did or not, the guard didn’t seem to notice. And that was what counted.
“Will you be inside there a few minutes?”
“Probably. Is there something you need?”
“Yes, sir. I got to take a crap, Doctor, but I’m not supposed to leave this door. If you wouldn’t mind …”
Longarm smiled. Didn’t have to fake it either. “Go ahead. I’ll stay with him until you get back.”
“Thanks, Doc. I mean … Doctor. Thanks an awful lot.” The guard—he looked young enough to barely be shaving—looked embarrassed and eager and grateful all at the same time. He stood, bobbing his head, and hurried off down the hall toward the main staircase that Longarm had come up just a few minutes earlier.
Longarm waited until the guard reached the stairs and was on his way down.
Then he shoved the room door open and went inside to see the patient listed on hospital records as Arthur James Janus.
Chapter 25
“It’s about time you showed up.”
“My God. It’s really you.” Longarm felt … he didn’t know what exactly. Relieved. Pleased. Just about overflowing with whatever else might have been mixed into that stew of abraded nerves and uncertain feelings.
“Of course it’s me,” Billy Vail said, sounding more peeved than anything. “Who the hell were you expecting?”
“I didn’t … dammit, Billy, they said you were dead.”
“Dead? Don’t be absurd. You can see perfectly well that I’m just fine.”
“Yeah, but …”
Billy’s normally pink complexion paled. “Someone told you I was killed? But they told me you, all of you, were in on the secret.”
“Secret, Boss? The only secret I know about is the one that kept anybody from knowing you’re still alive. They said you were dead. And the commissioner an’ his wife an’ the U.S. attorney too. They said all of you were killed by that bomb blast.”
“I’m fine. As you can see for yourself. So are Jason Terrell and Commissioner Troutman.”
“The U.S. attorney is alive too? And the commissioner? But they said-” Longarm shut up. And frowned. What the hell was going on here anyway?
“They’re fine, Longarm. We three survived the bombing.”
“You’ve seen them your own self? Talked to them?”
“No, I haven’t left this room since they put me here. But I was told … oh. I see what you mean. It could be that Jason and the commissioner are dead too, I suppose. But what reason would anyone have for lying about this? About any of it?”
“Billy, I’ll be damned if I know. Yet. But it does make for kind of an interesting question, doesn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it just,” Billy Vail agreed.
“They,” Longarm said. “Just who might ‘they’ be?”
“The assistant United States attorney for one. Cotton, his name is.”
“Uh-huh. Except he’s acting U.S. attorney now that Mr. Terrell is s’posed to be dead. Along with you.”
“Let me see. Who else?” Billy mused. “I’ve spoken with the majority leader of the state senate, Senator Goodwin. And Congressman Forsythe, of course. He’s been by to see me several times. Mostly, though, it has been J.B. who has been in to see how I am. He brings me magazines, some wines that the hospital people won’t allow, little favors like that. He has been very thoughtful really. He brings me news too.” Billy scowled. “Like what you and the others have been doing as part of the investigation.”
“Now ain’t that interesting,” Longarm said, “because me and all the regular fellows been sent off on shit details while the investigation into the bombing has been taken over by a couple gents named Smith and Jones from the Secret Service.”
“That isn’t at all what J.B. has been telling me.”
“Billy, like I said before, dammit, what we’ve all been told is that you, all of you, were dead. Wiped out. They even had a burial service for you. Dandy eulogy, coffins, all that.”
“What about my wife, Longarm? Surely she has been told the truth. They said she was told. They said she knew not to worry.”
“I wouldn’t know ‘bout that, Billy. I saw Henry last night. He said your widow—I mean your wife—was torn up pretty bad by the news you were dead. She was at the funeral, of course. If she knew the truth, then she’s one hell of a fine actress, for she surely looked like a grieving widow that day. After the funeral, Henry told me, she went back East to stay with her sister or somebody for a spell.”
“Damn,” Billy grumbled.
“Billy, how the hell did you live through that mess anyhow? I was there that day. It was a helluva explosion. I saw for myself when the ambulance people picked you up an’ carried you off. You were drenched all over with blood. I remember that clear as if I could still see it. For that matter, I still can whenever I close my eyes, though I try not to.”
“That wasn’t my blood, Longarm. It was Mrs. Troutman’s. She took nearly all the force of the blast.”
Longarm raised an eyebrow and waited for Billy to explain.
