Hank respected him for being an all-business, by-the-book career agent who had learned to play the game over the years without losing quite all of his integrity.
“Have you seen the papers?” Dunlap asked.
“I just finished them,” Hank admitted.
“Pretty bad,” Dunlap said. “Any idea who the leak is?”
“No, but when I find out I’m going to ruin his day.”
“I’ve scheduled a meeting for nine A.M. tomorrow,” Dunlap said, “in my office at the Hoover Building. The director himself will be there. I went out on a limb to keep you on this case, Hank, and now the pressure’s on. He’ll want a complete update on the progress of the investigation and how we plan to deal with the media on this one. It’s a whole new ball game now and we’ve got to get our ducks in a row.”
Hank ignored both the cliched mixed metaphor and the burning sensation in the middle of his stomach. “I understand, sir. I’ll be ready for any questions.”
“Is there anything you need to update me on since we last talked?”
“I’m sorry to say, sir, there isn’t. I wish I had better news.”
“So do I,” Dunlap said sternly. “The squeeze’s on with this one, Hank. The old man’ll want to know how we’re going to nail this. We don’t need another strikeout.”
“I know that, sir,” Hank said, understanding the reference to published reports that the FBI’s success rate was the worst of all the various federal law enforcement agencies. Even the BATFucks were outscoring them these days.
There was a slight break in the connection, and Hank realized it was an incoming call, probably Jackie. There was no way he could put Dunlap on hold to check a call waiting cue.
“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Show me something good on this one, Hank.”
“I’ll do my best, sir.”
Dunlap hung up without saying another word. Hank reached up and quickly clicked the telephone button.
“Hello,” he said.
“Daddy?”
“Hi, precious, how are you?”
“I didn’t know if you were going to answer or not,” Jackie said. Her voice was soft and sweet to his ears. Another year or two and she would sound just like her mother.
“I’m sorry, baby, I had another call. It was business and I couldn’t break away. You know how it is.”
“Unfortunately, these days I do,” Jackie said, scolding him. “Don’t you ever take a complete day off?”
“I’m off today,” Hank said. “It was just a phone call.”
“Yeah, just a phone call. Are you going into the office today?”
Hank hesitated. A nine o’clock meeting in Washington meant he’d have to spend most of the afternoon in Quantico getting ready. He didn’t want to admit what he was up against, yet couldn’t bring himself to lie to his daughter either.
“For a little while,” he confessed after a few moments.
“No big deal.”
“Daddy, you’ve got to quit this,” Jackie said, real concern in her voice. “I’m worried about you.”
“You’re worried about me?” Hank asked. “Who was it that last weekend spent Saturday night working on a term paper until three in the morning?”
“It’s winter term up here, Dads,” she said. “We’re snowed in. There’s nothing else to do.”
“You could sleep, you know,” Hank offered.
“I do plenty of that. Look, Dads, I’ve been thinking about spring vacation. It’s only six weeks away.”
“I know,” Hank said. He’d been thinking about spring vacation, too, and trying to figure a way to take some time off and travel with Jackie. A beach, maybe, or perhaps even a trip overseas. But with everything going on, it wasn’t looking good.
“I think I know what I want to do, if it’s okay with you,”
she said.
“Okay, shoot.”
“I talked to Miss Appling yesterday. She wants me to go down to Florida with the soccer team for spring break. It might mean being a varsity starter next year if I do okay.”
Jackie had just missed making the starting lineup for varsity soccer last fall and had been terribly disappointed.
He knew she wanted to take another shot at it. Anne had been captain of the soccer team her senior year in boarding school.
“Where will you go?” Hank asked, hiding his disappointment at not seeing his daughter over spring vacation.
“Tallahassee,” she answered. “We’ll stay in dorms at FSU, eat in the cafeteria.”
“Tallahassee,” Hank sighed.
“Yes, Tallahassee,” Jackie said. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, sweetheart, no, it’s just that … Well, will there be lots of adult supervision, chaperones?”
“Daddy, please,” Jackie said, exasperated.
“I just worry about you,” he said.
“That’s sweet, but I’m a big girl now,” Jackie said. “I go off to college in a couple of years.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Well, it’s true. And I can take care of myself.”
Hank started to tell her that there were things in life no one could take care against, but held his tongue. There was no need to dump his own baggage off on his daughter. She wouldn’t understand anyway.
“I just hope you’ll be careful,” he said. “I love you, precious. I can’t help but worry.”
“Daddy, I’ll be okay,” Jackie said, trying to placate him.
“Okay, you can go. On one condition …”
“Yes?”
“You won’t be embarrassed if I take off a couple of days and fly down to see you.”
Jackie giggled. “I’d love it. Can you?”
“I’ll start working on it tomorrow.”
“Great,” she said, excited. “There’s some forms and stuff you’ll have to fill out, and it’s going to cost a little bit. Not too much, though.”
“I think we can handle it,” Hank said. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Oh, Daddy, stop it,” she said.
But Hank knew, as they said good-bye and hung up, that he couldn’t stop, could never stop worrying about her, not in this world.
Not ever.
CHAPTER 13
Priscilla Janovich loved Sundays. After thirty-five years teaching high school English in the Metro Nashville public school system, she had never quite gotten used to retirement, even though she was now in her fourth year of it. She had too little to do during the week, and that often made her feel guilty or restless and sometimes both. But resting on Sunday, enjoying her newspapers and her mystery novel and a drink in the middle of the afternoon before a long nap, had been a lifelong habit for her. She savored Sundays like some people savor a fine steak or a glass of wine.
