idea of when we can get a flight out of here?”
“We fly through Norfolk and then take a commuter to Pine Island, off
the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Flights to Norfolk are pretty
frequent. The commuter to Pine Island you have to call ahead and
schedule. Once we get the Norfolk flight scheduled, I’ll call down and
arrange that. They only fly during daylight.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we won’t be landing on a regular runway; it’s more like a
little road. No lights or tower or anything. Just a wind sock.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Let me call down and check on the house.”
They went over to the phone bank and Lee listened while Faith confirmed
their arrival. She hung up. “All set. We can get a rental car once
we get down there.”
“So far, so good.”
“It’s a nice place to relax. You don’t need to see or talk to anybody
else if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to,” said Lee firmly.
“I’d like to ask you a question,” Faith said as they walked toward a
cafe’.
“Shoot.”
“How long had you been following me?”
“Six days,” he promptly answered, “during which you made three trips to
the cottage, including last night.”
Last night, Faith thought. Was that all it had been? “And you haven’t
reported back to your employer yet?”
“Why not?”
“I like to do weekly reports, unless something really extraordinary
happens. Believe me, if I’d had time, last night would have qualified
for the mother of all reports.”
“How were you to make these reports if you don’t know who hired you?”
“I was given a phone number.”
“And you never checked up on it?”
He looked at her with annoyance. “Nah, why should I care? Take the
money and run.”
She looked chastened. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Uh-huh, sure.” He shifted the bags slightly and continued, “There’s a
special crisscross directory that’ll give you the corresponding address
if you have the phone number.”
“And?”
“And in these days of satellite phones and nationwide cell networks and
crap like that, nothing came up. I called the number. It must have
been set up just to receive calls from me because it told Mr. Adams to
leave any information on the tape. It also gave a P.O. box in D.C.
Being the ever curious type I checked that out too, but it was listed
in the name of a corporation I’d never heard of, with an address that
turned out to be phony. Dead end.” He looked down at her. “I take my
work seriously, Faith. I don’t like walking into traps. Famous last
words, right?”
They stopped at the small cafe’, bought their coffee and a couple of
bagels and sat down in a vacant corner of the place.
Faith took a quick breath as she sipped her coffee and nibbled on a
poppy seed bagel oozing butter. Maybe he was being straight with her,
but he still had a connection to Danny Buchanan. It was such a strange
feeling suddenly being fearful of a man she had idolized. If things
had not changed so much between them the last year, she would have been
tempted to call Danny. But she was confused now, the horror of last
night so crystal clear in her mind. Besides, what was she supposed to
ask him: Danny, did you try and have me killed last night? If you did,
please stop, I’m working with the FBI to help you, really And why did
you hire Lee to follow me, Danny? Yes, she had to part company with
Lee, and soon.
“The report you were given, tell me what it said about me,” Faith said.
“You’re a lobbyist. You used to be with a big outfit, represented
Fortune 500s. About ten years ago, you and a man named Daniel Buchanan
started your own firm.”
“Did it mention any of our current clients?”
He cocked his head. “No, is that important?”
“What do you know about Buchanan?”
“The report didn’t say much about him, but I did some digging on my
own, nothing you won’t know. Buchanan is a legend on the Hill. Knows
everybody and everybody knows him. Fought all the big battles, made a