TOTAL CONTROL By: David Baldacci

don’t know where Jason is, and if I were to go away too …”

Her voice trailed off.

Sawyer looked confused for a moment and then it dawned on him what she

was saying. He reached across and gently took one of her hands.

“Sidney, I don’t believe you had anything to do with any of this. I’m

sure as hell not going to arrest you and take you away from your

daughter. Maybe you didn’t tell me the whole story before, but Christ,

you’re only human. I can’t even begin to imagine the pressure you’ve

been under. Please believe me. And trust me.” He let go of her hand

and sat back.

She dabbed at her eyes, managed a brief smile, and composed herself.

She took one last deep breath before taking the plunge. “That was my

husband on the phone the day you came by.” After having said it, she

glanced sharply at Sawyer, as though she were still afraid that he might

pull out his handcuffs. He merely hunched forward, his face a mass of

wrinkles.

“What did he say? Give it to me as precisely as you can.”

“He said that he knew things looked bad, but that he would explain

everything as soon as he saw me. I was so thrilled to know he was

alive, I didn’t ask very many questions. He also called me from the

airport before he got on the plane on the day of the crash.”

Sawyer perked up. “But I didn’t have time to talk to him.”

Sidney steeled herself for another guilt attack as the memory flooded

back to her. Then she recounted to Sawyer Jason’s late nights at the

office and their early morning conversation before he had left for the

airport.

“And he suggested the New Orleans trip?” Sawyer asked.

She nodded. “He said if he didn’t contact me at the hotel that I should

go to Jackson Square and he would get a message to me there.”

“The shoe shine guy, right?”

Sidney nodded again.

Sawyer sighed. “So that was Jason you called from the pay phone?”

“Actually, the message said to call my office number, only Jason

answered. He said not to say anything, that the police were around.

He told me to go home and he would contact me when it was safe to do

so.”

“But he hasn’t as yet?”

She slowly shook her head. “They heard nothing.”

Sawyer chose his words carefully. “You know, Sidney, your loyalty is

admirable, it really is. You’ve lived up to your marriage vows

big-time, because I don’t think even God himself envisioned these kinds

of ‘bad times.””

“But?” She looked at him searchingly.

“But there comes a time when you have to look beyond the devotion,

beyond the feelings you have for someone and consider the cold, hard

facts. I’m not very eloquent, but if your husband did something

wrong–and I’m not saying he did–then you shouldn’t go down with him.

Like you said, you’ve got a little girl who needs you. I’ve got four

kids of my own; I’m not the greatest father in the world, but I can

still relate.”

“So what are you proposing?” Her voice was hushed.

“Cooperation. Nothing more than that. You give me info, I give you

info. Here’s some for you. Call it a good-faith deposit. The stuff in

the newspaper article pretty much sums up what we know. You saw the

video. Your husband met with someone and an exchange took place. Triton

is convinced it was information designed to hurt their chances at

acquiring CyberCom. They also have pretty strong evidence tying Jason

to the bank fraud.”

“I know the evidence seems overwhelming, but I can’t believe any of it.

I really can’t.”

“Well, sometimes the clearest signposts point in the wrong direction.

It’s my job to figure out which way they should be pointing.

I gotta admit I don’t believe your husband is completely clean, but on

the other hand, I don’t think he’s the only one out there.”

“You think he’s working with RTG, don’t you?”

“It’s possible,” Sawyer frankly admitted. “We’re following up that lead

along with all the others. It seems the most straightforward, but then

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