Capitol Murder Read Online Free Page B

you’ll have to stay with the car,” Ben replied, gathering his briefcase.
    “What am I, the chauffeur? I’m a college graduate, Ben. A skilled professional.”
    “Sorry. I don’t see any alternative. We’ll call you when we’re done.”
    Jones watched, teeth clenched, and the three of them clambered out of the car, leaving him
behind. “Swell,” he muttered under his breath. “We come all the way to Washington, DC, and once
again I’m stuck at the children’s table.”

    “Can you believe the security?” Ben whispered to Christina. They were standing in line,
waiting for their turn to be scanned and searched by the officers posted at the X-ray and metal
detectors.
    “After 9/11? Yes, I can.” She stepped forward, laying her briefcase flat on the conveyor belt,
then waiting while the female Capitol police officer waved a metal detection wand from her head
to her toe. “Would you think it funny if I told you I’m getting a real charge out of this?” The
guard laughed, but not much.
    Loving was next through the portal. He had to take off his shoes, then his belt, but he got
through in a minute or two.
    And then it was Ben’s turn.
    “Sorry for the inconvenience,” the officer said, “but this is the seat of the American
government. We can’t be too careful.”
    “Right, right,” Ben said, as he removed his college ring, then his belt, then the brand-new
Harold’s shoes he’d bought just for the occasion. His mother told him that important people judge
you by your shoes.
    “Thank you, sir. Appreciate your cooperation.” The officer waved the wand over him again—and
it beeped just as it reached his waist.
    “Sir,” the officer said, “do you have any, er . . . any studs?”
    “Studs?” Ben tried not to raise his voice. He knew the man was only doing his job, an
important job, but this was a little exasperating. “Of course not.”
    “He is a stud,” Christina said quietly, from her vantage point, “but he doesn’t have any.”
    Loving gave her a look but made no comment.
    “What about any, um, any . . .” He cleared his throat. “Any implants?”
    “What, like have I had my breasts augmented?”
    “No, sir. I was talking about, um, you know, your . . . penile implants.”
    Christina covered her face with her hand.
    “They have been known to set off the detectors on occasion,” the officer continued. “Some are
made of nitinol reinforced with a copper alloy, so when the machines are on their most sensitive
settings, as they are today—”
    “No,” Ben said, with a sort of low growl, “I do not have—nor do I need—any . . . what you
said.”
    The Capitol police officer nodded, his face a phlegmatic mask. He could’ve been a Vulcan,
except that Ben couldn’t shake the paranoid feeling that the man was laughing at him behind his
eyes. “Then, sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to remove your trousers.”
    “Remove my—are you kidding me?”
    “No, sir. Regrettably, it is a necessary security precaution. We have a side room here you can
use. We’ll have to call for witnesses and a video crew.”
    “What!”
    “Just to document that the proper procedures were followed. Can’t be too careful, you know.
Frivolous lawsuits costs the taxpayers billions of dollars each year.”
    “And how long will this take?”
    “Oh . . . probably no more than half an hour. An hour at most.”
    “I have an appointment with Senator Glancy. I’m expected.”
    “Can’t be helped. Security first, that’s our motto. Now if you’ll just step inside this room,
there are some forms—”
    “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” With one angry flick of his wrist, Ben unfastened the button on his
pleated slacks and released the zipper. The slacks fell in a bunch to the floor. Revealing the
tail of his pressed white shirt. And a darling pair of boxer shorts, baby blue, with little red
hearts all over them.
    The officer’s stony façade began to crack.
    Christina