Amy with him. God help the person who tried to harm his granddaughter.
And God be with you, Sidney.
Ray Jackson stood silently in the doorway of Sawyer’s cramped office.
Behind his desk, Lee Sawyer was immersed in a file. A full pot of
coffee was on a hot plate in front of him, a half-eaten meal next to it.
Jackson could not remember the last time the man had failed at his job.
However, Sawyer had been taking increasing heat–internally from the
director of the FBI on down, in the press and from the White House to
Capitol Hill. Jackson grimaced. Hell, if they thought it was so damn
easy, why didn’t they hit the streets and try to solve the case?
“Hey, Lee?”
Sawyer jerked up. “Hey, Ray. Fresh pot of coffee on the hot plate,
help yourself.”
Jackson poured himself a cup and sat down. “Word is you’ve been taking
some grief from upstairs on this case.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Goes with the territory.”
“You want to talk about it?” Jackson settled down in a chair next to
him.
“What’s there to talk about? Fine, everybody wants to know who was
behind that plane going down. I do too. I also want to know a hell of
a lot more than that. I want to know who used Joe Riker for target
practice. I want to know who killed Steve and Ed Page. I want to know
who blew away those three guys in the limo. I want to know where Jason
Archer is.”
“And Sidney Archer?”
“Yeah, and Sidney Archer. And I’m not gonna find out by listening to
all the people who just have a bunch of questions and no answers.
Speaking of which, have you got any for me? Answers, that is?”
Jackson got up and closed the door to Sawyer’s office.
“According to his doctor, Arthur Lieberman did not have the HIV virus.”
Sawyer exploded. “That’s impossible. The guy’s lying his ass off.”
“Don’t think so, Lee.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because he showed me Lieberman’s medical file.” Sawyer sat back,
stunned. Jackson continued. “When I asked the guy, I thought it was
going to be like you and I talked about–his expression would have to
tell us, because the man sure as hell wasn’t going to show me any
records without a subpoena in hand. But he did, Lee. No harm in his
doctor proving that Lieberman didn’t have the virus. Lieberman was some
kind of health fanatic. Had yearly physicals, all sorts of preventive
measures and testing. As part of the physicals, Lieberman was routinely
tested for HIV. The doctor showed me the results from 1990 until last
year. They were all negative, Lee. I saw them myself.”
Sidney closed her bloodshot eyes for a moment, lay back on her parents’
bed and took a deep breath. Wearily she made a decision.
She pulled out the card from her purse and stared at it for some
minutes.
She felt the overpowering need to talk to someone. For a number of
reasons, she decided it had to be him. She went down to the Land Rover
and carefully dialed the number.
Sawyer had just opened the door to his apartment when he heard the phone
start to ring. He grabbed up the phone, taking off his overcoat as he
did so.
“Hello?”
The line was silent for a moment and Sawyer was just about to hang up.
Then a voice came on the other end. Sawyer gripped the receiver with
both hands and let his coat fall on the floor. He stood rigidly in the
middle of his living room.
“Sidney?”
“Hello” The voice was small, but firm.
“Where are you?” Sawyer’s question was automatic, but he instantly
regretted it.
“Sorry, Lee, this is not a geography lesson.”
“Okay, okay.” Sawyer sat down in his battered recliner. “I don’t need
to know where you are. But are you safe?”
Sidney almost laughed. “Reasonably so, I guess, but it’s still just a
guess. I’m heavily armed, if that makes a difference.” She paused for a
moment. “I saw the TV news.”
“I know you didn’t kill them, Sidney.”
“HOW–”
“Just trust me on that one.”