Title: Till death parts us ‘This hotel better have a pool, Leo.’ ‘You hate water Mr President.’ ‘Yeah, but you like it.’ ‘You want me to make sure I get to swim each morning? Why?’ ‘Cos it puts you in a better mood the rest of the day.’ Leo frowned. ‘Okay, I’ll check.’ ‘Ask Josh if you don’t believe me.’ Leo turned, his hand on the door. ‘I don’t.’ ************** Leo washed off the chlorine under the weak water jet. Towelling off, he heard Josh’s voice. ‘Leo? You in here?’ Wrapping a towel around his waist, he walked out. ‘Yeah. What is it?’ ‘Toby wants to talk about the President’s speech tonight.’ ‘Okay. Hey, Josh.’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘Am I in a better mood after I’ve been swimming?’ Josh thought carefully about how to answer what was obviously a loaded question. ‘I don’t know. Do you feel better?’ ‘I guess. Now get out of here. Tell Toby I’ll be ten minutes.’ ‘Okay. Leo reached for his undershirt and realised his wedding ring wasn’t there. Cursing under his breath, he realised he must have left his wedding ring in his room. He dressed quickly, hurrying up to the room. He hardly noticed the man in the blue overalls bending down at the far end of the pool. ‘Leo?’ Bartlet’s voice stopped Leo just as he reached his room. ‘Sir?’ ‘What’s the problem with my speech tonight?’ Leo smiled. ‘You’re gonna be delivering it?’ Bartlet looked as if he were about to make an angry remark but changed his mind. ‘I never wanted this job, remember?’ Leo was about to reply when Josh’s head came out of a room further down the corridor. ‘Leo?’ ‘It’s gonna be fine sir. I’ll see you later.’ ‘Yeah.’ Leo walked down the corridor and into the crowded room. ‘Okay, talk to me about the speech.’ *********** Ron Butterfield knocked tentatively on the door of the hotel room. He could hear the President and the Chief of Staff laughing. Laughter which stopped abruptly. ‘Yes?’ Ron opened the door slowly, giving him time to compose himself. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt sir. LA PD is here.’ Bartlet was on his feet instantly. ‘What’s happened?’ Butterfield swallowed hard, allowing the two officers to come into the room. ‘Leo McGarry?’ Leo got up. ‘Yeah?’ One of the officers walked behind him, the other stayed where he was. ‘Leo McGarry you’re under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Jennifer O’Brien McGarry…’ Neither Leo nor Bartlet heard any more. Leo flinched as the cold metal was fastened around his wrists, and he looked desperately at Bartlet. ‘Now, wait a minute…’ The officer paused. After all, this was the President. ‘Sir, about four hours ago, Mrs McGarry called to report an intruder in her home. When officers arrived, they found her on the floor of the sitting room with two gunshot wounds. She died shortly after being admitted to Community General.’ Turning to Leo he asked: ‘Do you wear a wedding ring sir?’ Numbly, Leo nodded. ‘Yeah.’ The officer walked around behind Leo, lifting his hand. ‘Where is it sir?’ Leo frowned. ‘I had it on this morning…’ The officer’s face hardened. ‘When she was found, Mrs McGarry was holding what we believe is your wedding ring.’ Bartlet thought quickly. ‘Leo, I’ll get Sam to go with you. Who do you want me to call?’ Leo didn’t answer and Bartlet said: ‘Ron, find Sam and tell him what’s happened. Where are you taking him?’ ‘Twelfth precinct.’ Bartlet nodded. ‘Don’t worry Leo. It’s gonna be okay.’ Leo’s shocked face as he was lead away made Bartlet nauseous. ************* Sam ran in, closely followed by the other senior staff, woken by the commotion. ‘Sir, what’s going on?’ ************** ‘I’m Detective Steve Sloan.’ Sloan unlocked Leo’s handcuffs, shook hands with Sam then sat down and started the tape recordings. After the preliminaries, he asked Leo: ‘Where were you between eight and ten this evening?’ Leo was incensed. ‘That’s none of your damn…’ Sam’s hand on Leo’s arm silenced him. ‘Preliminary reports indicate that Mrs McGarry was attacked sometime between seven and eleven pm, most likely between eight and ten. You were out of the hotel between seven-thirty and ten-thirty. Now, I’ll ask you again. Where were you?’ ‘I went to an AA meeting.’ The detective sat back, relieved. ‘So there are, what, a couple of dozen witnesses?’ Leo shook his head. ‘I didn’t go in.’ The detective sighed. ‘Okay, let’s start again. Did you go anywhere where there was a large crowd of people? A…bar, a restaurant, anywhere?’ Leo shook his head again. ‘No.’ ‘Did you go to your ex-wife’s house?’ ‘No!’ ‘Okay. Let’s take a break. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.’ Sam put his hand back on Leo’s arm and left it there. ‘Leo, where were you?’ ‘On the beach.’ Sam smiled. ‘Then someone might have seen you.’ Leo stared at the wall. ‘There weren’t any lights on in any of the beach houses.’ Sam tried again. ‘Did you pass anyone, talk to anyone, anything?’ ‘No. It was pretty quiet.’ Sam took several deep breaths. ‘Leo, I have to know. Did you…’ Leo’s horrified look was his answer. Just in case he was in any doubt, Leo’s eyes filled with tears. ‘No. I did not kill Jen. If you don’t believe me Sam, then maybe…’ Sam felt two inches tall. ‘I’m sorry. I do believe you.’ Leo’s eyes bored into the younger man. ‘But you still had to ask, right?’ Sam nodded. ‘I just needed to hear it from you.’ ‘Do you believe me?’ Sam nodded. ‘I believe you.’ Leo gestured through the door. ‘He doesn’t.’ Sam smiled. ‘He’s a cop. It’s his job not to believe.’ Leo smiled tiredly. ‘You okay with this?’ ‘You okay with me?’ Leo sighed. ‘Yeah Sam.’ ************ Back at the hotel, hasty preparations were made to return to the White House. Engagements were cancelled, flight arrangements changed. Reading through a folder, Josh stopped suddenly, staring at Toby. ‘Mallory.’ Toby frowned. ‘What?’ ‘Someone has to tell Mallory.’ CJ nodded. ‘The First Lady already took care of it.’ Josh picked up the folder he had been flicking through and continued to read. He hardly noticed Toby’s hand on his shoulder, pushing him into the en-suite bathroom. ‘Josh, what is it?’ Josh’s eyes filled with angry tears. ‘I’m scared Toby.’ ‘Hey, Leo’s gonna be back before you know it.’ As he spoke, he sensed there was something Josh was holding back. ‘Josh, talk to me.’ Josh shook his head, trying to push past Toby. ‘No.’ Toby’s tight grip on his arms held him firmly. ‘Josh?’ ‘He said…he was going…to AA.’ ‘And?’ ‘He was going to ask Jen to come with him.’ Toby digested Josh’s words, and the implication. ‘Come on.’ ‘Toby, I’m not listening to this!’ Bartlet’s anger radiated off him. That it was two am and he was worried sick about Leo wasn’t helping his temper. ‘Sir…if…’ His mind working overtime, Bartlet completely lost his temper. ‘If Leo killed Jennifer, we’re all gonna be out of a job come January? Is that what you’re worried about Toby?’ Toby held onto his temper. Just. ‘I was going to say, sir, that if Leo is telling the truth, then someone else killed his ex-wife. The police said nothing was taken from the house. That pretty much rules out a burglary that went wrong. And if someone knew Leo was planning to visit her, then…’ Realising his hypothesis was more than a little flawed, Toby stopped. But Bartlet looked up. ‘Someone killed Jennifer and framed Leo.’ Toby nodded. ‘Yeah.’ Bartlet shouted: ‘Charlie!’ His assistant came running in. ‘Sir?’ ‘We need coffee. Lots of coffee. And I need a cigarette.’ Charlie paused. ‘Sir, you’re…’ ‘Not supposed to smoke. I know Charlie. But my wife is a long way away.’ ‘No sir. You’re not allowed to smoke in these rooms.’ Charlie pointed to the overhead smoke alarm. Toby walked across and opened the window, startling the secret service agents below. ‘Okay, scratch that idea. Um…hang on.’ Toby picked up the phone and dialled reception. ************ Sam stared at the detective. ‘Oh, you have got to be kidding! Sloan kept his temper. ‘Mr McGarry’s gonna be held here overnight while we continue our investigation.’ ‘He’s the White House Chief of Staff!’ ‘He’s also the prime suspect in a murder. Now I already bent the rules. I’m not getting into a discussion over this.’ Leo was too tired to argue. ‘Just open the damn door.’ Sloan unlocked the cell door and Leo walked in, dropping onto the low bed. ‘I’ll be back first thing Leo.’ Sam looked at his watch. Just after three. Resigning himself to getting no sleep, Sam followed the detective out of the room. ************* Sam was expecting to find everyone awake when he returned to the hotel. He was more than a little surprised to return to their rooms and find them empty. An agent explained that they’d temporarily moved to a room on the top floor. Bartlet got up from where he had been sitting in an armchair, too upset to sleep. ‘Sam, what’s going on?’ ‘He’s been arrested sir. Sloan says he won’t charge him until they have some more evidence. He’s doing Leo a favour. He could charge him on what they have.’ ‘Where is he?’ ‘He’s being held overnight.’ ‘No!’ ‘It’s okay sir. It’s only a few hours.’ Looking at his watch, Bartlet realised it was already almost four. ‘I’m gonna get some sleep.’ Stubbing out his cigarette, Bartlet got up wearily. Looking at Sam, he saw the tiredness in the younger man’s eyes. ‘You should too Sam.’ Bartlet knew as he spoke that he was wasting his breath. Toby and Josh were already walking into the bedroom. ‘Sam.’ ‘Josh.’ ‘Where’s Leo?’ ‘He’s still there.’ Josh shouted: ‘You left him at the station?’ Sam saw Josh’s face, an almost exact copy of Bartlet’s when he had been told, and he snapped angrily: ‘Hey, I did what I could, okay?’ Toby put a hand on his shoulder. ‘We know that Sam.’ ‘Yeah? Well tell him.’ Josh looked out of the window. ‘I’m sorry Sparky.’ Josh’s use of the hated nickname made Sam smile. ‘I’m gonna sleep. Wake me in a couple of hours. I’ll go pick Leo up.’ ********** Just after six, Margaret knocked on the interconnecting door between the two rooms. ‘Leo, there were a few…’ Toby opened the door. ‘Margaret.’ Margaret looked around. At the perfectly made bed, the still-unpacked suitcase. ‘Where’s Leo?’ Gently, Toby said: ‘Why don’t you come and sit down.’ Not moving, Margaret asked tearfully: ‘Where is he Toby?!’ ‘He’s been arrested.’ ************* Leo woke slowly, the couple of hours sleep he’d had interrupted by nightmares. The cell door opened and Sam came in, a suit carrier over his arm. ‘I brought you some stuff to change into. Sloan says you can go back to the hotel but you can’t leave town.’ ‘Thanks Sam. I…want to see Jen.’ Sam hung the black nylon bag up. ‘I’ll see what I can do. Before we go, the detective wants to ask you some more questions.’ Leo unzipped the suit carrier. ‘Okay.’ Sam sat back, listening carefully to the detective’s questions. ‘Do you own a gun?’ ‘No.’ ‘Why did you go out that evening?’ ‘We’d been on a plane for hours. I wanted some fresh air. And I knew there was an AA meeting in a local church hall. I’ve been there before.’ ‘Why didn’t you go in?’ ‘I changed my mind.’ ‘Why?’ Sloan persisted. ‘I wanted Jen with me. I’d called and left a message on her machine, but she hadn’t called back. I didn’t wanna go on my own. So I went for a walk on the beach.’ ‘You left a message on her machine?’ Leo nodded. ‘Yuh. If you check the tape, you’ll hear it.’ ‘When we checked the machine, the tape was missing.’ Sam interrupted: ‘You can check Leo’s phone records.’ Sloan nodded. ‘We’ll do that. What’s the number?’ Sloan made a note of it. ‘And what time did you call?’ ‘Around seven, maybe seven thirty.’ ‘What time were you walking on the beach?’ ‘About an hour later. ‘I’d showered and changed, then ordered room service. When she still hadn’t called, I thought I’d go on my own. I just changed my mind.’ Sloan sighed. ‘If only you’d gone in.’ Leo smiled tiredly. ‘We wouldn’t be here now.’ Sloan got up to leave. ‘That’s all for now. Oh, one more thing. Do you know if your ex-wife was seeing anybody?’ Tightly, Leo said: ‘She was living with a guy. That’s why she moved here. Mal told me he was a film producer.’ ‘Mal?’ ‘My daughter Mallory.’ ‘Okay. Any idea of his name?’ Leo shook his head. ‘You could ask Mal.’ Sloan nodded. ‘I’ll do that.’ As the three men walked to the door, Sloan asked casually: ‘How did you feel about your ex-wife starting a new relationship?’ Sam said quickly: ‘Is that relevant?’ Sloan smiled. ‘Maybe not. But I’d still like to know the answer.’ Leo paused for a moment. ‘The truth? I hated the idea of Jen seeing anyone else, let alone living with them. But we were divorced. She could do what she wanted.’ ‘But you weren’t happy about it.’ Sloan persisted. ‘No. I always figured maybe one day we’d get back together. When she moved out here, I figured Jen didn’t feel the same. But I always hoped…’ ‘Which is why you still wore your wedding ring.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘But Jennifer didn’t wear hers.’ Leo looked away. ‘She sent it over with the divorce papers.’ Sam hadn’t known, and looked pained. ‘You said you thought you had the ring on when you were arrested.’ ‘No. I left it in my room when I went for a swim.’ ‘Mr McGarry you told the officers that you…’ Sloan picked up a sheet of paper ‘…"had it this morning". Are you now saying you weren’t wearing it?’ Sam was about to intervene when Leo said: ‘I must have left it in my room when I went swimming. I went back to get it but I got side-tracked. I guess I never had it on that morning. I always put it on. I don’t know why I didn’t.’ ‘Okay. I’ve got some things to check out. If you think of anything, let me know, okay?’ Leo nodded. Walking from the room to his desk, Sloan frowned. Wondering what he was missing, he picked up the phone. ‘Dad? Got time for lunch? Great, see you then.’ ********** Sam and Sloan stood a few feet away as Leo stood at the side of the table. The undertaker had done what he could, but the bruises were still vivid on her pale skin. Leo shivered as he imagined what else the heavy black cloth draped over Jen’s body was hiding. He reached down gently and stroked her cheek. ‘I’ll find whoever did this. I promise.’ After a few more seconds, he straightened up and turned to Sloan. ‘I didn’t kill her. I don’t know who did. But I want you to find them. I don’t care what it takes.’ Sloan’s gut instinct was that the distraught man in front of him was telling the truth. Proving it was going to be next to impossible. Maybe lunch with his father would help clear his mind.   To be continued in Part Two… Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index Return to the Crossover index