‘I’m trying to make sense out of it. When are you coming back?’
‘I’ll know in a couple of hours. I’ll call you.’
Evan hung up the phone as the multiple sounds of sirens and approaching helicopters grew louder, all centering on an infinitesimal spot of the earth erroneously called Mesa Verde, in Colorado.
‘It’s a perfectly lovely apartment,’ said Khalehla softly, walking through the marble foyer towards the sunken living room of the Vanvlanderen suite.
‘It’s convenient,’ offered the new widow, a handkerchief gripped in her hand as she closed the door and joined the intelligence officer from Cairo. ‘The Vice President can be quite demanding and it was either this or having to run another house when he’s in California. Two houses are a bit much—his and mine. Do sit down.’
‘Are they all like this?’ asked Khalehla, sitting in the armchair designated by Ardis Vanvlanderen. It was opposite the large, imposing brocade sofa; the lady of the house was quick to establish the pecking order of the seating arrangements.
‘No, actually my husband had it remodelled to our taste.’ The widow brought the handkerchief briefly to her face. ‘I suppose I should get used to saying “my late husband”,’ she added, lowering herself sadly on the couch.
‘I’m so sorry, and to repeat what I said, I apologize for intruding at such a time. It’s unconscionable and I made that clear to my superiors, but they insisted.’
‘They were right. Affairs of state must go on, Miss Rashad. I understand.’
‘I’m not sure I do. This interview could have taken place at least tomorrow morning, in my opinion. But, again, others think otherwise.’
‘That’s what fascinates me,’ said Ardis, smoothing the black silk of her Balenciaga dress. ‘What can be so vitally important?’
‘To begin with,’ replied Khalehla, crossing her legs and removing a wrinkle from her dark grey suit acquired by way of San Diego’s Robinsons. ‘What we talk about must remain between ourselves. We don’t want Vice President Bollinger unduly alarmed.’ The agent from Cairo took out a notebook from her black purse and smoothed her dark hair which was pulled back and knotted in a severe bun. ‘As I know you’ve been told, I’m posted overseas and was flown back for this assignment.’
‘I was told that you’re an expert in Middle East affairs.’
‘That’s a euphemism for terrorist activities. I’m half Arab.’
‘I can see that. You’re quite beautiful.’
‘You’re very beautiful, Mrs. Vanvlanderen.’
‘I get by as long as I don’t dwell upon the years.’
‘I’m sure we’re close in age.’
‘Let’s not dwell on that, either… What is this problem? Why was it so urgent that you see me?’
‘Our personnel who work the Baaka Valley in Lebanon have uncovered startling and disturbing information. Do you know what a “hit team” is, Mrs. Vanvlanderen?’
‘Who doesn’t?’ answered the widow, reaching for a pack of cigarettes on the coffee table. She extracted one and picked up a white marble lighter. ‘It’s a group of men—usually men—sent out to assassinate someone.’ She lit the cigarette; her right hand almost imperceptibly trembled. ‘So much for definitions. Why does it concern the Vice President?’
‘Because of the threats that were made against him. The reason for the unit you requested from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.’
‘That’s all over,’ said Ardis, inhaling deeply. ‘It turned out to be some kind of psychotic crank who probably didn’t even own a gun. But when those filthy letters and the obscene phone calls started coming in, I felt we couldn’t take chances. It’s all in the report; we chased him through a dozen cities until he got on a plane in Toronto. For Cuba, I understand, and it serves him right.’
‘He may not have been a crank, Mrs. Vanvlanderen.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you never found him, did you?’
‘The FBI worked up a very complete profile, Miss Rashad. He was defined as mentally deranged, some kind of classic case of schizophrenia with overtones of a Captain Avenger complex or something equally ridiculous. He was essentially harmless. It’s a closed book.’
‘We’d like to reopen it.’
‘Why?’
‘Word from the Baaka Valley is that two or more hit teams have been dispatched over here, conceivably to assassinate Vice President Bollinger. Your crank may have been the point, wittingly or unwittingly, but nevertheless, the point.’
‘The “point”? What are you talking about? I can’t even understand your language except that it sounds preposterous.’
‘Not at all,’ said Khalehla calmly. ‘Terrorists operate on the principle of maximum exposure. They will frequently announce an objective, a target, well in advance of execution. They do this in many ways, many variations.’
‘Why would terrorists want to kill Orson—Vice President Bollinger?’
‘Why did you think the threats against him should be taken seriously?’
‘Because they were there. I could do no less.’
‘And you were right,’ agreed the intelligence officer, watching the widow crushing out her cigarette and reaching for another, which she promptly lit. ‘But to answer your question, should the Vice President be assassinated, there’s not only a void on a political ticket assured of re-election, but considerable destabilization.’
‘For what purpose?’
‘Maximum exposure. It would be a spectacular kill, wouldn’t it? Even more so, as the record would show that the FBI had been alerted and then withdrawn, outsmarted by superior strategy.’
‘Strategy?’ exclaimed Ardis Vanvlanderen. ‘What strategy?’
‘A psychotic crank who wasn’t a crank at all but a strategic diversion. Pivot attention on a harmless crank, then close the ‘ book while the real killers move into place.’
‘That’s crazy!’
‘It’s been repeated over and over again. In the Arabic mind, everything progresses geometrically in stages. One step leads to another, the first not necessarily related to the third, but the connection is there if you look for it. Looking back to classic cases, this diversion fits the bill.’
‘It wasn’t a “diversion”! There were the phone calls and the numbers were traced to different cities, the pasted-up letters with the filthy language!’
‘Classic,’ repeated Khalehla softly, writing.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Reopening the book… and noting your conviction. May I ask you a question?’
‘Certainly,’ replied the widow, her voice controlled but tight.
‘Among Vice President Bollinger’s many supporters—many friends, I should say—here in California, can you think of any who might not be either?’
‘What?’
‘It’s no secret that the Vice President moves in wealthy circles. Is there anyone with whom he’s had differences, or more than one, a particular group, perhaps? Over policy or procurements or government allocations.’
‘Good God, what are you saying?’
‘We’ve reached the bottom line, Mrs. Vanvlanderen, the reason I’m here. Are there people in California who would rather have another candidate on the ticket? Frankly, another Vice President?’
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this! How dare you?’
‘I’m not the one who’s daring, Mrs. Vanvlanderen. Someone else is. International communications, no matter how obscured, can ultimately be traced. Perhaps not at first to a specific individual or individuals, but to a sector, a location… There’s a third party, or parties, involved in this terrible thing, and they’re here in southern California. Our people in the Baaka have zeroed in on initial cablegrams routed through Beirut from Zurich, Switzerland, original dateline… San Diego.’
‘San Diego…? Zurich?’
‘Money. A convergence of interests. One party wants a spectacular kill with maximum exposure, while the other wants the spectacular target removed but must stay as far away from the kill as possible. Both objectives take a great deal of money. Follow the money is a maxim in our work. We’re tracing it now.’
‘Tracing it?’
‘It will only be a matter of days. The Swiss banks are cooperative where drugs and terrorism are concerned. And our agents in the Baaka are forwarding descriptions of the teams. We’ve stopped them before and we’ll stop them now. We’ll find the San Diego connection. We simply thought you might have some ideas.’
‘Ideas?’ cried the stunned widow, crushing out the cigarette. ‘I can’t even think, it’s all so incredible! Are you certain that some enormous, extraordinary error hasn’t been made?’
‘We don’t make errors in these matters.’
‘Well, I think that’s pretty shit-kicking egotistical,’ said Ardis, the Pennsylvanian of her youth overriding her carefully cultivated English. ‘I mean, Miss Rashad, you’re not infallible.’
‘In some cases we have to be; we can’t afford not to be.’
‘Now, that’s asinine!… I mean—I mean if there are these hit teams, and if there are communications with Zurich and Beirut from… from the San Diego area, anyone could have sent them, giving any names they wanted to! I mean they could have used my name, for Christ’s sake!’
‘We’d instantly discount anything like that.’ Khalehla answered the unasked what-if question as she closed her notebook and replaced it in her bag. ‘It would be a set-up, and far too obvious to be taken seriously.’
‘Yes, that’s what I mean, a set-up! Someone could be setting up one of Orson’s friends, isn’t that possible?’