Dana was sobbing. “I want to see Kemal.”
“Of course you do. And Kemal wants to see you. The boy is terrified, Dana. I’ve never seen anyone so terrified. He knows he’s going to die, and I told him you’re going to die, too. You think you’ve been clever, don’t you, Dana? The truth is that you’ve been very naive. We’ve been using you. We knew that someone in the Russian government was aware of what we were doing and was about to expose us. But we couldn’t find out who it was. But you found out for us, didn’t you?”
The memory of the bloody bodies of Sasha Shdanoff and his friend flashed through Dana’s mind.
“Sasha Shdanoff and his brother, Boris, were very clever. We haven’t found Boris yet, but we will.”
“Roger, Kemal has nothing to do with any of this. Let him—”
“I think not, Dana. I first began to worry about you when you met poor ill-fated Joan Sinisi. She overheard Taylor talking about the Russian plan. He was afraid to have her killed because she was associated with him. So he fired her. When she sued for unfair dismissal, he made a settlement, on the condition that she never discuss the matter.” Roger Hudson sighed. “So I’m afraid that you were really responsible for Joan Sinisi’s ‘accident.’”
“Roger, Jack Stone knows—”
Roger Hudson shook his head. “Jack Stone and his men have been watching your every move. We could have gotten rid of you at any time, but we waited until you got us the information we needed. We really have no further use for you.”
“I want to see Kemal.”
“Too late. I’m afraid poor Kemal has had an accident.”
Dana looked at him in horror. “What have you—”
“Pamela and I decided that a nice little fire is the best way to end Kemal’s pitiful little life. So we’ve sent him back to school. Naughty of him to break into the school on a Saturday. He was just small enough to fit through the basement window.”
She was filled with a blinding rage. “You cold-blooded monster. You’ll never get away with this.”
“You disappoint me, Dana. Resorting to clichés? What you don’t understand is that we have gotten away with it.” He walked back to his desk and pressed a button. A moment later Cesar appeared.
“Yes, Mr. Hudson.”
“I want you to see to Miss Evans. And make sure she’s still alive when the accident happens.”
“Yes, Mr. Hudson. I’ll take care of it.”
He was one of them. Dana could not believe it. “Roger, listen to me—”
Cesar took Dana by the arm and started leading her out of the room.
“Roger—”
“Good-bye, Dana.”
Cesar tightened his grip on Dana’s arm and marched her down the hall, through the kitchen, and out to the side of the house, where a limousine was parked.
The WTN helicopter was approaching the Hudson estate.
Jeff said to Norman Bronson, “You can set it down on the lawn and—” He stopped as he looked down below and saw Cesar putting Dana into a limousine. “No! Wait a minute.”
The limousine started moving down the driveway and onto the street.
“What do you want me to do?” Bronson asked.
“Follow them.”
In the limousine, Dana said, “You don’t want to do this, Cesar. I—”
“Shut up, Miss Evans.”
“Cesar, listen to me. You don’t know these people. They’re murderers. You’re a decent man. Don’t let Mr. Hudson force you to do things that—”
“Mr. Hudson isn’t forcing me to do anything. I’m doing this for Mrs. Hudson.” He looked at Dana in the rearview mirror and grinned. “Mrs. Hudson takes good care of me.”
Dana looked at him, stunned. I can’t let this happen. “Where are you taking me?”
“To Rock Creek Park.” He didn’t need to add: where I’m going to kill you.
Roger Hudson, Pamela Hudson, Jack Stone, and Mrs. Daley were in a station wagon, heading for Washington National Airport.
Jack Stone said, “The plane is all ready. Your pilot has the flight plan to Moscow.”
Pamela Hudson said, “God, I hate cold weather. I hope that bitch burns in hell for putting me through this.”