Ultrasuede sofa in Vincent Baresco’s office, showered in the small
adjacent bathroom, and changed into a fresh suit of clothes from the
suitcase that he had kept with him on every leg of his zigzagging route
through southern California the previous night. He was blessed with the
ability to fall asleep at will in a minute or less, without fail, and to
feel rested and alert after only a nap. He could sleep anywhere he
chose, regardless of background noise. He believed this ability was
just one more proof that he was destined to climb to the top, where he
longed to be, proof that he was superior to other men.
Refreshed, he made a few calls, speaking with agents guarding the
Geneplan partners and research chiefs at various points in three
counties. lIe also received reports from other men at the Geneplan
offices in Newport Beach, Eric Leben’s house in Villa Park, and Mrs.
Leben’s place in Placentia.
From the agents guarding Baresco at the U.S. Marine Air Station in El
Toro, Sharp learned that Ben Shadway had taken a Smith & Wesson .357
Magnum off the scientist in the Geneplan office last night, and that the
revolver could not be located anywhere in that building.
Shadway had not left it behind, had not disposed of it in a nearby trash
container or hallway, but apparently had chosen to hold on to it.
Furthermore, agents in Placentia reported that a .32-caliber
semiautomatic pistol, registered to Rachael Leben, could be found
nowhere in her house, and the assumption was that she was carrying it,
though she did not possess a permit to carry.
Sharp was delighted to learn that both Shadway and the woman were armed,
for that contributed to the justification of an arrest warrant.
And when he cornered them, he could shoot them down and claim, with a
measure of credibility, that they had opened fire on him first.
As Jerry Peake waited at the nurses’ station for Alma Dunn to return
with Dr. Werfell, the hospital came alive for the day. The empty halls
grew busy with nurses conveying medicines to patients, with orderlies
transporting patients in wheelchairs and on gurneys to various
departments and operating theaters, and with a few doctors making very
early rounds. The pervading scent of pine disinfectant was increasingly
overlaid with others-alcohol, clove oil, urine, vomit-as if the busily
scurrying staff had stirred stagnant odors out of every corner of the
building.
In ten minutes, Nurse Dunn returned with a tall man in a white lab coat.
He had handsome hawkish features, thick salt-and-pepper hair, and a neat
mustache. He seemed familiar, though Peake was not sure why. Alma Dunn
introduced him as Dr. Hans Werfell, supervising physician of the morning
shift.
Looking down at Peake’s muddy shoes and badly wrinkled trousers, Dr.
Werfell said, “Miss Kiel’s physical condition is not grave by any means,
and I suppose she’ll be out of here today or tomorrow. But she suffered
severe emotional trauma, so she needs to be allowed to rest when she
can. And right now she’s resting, sound asleep.”
Stop looking at my shoes, damn you, Peake thought. He said, “Doctor, I
understand your concern for the patient, but this is an urgent matter of
national security.”
Finally raising his gaze from Peake’s shoes, Werfell frowned skeptically
and said, “What on earth could a sixteen-year-old girl have to do with
national security?”
“That’s classified, strictly classified,” Peake said, trying to pull his
baby face into a suitably serious and imposing expression that would
convince Werfell of the gravity of the situation and gain his
cooperation.
“No point waking her, anyway,” Werfell said. “She’d still be under the
influence of the sedative, not in any condition to give accurate answers
to your questions.”
“Couldn’t you give her something to counteract the drug?”
With only a frown, Werfell registered severe th sapproval. “Mr. Peake,
this is a hospital. We exist to help people get well. We wouldn’t be
helping Miss Kiel to get well if we pumped her full of drugs for no
other purpose than to counteract other drugs and please an impatient
government agent.”
Peake felt his face flush. “I wasn’t suggesting you violate medical