'Patriotism?' McCaskey asked sincerely.
'God and country cannot overcome greed,' Allan replied. 'When we engage in field work of this kind, it has to be successful. Often, it also requires plausible deniability, as you know. When we need it super clean, we go into a for-hire mode.'
McCaskey had no more questions. But something the doctor just said did interest him. He stood. Allan also rose.
'Sir, I appreciate your time and counsel,' McCaskey said.
The men shook hands across the desk.
'I am truly sorry it could not be more,' Allan said.
'To the contrary,' McCaskey told him. 'This was very helpful, though I have to ask you, Doctor, to satisfy my own curiosity. What is it that drives you? Patriotism or greed?'
'Neither. I'm here for the difference in conjunctions,' Allan replied.
'I don't follow.'
'I asked myself that very question for years,' Allan told him as they walked toward the door. 'I deluded myself into thinking I came to work here out of civic spirit. Then I realized that, at the heart of it, I enjoyed more power than any other physician I know. I have power over life and death. That's and, Mr. McCaskey. Not or.'
The difference in conjunctions.
McCaskey left the doctor's office. He was glad to go. The office that had seemed warm and personal when he arrived now had a pall about it, a subtle chill, like the waiting room of a slaughterhouse. Murder was conceived here, plotted with cool, impersonal efficiency.
The young aide was still waiting outside the door to escort McCaskey back to the lobby. They walked in silence. This time, though, McCaskey's head was filled with noise. There was the sound of his own voice as he cherry-picked what had been said by Link and others. He played out an evolving monologue in his mind as he sifted through the last few days for clues.
He confronted his own shortcomings in his approach to the murder.
Maria always said her husband was naive. In a way, he was. He had always been an idealistic, self-denying G-man, Harry Hairshirt. In this instance maybe they were both right. Any crime could be approached two ways: with facts or with philosophy. McCaskey had been looking mostly at the facts. That was useful but narrow. A good commander could cover his tracks, as the assassin had done, but not his philosophy.
Greed versus patriotism versus power. One or more of those could well be the motive in this case, but to what degree and in what combination?
McCaskey had contemplated possible reasons behind Wilson's assassination, possibly a warning to investors that they should bank American. Perhaps the truth was much bigger than that.
Mike Rodgers had spent time with these people. The admiral himself was a military man. If Link were behind this, Rodgers might have thoughts about which of those values applied. McCaskey had to get in touch with him and the senator.
There was an out-of-service response from the general's cell phone, and no answer at his house. That left one place for McCaskey to try.
He slid into his car and headed toward Washington. McCaskey decided not to call Senator Orr's office but simply to go over. Rodgers might not like it, and the senator might like it even less. McCaskey had only two words for that, words he was prepared to back with his own show of greed and power.
Too bad.
THIRTY-THREE
Washington, D.C. Tuesday, 4:10 p.m.
Mike Rodgers knew that he had already made a complete mental break from Op-Center. Since the Monday- morning meeting with Hood about budget cuts, Rodgers had not worried about unfinished NCMC business, about future activities, or about the operational status of his field agents.
After the blast, however, Rodgers suspected something else: that he had also divorced himself from Op- Center emotionally. He felt sad for the team members, who were hardworking and diligent, and for Mac's family, of
