‘I gather you weren’t waiting to pick me up,’ she said without looking at him.
‘If I was, you’d be on your knees begging me to take you home, which I’ll probably have to do.’
‘Your modesty is as irresistible as you are.’
‘That’s what my wife says, except she adds “beauty”.’
‘What is it?’
‘Call Langley. I have a feeling that all hell’s broken loose, but call from one of these phones, not my place, if it’s going to be my place. I’ll wait up ahead; if we’re a team, just nod and follow me… at a respectful distance, naturally.’
‘I think I’d like a name. Something.’
Try Shapoff.’
‘Gingerbread?’ said Khalehla, briefly shifting her eyes to glance at the field officer so highly regarded that he was practically a legend at the Agency. ‘East Berlin? Prague? Vienna—’
‘Actually,’ interrupted the man in the dishevelled gabardine suit. ‘I’m a left-handed periodontist from Cleveland.’
‘I guess I had a different picture of you.’
‘That’s why I’m “Gingerbread”… stupid goddamned name. Make your call.’
Rashad peeled off at the next pay telephone. Anxious and not familiar with the latest phone procedures, she pushed the Operator button and while feigning a bewildered French accent placed a collect call to a number she had long since committed to memory.
‘Yes?’ said Mitchell Payton at the other end of the line.
‘MJ, it’s me. What’s happened?’
‘Andrew Vanvlanderen died early this morning.’
‘Killed?’
‘No, it was a cardiac seizure; we’ve established that. There was a fair amount of alcohol in his blood and he was a mess—unshaven, eyes bloodshot, reeking of body sweat and worse—but it was a stroke.’
‘Damn… damn!’
‘There was also an interesting set of circumstances—always circumstances, nothing clean. He’d been sitting in front of a television set for hours on end and obviously smashed it with a marble ashtray.’
‘Touchy, touchy,’ said the agent from Cairo. ‘What does his wife say?’
‘Between excessive tears and pleas for seclusion, the stoic widow claims he was depressed over heavy losses in the market and other investments. Which, of course, she insists she knows nothing about, which of course she does. That marriage must have been consummated above a financial statement under the mattress.’
‘Did you check on her information?’
‘Naturally. His portfolio could support several small nations. Two of his horses even won the daily double at Santa Anita last week, and, along with a few others, are galloping towards millions in stud fees.’
‘So she was lying.’
‘She was lying,’ agreed Payton.
‘But not necessarily about the depression.’
‘Let’s try substituting another word. Rage, perhaps. Manic rage coupled with hysterical fear.’
‘Something didn’t happen?’ suggested Khalehla.
‘Something was not made public as having happened. Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn’t… perhaps it was botched. Perhaps, and this could be the trigger, perhaps several of the killers were taken alive, as, indeed, one was in Mesa Verde.’
‘And captured people can be made to talk volumes without knowing it.’
‘Precisely. All that’s needed is one source who can describe one location, a method of travel, a drop. We have such a source, such a person. There are too many complications to hide everything. Whoever’s behind these killings has to realize that, at least suspect it. That may have been on Andrew Vanvlanderen’s mind.’
‘How are things going with the prisoner?’
‘He’s under now, or, as the doctors say, he’s being taken up. He’s a maniac. He’s tried everything from self-asphyxiation to swallowing his tongue. As a result, they had to inject tranquillizers before they could give him the serums, slowing things a bit. The doctors tell me that we should have the first reports within an hour or so.’
‘What do I do now, MJ? I can’t very well barge in on the grieving widow—’
‘On the contrary, my dear,’ interrupted Payton. ‘That’s exactly what you’re going to do. We’re going to turn this damned circumstantial liability into an asset. When a person like Mrs. Vanvlanderen accepts a position involving close ties with the potential successor to the President of the United States, personal considerations become secondary… You’ll apologize profusely, of course, but then stay with the scenario as we’ve outlined it.’
‘When you think about it,’ said Khalehla, ‘given the circumstances, the timing couldn’t be better. I’m the last person she’ll expect. It’ll shake her up.’
‘I’m glad you agree. Remember, you may show compassion, but the cold business of national security comes first.’
‘What about Shapoff? Are we a team?’
‘Only if you need him. We’ve lent him to naval intelligence, consultant status, and I’m glad he’s there, but I’d rather you start solo. Work out contact arrangements.’
‘I gather he hasn’t been briefed.’
‘No, only to give you whatever assistance you may ask for.’
‘I understand.’
‘Adrienne,’ said the director of Special Projects, drawing out the name. ‘There’s something else you should also know.
We may be a step closer to our blond-haired European and, equally important, what he’s all about.’
‘Who is he? What did you find out?’
‘We don’t know who he is, but I’d say he’s working for people who want to see Evan in the White House… or at least closer to it.’
‘My God! He’d never consider it in a thousand years! Who are these people?’
‘Very rich and very resourceful, I’d guess.’ Payton briefly told her about the impending nationwide campaign to launch Kendrick into the vice presidency. ‘Jennings said his people are convinced it could fly—”fast and high” were his words. And in my opinion he wouldn’t have the slightest objection.’
‘Right down to the President’s own reaction,’ said Khalehla, her voice quiet, floating into the pay phone. ‘Every step, every move that was made was thought out and analysed. All but one.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Evan’s response, MJ. He’d never take it.’
‘Perhaps that’s the shoe that hasn’t dropped.’
‘It would have to be an iron boot the size of the Sphinx’s foot… Then there are two groups, one pushing our hero congressman on to the national ticket, the other doing its damnedest to keep him off.’
‘I came to the same conclusion and told the President as much. Go to work, officer Rashad. Call me when you’re settled in your hotel. I may have news from our doctors by then.’
‘I don’t suppose I could get in touch with my grandparents, could I? They live near here, you know.’
‘Am I speaking with a twelve-year old? Absolutely not!’
‘Understood.’
It was three o’clock in the winter afternoon, Eastern Standard time, and the limousines were parked in the drive at the estate in Cynwid Hollow. The chauffeurs smoked cigarettes, talking quietly among themselves. Inside, the conference had begun.
‘This will be a brief meeting,’ said Milos Varak, addressing the members of Inver Brass, the glare of the lamps illuminating their faces in the large, dimly lit study. ‘But the information was so vital, I appealed to Dr Winters. I felt it was imperative that you be apprised.’
‘That’s obvious,’ said Eric Sundstrom testily. ‘I’ve left an entire laboratory not knowing what to do next.’
‘You dragged me out of court, Milos,’ added Margaret Lowell. ‘I assume you’re right, as you usually are.’
‘I flew back from Nassau,’ said Gideon Logan, laughing softly, ‘but then I wasn’t doing anything but fishing until that damned ship’s phone jingled. Also, I wasn’t catching anything.’
‘I wish I could say I was even that productive, but I can’t,’ offered Jacob Mandel. ‘I was at a basketball game when the beeper went off. I nearly didn’t hear it, in fact.’
‘I think we should proceed,’ said Samuel Winters, an edge to his voice, part impatience and part something else, conceivably anger. ‘The information is devastating.’
Margaret Lowell glanced over at the white-haired historian. ‘Of course we will, Sam. We’re just catching our breath.’
‘I may have spoken of fishing,’ said Gideon Logan, ‘but my mind wasn’t on fishing, Samuel.’
The spokesman of Inver Brass nodded, his tentative smile unsuccessful. ‘Forgive me if I appear irritable. The truth is that I’m frightened, and so will you be.’
‘Then there’s nothing in my laboratories as important to me right now,’ said Sundstrom gently, as if rightfully rebuked. ‘Please, go ahead, Milos.’
Watch every face, every pair of eyes. Study the muscles of their jaws and around their lids and their hairlines. Look for involuntary swallows and pronounced veins on their necks. One of these four nearest me here knows the truth. One is the traitor.
‘Palestinian terrorists have struck Congressman Kendrick’s houses both in Virginia and Colorado. There was a considerable loss of life.’
A kind of controlled pandemonium broke out in that extraordinary room inside the estate on Chesapeake Bay. Its occupants fell back into chairs or sat forward over the table in shock; throated cries came from stretched lips, eyes wide in horror or narrowed in disbelief, and the questions rapidly assaulted Varak like the sharp reports of repeated rifle fire.
‘Was Kendrick killed?’
‘When did it happen?’