The Hammer of Eden

Honeymoon nodded. “Is that it?”

“Isn’t it enough?” she expostulated.

Honeymoon did not respond to that. He turned to Kincaid. “What have you got to say about all this?”

Kincaid gave him a shit-eating grin. “I don’t think we should bother you with internal disciplinary matters —”

“Oh, I want to be bothered,” Honeymoon said. There was a dangerous note in his voice, and the temperature in the room seemed to fall. “Look at it from my angle. You come here and tell me the earthquake definitely was not man-made.” His voice became louder. “Now it appears, from this evidence, that it very likely was. So we have a group out there that could cause a major disaster.” Judy felt a surge of triumph as it became clear Honeymoon had bought her story. He was furious with Kincaid. He stood up and pointed a finger at Brian. “You tell me you can’t find the perpetrators, then in walks Agent Maddox with a name, a police record, and a fucking picture.”

“I think I should say—”

“I feel like you’ve been dicking me around, Special Agent Kincaid,” said Honeymoon, overriding Kincaid. His face was dark with anger. “And when people dick me around I get kind of tetchy.”

Judy sat silent, watching Honeymoon destroy Kincaid. If this is what you’re like when you’re tetchy, Al, I’d hate to see you when you’re real mad.

Kincaid tried again. “I’m sorry if—”

“I also hate people who apologize,” Honeymoon said. “An apology is designed to make the offender feel okay so that he can do it again. Don’t be sorry.”

Kincaid tried to gather the shreds of his dignity. “What do you want me to say?”

“That you’re putting Agent Maddox in charge of this case.”

Judy stared at him. This was even better than she had hoped.

Kincaid looked as if he had been asked to strip naked in Union Square. He swallowed.

Honeymoon said: “If you have a problem with that, just say so, and I’ll have Governor Robson call the director of the FBI in Washington. The governor could then explain to the director the reasons why we’re making this request.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kincaid said.

“So put Maddox in charge.”

“Okay.”

“No, not ‘okay.’ I want you to say it to her, right here, right now.”

Brian refused to look at Judy, but he said: “Agent Maddox, you are now in charge of the Hammer of Eden investigation.”

“Thank you,” Judy said.

Saved!

“Now get out of here,” Honeymoon said.

They all got up.

Honeymoon said: “Maddox.”

She turned at the door. “Yes.”

“Call me once a day.”

That meant he would continue to support her. She could talk to Honeymoon any time she liked. And Kincaid knew it. “You got it,” she said.

They went out.

As they were leaving the Horseshoe, Judy gave Kincaid a sweet smile and repeated the words he had said to her the last time they were in this building, four days ago. “You did just fine in there, Brian. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

13

Dusty was sick all day Monday.

Melanie drove into Silver City to pick up more of the allergy drug he needed. She left Dusty being cared for by Flower, who was going through a sudden maternal phase.

She came back in a panic.

Priest was in the barn with Dale. Dale had asked him to taste the blend of last year’s wine. It was going to be a nutty vintage, slow to mature but long-lived. Priest suggested using more of the lighter pressing from the lower, shadier slopes of the valley, to make the wine more immediately appealing; but Dale resisted. “This is a connoisseur’s wine now,” he said. “We don’t have to pander to supermarket buyers. Our customers like to keep the wine in their cellars for a few years before drinking it.”

Priest knew this was not the real reason Dale wanted to talk to him, but he argued anyway. “Don’t knock the supermarket buyers — they saved our lives in the early days.”

“Well, they can’t save our lives now,” Dale said. “Priest, why the fuck are we doing this? We have to be off this land by next Sunday.”

Priest suppressed a sigh of frustration. For Christ’s sake, give me a chance! I’ve almost done it — the governor can’t ignore earthquakes indefinitely. I just need a little more time. Why can’t you have faith?

He knew that Dale could not be won over by bullying, cajoling, or bullshit. Only logic would work with him. He forced himself to speak calmly, the epitome of sweet reason. “You could be right,” he said magnanimously. Then he could not resist adding a gibe. “Pessimists often are.”

“So?”

“All I’m saying to you is, give it those six days. Don’t quit now. Leave time for a miracle. Maybe it won’t happen. But maybe it will.”

“I don’t know,” Dale said.

Then Melanie burst in with a newspaper in her hand. “I have to talk to you,” she said breathlessly.

Priest’s heart missed a beat. What had happened? It must be about the earthquakes — and Dale was not in on the secret. Priest gave him a grin that said Ain’t women peculiar? and led Melanie out of the barn.

“Dale doesn’t know!” he said as soon as they were out of earshot. “What the hell—”

“Look at this!” she said, waving the paper in front of his eyes.

He was shocked to see a photograph of a seismic vibrator.

He hastily scanned the yard and the nearby buildings, but no one was around. All the same, he did not want to have this conversation with Melanie out in the open. “Not here!” he said fiercely. “Put the damn paper under your arm and let’s go to my cabin.”

She got a grip on herself.

They walked through the little settlement to his cabin. As soon as they were inside, he took the newspaper from her and looked at the picture again. There was no doubt about it. He could not read the caption or the accompanying story, of course, but the photo was of a truck just like the one he had stolen.

“Shit,” he said, and threw the newspaper on the table.

“Read it!” Melanie said.

“It’s too dim in here,” he replied. “Tell me what it says.”

“The police are looking for a stolen seismic vibrator.”

“The hell they are.”

“It doesn’t say anything about earthquakes,” Melanie went on. “It’s just, like, a funny story — who’d want to steal one of these damn things?”

“I don’t buy that,” Priest said. “This can’t be a coincidence. The story is about us, even if they don’t mention us. They know how we made the earthquake happen, but they haven’t told the press yet. They’re scared of creating a panic.”

“So why have they released this picture?”