her. But I put that notion to rest.” I hope I was right.
“I had no idea Faith had even gone to the FBI until after she
disappeared.”
“It’s not just the FBI after her. There are some other people too.
They were at the airport. And they were carrying something I’ve only
seen at a seminar on counterterrorism.”
“Who sponsored the seminar?”
This question puzzled Lee. “The counterterrorism stuff was put on by
the official spooks. You know, I guess the guys at CIA.”
Buchanan said, “Well, at least you have encountered the enemy and
you’re still alive. That’s good.”
“What are you talking .. .” The blood suddenly seemed to pool over
Lee’s temples. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Let’s just put it this way, Mr. Adams: Faith is not the only one
working for a prominent federal agency. At least her involvement was
voluntarily. Mine wasn’t.”
“Oh, shit.”
“To put it mildly, yes. Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Because I need to get to you.”
“And how can you do that without bringing the ACME assassin squad down
on us? I assume you’re under surveillance.”
“Unbelievably, astonishingly tight surveillance.”
“Okay, so you’re not coming anywhere near us.”
“Mr. Adams, the only chance we have is to work together. That can’t
be done from a distance. I have to come to you, because I don’t think
it wise for you to come here.”
“You’re not convincing me.”
“I won’t come if I can’t lose them.”
“Lose them? Look, who do you think you are, Houdini reincarnated?
Well, let me tell you, not even Houdini could lose both the FBI and
the
CIA.”
“I’m neither a spy nor a magician. I’m a humble lobbyist, but I have
one advantage: I know this city better than anyone alive. And I have
friends in both high and low places. And right now, they are equally
valuable to me. Rest assured, I will get to you alone. And then we
might be able to survive this. Now I want to speak to Faith.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Mr. Buchanan.”
“Yes, it is.”
Lee whirled around and saw Faith standing on the stairs in a T-shirt.
“It’s time, Lee. In fact, it’s way past time.”
He took a deep breath and held out the phone.
“Hello, Danny,” she said into the phone.
“God, Faith, I’m sorry. For all of this.” Buchanan’s voice cracked in
mid-sentence.
“I should be apologizing. I started this whole nightmare by going to
the FBI.”
“Well, we have to finish it. We may as well do it together. How is
Adams? Is he capable? We’re going to need some support.”
Faith glanced over at Lee, who was anxiously watching her. “In my
informed opinion, we have no problems there. In fact, that’s probably
our one ace in the hole.”
“Tell me where you are, and I’ll be down as quickly as possible.”
She did. She also told Buchanan everything she and Lee knew. When she
hung up, she looked over at Lee.
He shrugged. “I figured it was our only shot. Either that or we spend
the rest of our lives running.”
She sat on his lap, curled her legs up and laid her head against his
chest. “You did the right thing. Whoever’s involved in this, they’ll
find a tough opponent in Danny.”
Lee’s hopes, however, had plummeted. The CIA. Hired assassins,
legions of people expert in all sorts of nasty things: computers,
satellites, covert operations, air guns with poisoned bullets, all
coming for them. If he was smart, he’d throw Faith on the Honda and
run like hell.
“I’m going to grab a shower,” Faith said. “Danny said he’d be down as
soon as he could.”
“Right,” Lee said, a faraway look in his eyes.
As Faith headed up the stairs, Lee picked up his phone, glanced at it
and froze. Lee Adams had never been more stunned in his life. And
with the events of the last few days, the bar on what surprised him had
risen to about the level of the sun. The text message on the cell
phone’s screen was concise. And it came close to stopping even Lee’s