The mansions and high-six-figure homes tucked into the pine forests of the Virginia countryside west of the Beltway are in high demand by the rich and powerful due to their safety, privacy, and comparatively modest Virginia taxes. Explosions that killed a neighbor and wrecked the better part of a block, however, weren’t part of the Tuesday morning routine. Special Agent Greg Shelton flashed his FBI badge to the cop in front of a gap in crime scene tape. The cop did a cursory exam of the badge and Shelton’s face, then stepped aside. Shelton pulled a badge resting from the breast pocket of his suit jacket and let it flop against his chest. The badge hung from a string of linked metal beads, identical to the chain that held his dog tags during his career as an army officer. He may have traded his combat fatigues and rifle for a suit and tie, but he still carried himself with the same sense of purpose and swagger he’d had while leading soldiers on the battlefields of Iraq.
