live without it.”
“How did you get into my house, Thornhill? I have a security system.”
Thornhill looked as though he might burst out laughing. “A home
security system? Oh, dear.”
It was all Buchanan could do not to fling himself on the man.
“You amuse me, Danny, you really do. Running around trying to save the
have-nots. Don’t you understand? That’s what makes the world go
’round. The rich and the poor. The powerful and the powerless. We’ll
always have them, until the world ends. And nothing you do will change
that. Just as people will always hate each other, will betray each
other. If it weren’t for the evil qualities in humanity, I wouldn’t
have a job.”
“I was just thinking that you missed your calling as a psychiatrist,”
said Buchanan. “For the criminally insane. You’d have so much in
common with your patients.”
Thornhill smiled. “That’s how I got on to you, you know. Someone you
tried to help ended up betraying you. Jealous of your success, your
wanting to do good, I suppose. He didn’t know about your little
scheme, but he aroused my curiosity. And when I focus on someone’s
life, well, kept secrets are not an option. I tapped your home, your
office, even your clothing, and found myself a treasure trove. We so
enjoyed listening to you.”
“Fascinating. Now tell me where Faith is.”
“I was hoping you could tell me that.”
“What do you want with her?”
“I want her to come and work for me. There is a friendly competition
between the two agencies, but between the FBI and my agency, I would
have to say that we play much fairer with our people. I’ve been
working on this project longer than the Bureau. I don’t want all my
efforts to be in vain.”
Buchanan chose his words carefully. He knew he was in great personal
danger here. “What can Faith possibly give you that I already
haven’t?”
“In my line of work, two is always better than one.”
“Would your math include the FBI agent you had killed, Bob?”
Thornhill took out his pipe and fiddled with it.
“You know, Danny, you would be well advised to keep yourself focused on
your part of this puzzle only.”
“I consider every part my part. I read the newspapers. You told me
Faith had gone to the FBI. An FBI agent is killed working on an
undisclosed case. Faith disappears at the same time. You’re right, I
hired Lee Adams to find out what was going on. I haven’t heard from
him. Did you have him killed too?”
a public servant. I don’t have people killed.”
“The FBI got on to Faith somehow, and you couldn’t allow that, because
your whole plan goes down the tubes if they find out the truth. And
did you really think I believed you’d let me walk away with a slap on
the back for a job well done? I didn’t survive this long in the
business by being a damned idiot.”
Thornhill put his pipe away. “Survival, interesting concept. You
consider yourself a survivor, and yet you come to me and make all these
sorts of unfounded accusations-”
Buchanan leaned forward and placed his face right next to Thornhill’s.
“I’ve forgotten more about the subject of survival than you ever knew.
I don’t have armies of people with guns running around doing my bidding
while I sit safely behind the walls of Langley analyzing the field of
battle like it was a chess game. The minute you came into my life, I
made contingency plans that will absolutely destroy you if anything
happens to me. Didn’t you ever consider the possibility that someone
might be half as agile as yourself? Or have all your successes really
gone to your head?”
Thornhill simply stared at him, so Buchanan kept going. “Now, I
consider myself a partner of sorts with you, no matter how loathsome
that thought is. And I want to know if you killed the FBI agent,
because I want to know exactly what I have to do to get out of this
nightmare. And I want to know if you killed Faith and Adams as well.