula!” he shouted, shifting his hold on the girl so he was carrying her in both arms like the baby she was as he headed for the door to the street. “I need a ride to the emergency room right now. Billy, call for more backup!”

SEVEN

    Ferguson Confirmed as Vice President
    In what can safely be described as the first positive news in nearly a month for President James Graham's embattled administration, Congress today overwhelmingly approved his choice of retired Colonel Matthew Ferguson as Vice President by a resounding majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
         Ferguson was named to replace former Vice President Wilton Quarters, who resigned last month amid a growing scandal.
         Quarters had been credited by many for ensuring Graham's victory in the general election two years ago as a result of statements he made in the last week of the campaign, charging that Graham's opponent was part of a corporate group that owned and operated a company that makes pornographic movies. It is widely believed that the flurry of publicity generated by the charges moved conservative voters to vote for Graham, especially in South Carolina and Tennessee, states which gave Graham enough electoral votes to win an extremely close election.
         Three weeks ago, however, two apparently unrelated stories came to light which forced Quarters, a self-styled champion of conservative morals, to resign. First, copies of internal memos from Quarters's campaign surfaced, indicating that Quarters knew that the report he had used to discredit Graham's opponent was false at the time he made the damaging charges. And at about the same time, evidence was uncovered indicating that Quarters, while a member of the House of Representatives, owned stock in a conglomerate which owned a production company which itself made pornographic videos.
         A criminal investigation against Quarters is ongoing.
    (
Boston Post
, September 10, page 1)

    March 3—Washington, D.C.

    MATT'S MEETING WITH HIS CHIEF OF STAFF WAS winding down. That was good news, because he had promised Sammy that he would watch the latest Brad Pitt movie with her tonight. The First Lady had a thing about Brad Pitt.
    “Have you come to a decision regarding the situation in the Philippines, Mr. President?”
    Vernon Browning was following up on a meeting that had been held last week regarding counterterrorism options. There had been increasing signs that key terrorists had been active in the island country, and although Matt was eager to do something, he was struggling to find the right course.
    “I'd like to get more details on the two scenarios for increased use of Special