The Second Coming by John Dalmas

He left the window open, but put down the rifle and picked up the binocs again. Feeling edgy. When the guru did leave, with no crowd, no last-minute words, no hands reaching to be shaken, his people would hustle him down the steps and into—

The car! Damn! If they’d been going to use the front exit, they’d have brought the car to the front curb to load their passenger! While he’d sat squinting through the scope, the target could have left by a rear door and be well on his way to Logan Airport! Obviously the guru had a professional security team; if he didn’t, he’d be dead by now. They would analyze, foresee risks, and take steps to reduce them.

Or—he still might be inside having coffee and cake with his hosts. They wouldn’t bring the car to the curb until he was ready to leave. The car would be the signal. When it stopped, he’d pick up the rifle again.

Luther waited thirty minutes more, then stood and closed the window. The room was cold now, and he felt sure the dove had flown. Still he sat and watched for another quarter hour without the binocs.

Finally he grunted, picked up the rifle and stroked its stock. “Sorry, buddy,” he murmured. “No action today. Whoever his security chief is, he knows his job.

“But we’ll get him, you and me. It’s just a matter of time.” I’ll have to watch the money, though, he told himself. You can go through a lot of it fast, chasing someone around the country.

He’d rent a few minutes of computer time, call up Ngunda’s tour schedule, select another promising town, go there and find a place to live. Maybe get a job of some kind—the government was opening public works projects—and set things up again. Once more he patted the stock, murmuring, “It’s you and me, buddy.” Then he broke the rifle down, put it in his suitcase, and began to pack his few clothes.

* * *

“Millard,” Florence Metzger said to the man in her phone screen, “I was just informed you’ve filed criminal charges against Millennium. What’s that about?”

The voice on the other end spoke patiently. “I’m sorry, Madam President, I presumed you’d read my summary report. When their security people found the device, they should have informed us immediately, per the Anti-Terrorism Act. Notified our Boston office. Which in turn would have notified the local police, and a team from each would have gone to the site, to disarm the device and investigate.”

“And that’s it? That’s the sum total of your complaint?”

There was a silence of several seconds.

“Hello, Millard? Are you all right?”

“Yes, I am, Madam President. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“A simple yes or no would help. I did read your summary report, but it seemed to me there had to be something more behind it.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Look, I’m neither a law enforcement veteran nor a lawyer. Not being a lawyer probably helped get me elected. But I wish to hell you’d used some common sense, or talked to someone who does, before filing charges.

“Your report described the bomb as requiring a remote firing device. So then what? When Millennium’s security people found it, they’d naturally disarm it on the spot. Right? And right after that they phoned the Boston police, who notified your local office. So suppose they hadn’t disarmed the bomb. It would have been half an hour before your people got there. The goddamn thing could have been detonated by then. Did you think of that?”

Again she didn’t wait for a response. “And when the Boston police notified your office, what did they say? Were they upset? Not the way I heard it, and I just talked to the police commissioner there. He agreed. Disarming it at once was quote: ‘a timely and necessary precaution,’ end quote.

“So. What would have happened if Millennium had called, and then waited for your people to arrive? There’d have been a fleet of police cars racing through the streets with sirens yowling, at an hour when people were driving to church. And when the police got there, they’d have cordoned off the building, stirred up the whole neighborhood, and cancelled the church service.”

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