Oath of Office

single hooded bulb at the end of a metal pole protruding from the theater. There were several similar lights spaced along the alley.

“Hello?” she called out in a strained whisper. “Are you here?”

Silence, and then, “I’m here.”

It took several unsettling seconds to locate the source of the voice. A tall man, six-foot-one or so, with broad, powerful shoulders, approached her from behind a parked car. He wore a baseball cap and glasses with a thick black frame, and had a neatly trimmed full beard. He was probably good-looking, but in the gloom, with the glasses and the beard, it was hard to tell. Darlene guessed him to be about forty. He was wearing a patterned blazer, blue oxford shirt, and crisply pressed pants.

A man of the outdoors, she decided.

He remained a couple of yards away, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Kim and I call you Double M for ‘Mystery Man,’” she said.

He held an electrolarynx against his throat, making his speech eerily robotic-and not identifiable. “Good nickname,” he said.

“You can come closer. I’m not afraid of you.”

Double M closed the gap between them by half, but declined taking Darlene’s extended hand.

“My name is Alex,” he said.

“That’s not your real name, is it?” Darlene said.

“No, but that doesn’t matter.”

His electronic voice was creepy, especially given the setting, but Darlene was determined not to react. “Okay, then, Double M Alex,” she said, “you want this to be our level of trust, that’s up to you.”

“I would be in great danger if my identity became known.”

“Well, we don’t have much time. What are we doing here?”

“Trying to save lives.” He studied Darlene as though she were an equation to be solved.

A professor or a scientist, she guessed. “Go on,” she said.

“First of all, you need to know that the recording you heard was real.”

“I believed it was. Otherwise I would not have risked so much for this meeting.”

“You may have to risk even more.”

“Who was on that recording?” asked Darlene. “Who was the girl? The other man speaking? What happened to her?”

Behind his lenses, Double M’s eyes narrowed. “At this point, I can’t reveal who is involved in that tape.”

Darlene was beginning to feel exasperated with the man’s paranoia. “What is it you want from me … Alex?”

Double M sucked in a nervous breath. “You must use your influence to get your husband to reinstate Secretary Evans.”

Darlene tensed. “Is Evans behind this?” she asked.

“I don’t even know the man.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that can’t be done,” Darlene said. “Politics simply doesn’t work that way. Russ Evans has resigned, and he’s embarrassed the president.”

“There’s nothing in the Constitution to prevent reinstating him,” Double M countered.

Darlene stifled a laugh. “One thing I’ve learned from my years as a politician’s wife is that the Constitution may be a marvelous framework, but it isn’t politics.”

Double M appeared agitated. “We can’t let the president’s nominee get appointed. Russell Evans must be returned as Secretary of Agriculture, and soon.”

“And lives depend on it.”

“They might.”

“Might? Well, from what I can tell, Gretchen Rose has impeccable credentials and widespread support. Her approval by Congress is all but assured. Are you suggesting that she is somehow involved with what I heard on that recording?”

“Indirectly,” he said.

Darlene felt herself emotionally pulling away from the man. Assuming Russ had been framed, she wanted to do anything she could to help him, but it didn’t feel as if this skittish man was the answer.

“By indirectly, you mean-?”

“It’s about her policies,” Double M said.

“So did Secretary Evans’s policies get him framed?”

“Yes.”

“You need to tell me more. Our time together is running out. You need to come clean with me, and you need to do it right now.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Darlene replied, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

“I have my reasons for being oblique.”

“I sincerely want to help my friend Russ,” Darlene said.

“Then you’re going to have to trust me without getting all the facts. That’s the deal.”

“At least tell me what’s at stake here. Tell me why it’s so imperative that Gretchen Rose not be appointed.”

“It’s impossible to say precisely what’s at stake. But it could be a great deal.”

Darlene frowned. “Okay, we’re done. I’ve put a lot on the line to meet with you this way, and I’m very disappointed that I took the risk. I don’t appreciate circuitous conversation. You won’t get my help this way. There’s just too much at stake for me.”

Shoulders sagging, Double M turned and appeared ready to depart. After one unsteady step, he whirled back around. “Her name is Margo.”

“The girl on the recording?”

“Yes.”

“So, in order to get my husband to reinstate Russell Evans, you want me to find this girl named Margo.”

Double M reached into his jacket pocket, and Darlene had a flash of panic that he was going for a weapon. Before she could react or even process the thought, his hand came out holding a handkerchief.

“I have something for you,” he said, reaching into his jacket with the handkerchief to withdraw a letter-sized white envelope. “As you heard on the recording, she’s a prostitute. I’m sure of that. Besides her name, that’s all I know. Inside this envelope are several photographs of her that I took. Her face is partially obscured, and I never got a clean a shot, because I was trying to be discreet. But I’ve also included a flash drive with an MP3 voice sample that could be used for matching purposes, as well as the girl’s fingerprint, which I lifted using a piece of Scotch tape off the chair she was sitting on. Do you know people who could help?” ”

“I might.”

“I heard her mention she was living in D.C.”

“Well, that might be useful.”

Double M handed over the envelope. Darlene’s heart sank as she flipped through four grainy color photographs of a titian-haired, blindfolded girl with a willowy frame, both seated upon and standing beside a wooden chair. Not much. Not much at all.

“I’m not making any promises,” Darlene said. “I assume from the precautions not to leave your fingerprints that I can keep these.”

Double M adjusted the electrolarynx against the side of his trachea. “I was hoping you would. If I learn any more, I’ll get the information to you.”

“Come on, Alex. You can at least be honest enough to tell me you’re holding stuff back.”

“Okay, let’s just say I’ve told you everything I can.”

“May I ask why you approached me and not my husband?”

“Your husband won’t believe the tape recording is real. In addition, he has too much to lose by reneging on his stance. He respected Russell Evans when he nominated him, but he’s not nearly as intensely connected to the man and his policies as you are.”

“And how are you so sure about my feelings toward Evans?”