'Can I borrow your phone?' he said.
He called the Mole. 'It's done,' Quinn said.
'Good . . . or bad?' the Mole asked.
'Good.'
'And the boy?'
'Safe.'
'Then I don't. . . need to . . . make any calls.'
'No. But I would like you to send the sample and your results to Peter.' 'Of course.' Quinn's next call was to the Office. Once Peter
was on the line, he filled him in on the basics, then said, 'I'm going to send you a video file. Jansen made it. You'll also be receiving a separate sample you can use to cross-check everything. Those things and the remaining tainted mints Nate delivered to the embassy should go a long way to making some people realize they had a bit of an assessment breakdown.'
'I'd say that's a pretty fair guess,' Peter said. 'Jansen says that HFA backed the operation.
Someone needs to deal with them.' 'I'll pass it along.' Quinn paused. 'I need you to get Nate out.' 'I thought you didn't need me for anything
anymore.' 'I'm too tired to argue, Peter. Just get him out,
okay?' 'I'll see what I can do.' 'And Kenneth Murray?' 'He's being reassigned. A promotion, actually.
The embassy in Singapore. There's a lot of traffic
that goes through there. He'll have plenty to do.' 'Thank you,' Quinn said. 'Burroughs isn't happy, though.' 'I'm sure you'll throw him a bone.'
There was a report on the television the next morning. A terrorist plot to strike somewhere in Berlin had been thwarted. The nature of the threat was not revealed. The least surprising part of the story to Quinn was who was taking credit.
'NATO is pleased that our efforts have led to the dismantling of this attempted act of terrorism,' Mark Burroughs said. He was standing in front of a podium overflowing with microphones. Quinn couldn't see the spook's feet, but he imagined one was wrapped in a cast. 'I will be flying to Washington later today to personally brief the President.'
Quinn, Orlando, and Garrett had spent the night in a small hotel owned by a friend of Dr. Garber's. It had been a restless night for Quinn. His mind still seemed to be on overdrive, reliving the events of the previous day. Sometimes the results changed, showing him how close he had come to losing everything.
At breakfast, Quinn and Orlando said very little. In fact, they had said very little to each other since they had left Dr. Garber's. As they were finishing, Orlando's phone began to ring. She answered it, then held it out to Quinn.
'It's Peter.'
'What?' Quinn said once he had the phone.
'They're releasing Nate,' he said. 'You'll find him at the Brandenburg Gate in ten minutes.'
The cab ride from the hotel took them fifteen minutes. Nate was there, alone, standing on the sidewalk. His eyes lit up when he saw Garrett.
'Hey, kid,' Nate said.
Garrett hid behind his mother as she reached out and hugged Nate. 'Good to see you.' 'Good to be seen,' he said, smiling. 'How did it go?' Quinn asked. 'Not something I'd want to do every day,' Nate
said. 'I think at first they thought I was just crazy. But a couple key words and phrases always get people moving. Terrorist. Biological weapon. Nuclear threat.'
'Nuclear threat?'
'There was this one guy, I swear to God. He just wouldn't believe me. He wanted to open the boxes and check out the mints himself. It was the only thing that would stop him.'
'Did they treat you all right?' 'I've stayed with worse people since I've been here.' 'I'm glad you're okay,' Orlando said. 'I was worried.' 'Why worry?' Nate said. 'I'm a professional hostage now.'
Orlando smiled. She gave Quinn a quick glance, then stepped to the curb and raised her hand. 'Taxi,' she called out.
Within seconds a tan Mercedes cab pulled over.
'Where are you going?' Quinn asked.
'I need to take Garrett home,' she said as she put a hand on her son's shoulder. 'I just wanted to make sure Nate got out okay.'
Quinn was surprised. He'd hoped for a little more time to debrief, more time just to talk.
'Couldn't we . . . I mean I was hoping . . .' He tried, but couldn't finish what he wanted to say.
She seemed to sense his meaning anyway. 'Give me a little time,' she said. 'I just need to be with my son for a while.' She hesitated. 'I'll let you know when I'm ready.'
'Sure,' Quinn said. 'I understand.' Orlando helped Garrett into the taxi, then hugged Nate again.
'You're going to do fine,' she told him. 'Listen to what Quinn tells you. At least ninety percent of it's good advice.'
