Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck Read Free Book Online Page A

hardly worthy of
locking the drawer.
    The laptop was also sitting in the locked drawer. Don took it out and
then turned it on. The login screen came on the screen suddenly and asked for a
password. Don punched in ‘Raven’ and then pressed Enter. The computer beeped,
so he typed in ‘VanBuren’ and then pressed Enter again. The computer beeped
again. He typed in ‘Maxfield,’ and again the computer beeped, but this time
‘Security Violation’ flashed across the screen. Don quickly shut the computer
off.
    “Oh well, it was worth a try,” Don said to himself.
    Don glanced at the phone and saw the red flashing light. He picked up
the receiver, pressed the voicemail button, and listened.
    “You have one unplayed message from Thursday at 4:33 pm. To play the
message press ‘P’ to delete…
    Don quickly pressed the ‘P.’
    “This is Lydia. I warned you, now you’ll pay.”
    Don ended the message and then appeared a little puzzled. He got up
and walked out.
    Don retraced his steps and was soon back in the Human Resources
department, only having had to ask three people for directions.
    Once he made his way back to Ms. Winslow’s office he tapped lightly on
her door. She glanced up, looking a little annoyed that he was back.
    “One more quick question,” Don asked.
    “What is it?” she said with a perturbed look.
    “I noticed Ms. VanBuren only had one voicemail, from yesterday at
about 4:30.
    Ms. Winslow looked puzzled. “You listened to her voicemail?” she
snapped.
    “This is a murder investigation.”
    “But...” Ms. Winslow argued.
    “No buts,” Don said and then continued, “Can you access the phone
system from outside the building?”
    “That was the whole idea with putting this system in play. To be able
to access your messages while you were traveling.”
    “So Ms. VanBuren could be able to pick up her voicemail from
anywhere?”
    “Yes, with the proper ID codes, that is,” she said, looking sternly at
Don for the longest time. “It’s only when you are sitting at your desk that the
security protocol doesn’t require the necessary security codes.”
    Don made a notation in his little notebook. He smiled politely at Ms.
Winslow and then turned and walked off before she could chastise him for what
he did. Don knew she was not happy with him or the liberty of listening to
Raven’s phone messages. Especially given Raven was Senator Maxfield’s personal
assistant.

Chapter 7
     
    Don was digesting what he learned from Ms. Winslow, which wasn’t much.
He still didn’t have an insight into what kind of person Raven VanBuren was.
    As a Human Resource manager, he didn’t like Ms. Winslow much, given
the threats that were made on Raven’s life. He felt something more should have
been done. It might have prevented what happened last night, but that was
neither here nor there. His job now was to find out who did the deed and put
them behind bars. He didn’t have to like it. He just had to do his job.
    Don was determined to get Ms. Winslow more training in how to handle
situations like the ones that arose with Raven VanBuren’s threatening phone
calls. It was a long ride to Falls Church again, which gave him plenty of time
to think of the different ways he could make Ms. Winslow’s job a living hell
for her indifference in the situation.
    Don hadn’t really given much thought to Fred during his drive. His one
thought was that he only hoped Fred had enough money with him to pay for the
taxicab.
    As Don pulled onto Hillier Street, he was more impressed by what he
saw than last night. In the daylight the well-maintained yards were more
noticeable than last evening and far larger than the small city lot his mother
lived on. It was clear there were the haves in this world and the have-nots.
Don had the distinct impression he was from the class of have-nots. He parked the squad in the driveway and walked
up to the front door. To his surprise the door was slightly ajar. He quickly
unholstered his