“Nice name. This Coalition for Social Justice? It’s responsible for bombing the Chase Tower?”
Daryn sighed. “I don’t know when, but somewhere Franklin lost control. Maybe it was seeing me with Michael…I mean Sean. I was never with Franklin sexually, yet he struck me as the kind who could have been very possessive, even without having ever done it.”
Faith shook her head. “You speak a lot of different languages, Daryn. You talk to Sean about ‘last fucks for the road,’ like any street hooker, and here and now, you sound like a social scientist.”
Daryn said nothing.
“So you and Sanborn created this Coalition. Why here? Why Oklahoma?”
“I’d been through here on my tour last year. I made a friend here, one of the girls on the street. Plus, there’s the whole ‘heartland’ syndrome. That’s about the only possible thing I could agree with that fool McVeigh on. Starting in New York or Washington or Chicago or Los Angeles would have been lost on everyone.” Daryn shifted on the sleeping bag. She moved a little closer to Faith “Why don’t we get down to business, Faith?”
“Okay, we’ll get down to business. When I talk to my boss, he’s going to want to know what information you have, and how important it is to national interests. Let’s start there.”
Faith thought she heard Daryn’s breathing quicken.
“And so,” Daryn said after a moment, “you would protect a terrorist if the information was right?”
“Are you a terrorist, Daryn?”
“You answered my question with a question.”
“Yes, I did,” Faith said. She didn’t move, staring at the other woman with unflinching eyes.
There was a long silence.
“You’re a very disarming woman,” Daryn said after a full minute. “I’m rarely at a loss, and you’ve done it twice now.”
Faith shrugged.
“It’s a very attractive quality. To me, it’s quite erotic.” Daryn’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Well,” she said slowly, “I’m only into guys, Daryn.”
Daryn moved a little closer. “No, you’re not, Faith. You say that, but you’re not. Let me touch you, Faith. I want to touch you everywhere.” She reached toward Faith, fingers outstretched.
“Daryn,” Faith said. “If you put your hand on me, I will break your wrist.”
Daryn froze.
“And then I’ll take you back downtown and drop you off where I found you. You’ll have to face the choices you’ve made, whether it’s with the FBI or your father or Sanborn. Your window of opportunity will close because of inappropriate behavior toward a federal officer.”
“You’re not just a federal officer, Faith. You’re also a woman.”
“Yep, and I’m a woman who’s into guys. And I’m a woman who doesn’t do quickie fucks with people who might be under her official jurisdiction.”
Daryn pulled away. “You’re not much like your brother. And you’re pretty good at speaking two languages yourself.”
“Comes with the territory. And as for my brother, he’s off limits to you now. Are you a terrorist, Daryn? Yes or no?”
Daryn leaned back and closed her eyes. “I didn’t intend to be. It wasn’t supposed to turn out the way it did.”
“Were you involved in a conspiracy to bomb the Chase Tower today?”
“Yes.” Eyes still closed.
“Are you involved in a conspiracy to do other similar acts with this Coalition?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have information about these other acts?”
“Yes.” Daryn reached into the pocket of her black jeans. She pulled out a folded piece of paper and tossed it to Faith.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a list of other targets, other banks we were going to strike, with the dates. It’s Franklin’s master plan.”
Faith squinted in the dim light. The list included some of the largest banks in the country, and the dates began one week from today.
“You’ve made your point,” Faith said. “Do you know where Sanborn is now?”
“He…” Daryn cleared her throat. “He took Britt-”
“Who’s Britt?”
“She’s my…friend here in town. She’s a street girl. She’s not very bright, and she was obsessed with me, never wanted to be far away from me. I don’t know how she’ll do.”
“Where did he take her?”
“They took your brother’s Jeep. Franklin said they were going to regroup in Mulhall.”
“Mulhall? As in the town of Mulhall? North of Guthrie, that Mulhall?”
“We had a house there where we were all living together. I guess the ones who didn’t get caught today went back there. They might still be there.”
Faith rattled the list in her hand. “These other locations. Do you have other groups of your Coalition?”
“Small cells in towns outside the metro areas of each bank. Five or six people each. We were the main center here, because this is where we were starting. I can give you the towns where every group is.”
Faith stopped a moment, studying the younger woman. When talking about the Coalition, Sanborn-anything but sex-Daryn’s voice had been flat, almost without emotion. Only when she’d tried to seduce Faith had she seemed animated. Daryn McDermott was complicated, and Faith still didn’t have a feel for which Daryn was the “real” one.
“Let me shift gears for a moment,” Faith said. “Who was Katherine Hall? She wasn’t a writer working on a book.”
“No. That’s what I told the landlord and the neighbors.”
“Mrs. Holzbauer is quite upset about what happened to you.”
“She and her husband are very sweet people. I’m sorry I had to lie to them.”
“More sorry than being a part of blowing up a building?”
“I’m not going to answer that.”
“That’s okay,” Faith said. “I wouldn’t answer it either, if I were you. So what about Kat?”
“I knew the Coalition was coming together, and that we’d be moving on our agenda very soon. And I knew that Daryn McDermott would have to lend her name to it.” A little note of bitterness crept into her voice. “The nutty daughter of the U.S. senator. Like it or not, Daryn McDermott’s name is known. She’s a minor celebrity. But for a while, I didn’t want to be her.” She seemed on the verge of saying something else, but was silent.
“That’s a fairly common feeling among people who’ve been in the spotlight for most of their lives.”
Daryn nodded. “I was born into the ruling class, and as much as I despise what it stands for now, I can’t deny being part of it. That would be hypocritical, and regardless of everything else I may be, I’m not a hypocrite. I wanted to taste the real world. I’ve crusaded for the rights of sex workers, and my own sexuality helps define a big part of who I am, so that’s what I became.”
“Sex workers? Isn’t that what they call them in the European countries where prostitution is legal?”
“That’s right. Very good. I spent a summer interning in Amsterdam, and that’s part of what opened my eyes about this issue. But I’d never had the experiences, and I wanted the experiences. I craved a real life. So Kat Hall was born. I knew her life would be short. I designed a website, put escort ads in various places on the Internet, and just like that, I was a professional escort. I met some intriguing men and women, had some great sex, some not-so-great sex, made connections with people. I knew it wouldn’t last long.” Her voice grew far away. “I had even asked the people at the Mulhall house to call me Kat, at least for a while, until we went public. It kept her alive a little longer.”
Faith got to her feet. “You’re a very unusual person, Daryn. I’ve dealt with some intriguing people in the last few years, but none like you.”
Daryn’s tone changed, became animated again. “You could still stay here with me for a while, woman to woman. I’m still interested.”
“And I’m still just into guys.” Faith moved toward the door. “There are some things I have to do now, to begin processing your case. I have phone calls to make, paperwork to do.”
“You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you?”
“I’ll call in a protective detail. There will be two deputy United States marshals here with you, a man and a woman. Do not under any circumstances try to seduce them, Daryn. If you do, I’ll know about it, and you’ll be on the street. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“They will not know any details of why you’re here, or what’s happening. They will not try to get information out of you. I am the only one you talk to about the case. The only things they can talk to you about are neutral subjects like what you want to eat, if you’re comfortable in the house, that sort of thing. Just so you know, they will be armed. They’re required to be, just in case. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Do I look like I could overpower two federal marshals?”
“Stranger things have happened,” Faith said. “I’ll be back when I can.”
“Will you be seeing your brother?”
“Not for a while. He needs a ‘time out’ too. I’ll deal with him later.”
“You know that he’s an alcoholic,” Daryn said, without emotion. “It controls him.”
“Yes, I know that,” Faith said, and left the room.
22
AT FIRST FAITH THOUGHT DARYN WOULD FOLLOW her out of the bedroom, but Daryn stayed where she was, propped against the wall in the semidarkness. Faith whipped out her cell phone. Her first call was to Chief Deputy Mark Raines in the office of the Marshals Service. She ordered a protective detail-two teams, twelve-hour shifts-and Raines got right on it, no questions asked. She also asked if they could provide her a car for the short term. Affirmative, with no questions. Such was the way of Department Thirty.
The two deputies arrived in two cars, a little less than an hour later. Faith knew both of them. The woman, Hagy, had done protection on the Alex Bridge case last year, and the man, Leneski, was one of the few Faith actually counted as personal friends. She gave them vague instructions-
