Thank God, the endless session was almost over. Kevin Parker thought about the evening that lay ahead of him, and he began to get an erection. The night before, he had met a young man at Danny’s P Street Station, a well-known gay bar. Unfortunately, the young man had been with a companion. But they had eyed each other during the evening, and before he left, Parker had written a note and slipped it into the young man’s hand. It said simply, “Tomorrow night.” The young man had smiled and nodded.
Kevin Parker was hurriedly getting dressed to go out. He wanted to be at the bar when the boy arrived. The young man was much too attractive, and Parker did not want him picked up by someone else. The front doorbell rang. Damn. Parker opened the door.
A stranger stood there. “Kevin Parker?”
“Yes—”
“My name is Bellamy. I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
Parker said impatiently, “You’ll have to make an appointment with my secretary. I don’t discuss business after office hours.”
“This isn’t exactly business, Mr. Parker. It concerns your trip to Switzerland a couple of weeks ago.”
“My trip to Switzerland? What about it?”
“My agency is interested in some of the people you might have met over there.” Robert flashed his false CIA identification.
Kevin Parker studied the man more carefully. What could the CIA want with him? They were so goddamned nosy. Have I covered my ass?
There was no point in antagonizing the man. He smiled. “Come in. I’m late for an appointment, but you said this won’t take more than a minute?”
“No, sir. I believe you took a bus tour out of Zurich?”
So that’s what this is all about. That flying saucer business. It had been the goddamndest thing he had ever seen. “You want to know about the UFO, don’t you? Well, I want to tell you, it was a weird experience.”
“It must have been, but frankly, we at the agency don’t believe in flying saucers. I’m here to find out what you can tell me about your fellow passengers on the bus.”
Parker was taken aback. “Oh. Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you there. They were all strangers.”
“I understand that, Mr. Parker,” Robert said patiently, “but you must remember something about them.”
Parker shrugged. “Well, a few things…I remember exchanging a few words with an Englishman who took our pictures.”
Leslie Mothershed. “Who else?”
“Oh, yes. I talked a little to a Russian girl. She seemed very pleasant. I think she said she was a librarian somewhere.”
Olga Romanchanko. “That’s excellent. Can you think of anyone else, Mr. Parker?”
“No, I guess that’s about—oh, there were two other men. One was an American, a Texan.”
Dan Wayne. “And the other one?”
“He was a Hungarian. He owned a carnival or circus or something like that in Hungary.” He remembered. “It was a carnival.”
“Are you sure about that, Mr. Parker?”
“Oh, yes. He was telling me some stories about the carnival business. He was certainly excited seeing that UFO. I think if he could have, he would have put it in his carnival as a sideshow. I must admit, it was a pretty awesome sight. I would have reported it, but I can’t afford to get mixed up with all the weirdos who claim they saw flying saucers.”
“Did he happen to mention his name?”
“Yes, but it was one of these unpronounceable foreign names. I’m afraid I don’t remember it.”
“Do you remember anything else about him?”
“Only that he was in a hurry to get back to his carnival.” He glanced at his watch. “Is there anything else I can do for you? I’m running a little late.”
“No, thank you, Mr. Parker. You’ve been very helpful.”
“My pleasure.” He flashed Robert a beautiful smile. “You must drop by my office and see me sometime. We’ll have a nice chat.”
“I’ll do that.”
So it’s nearly over, Robert thought. They can take my job and shove it. It’s time to pick up the pieces of my life and start over.
Robert placed a call to General Hilliard. “I’ve just about wrapped it up, General. I found Kevin Parker. He’s a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. I’m on my way to check out the last passenger.”