“It is against human nature. We were meant to survive, to fight. Peace does not come naturally.”
“I think you may be wrong about that. But I can see where you might think it, given the company you’ve been keepin’. So why are you lookin’ for this General now? Seems like the best thing you could do is stay away from him.”
“I believe he was using me to draw attention away from his true accomplices. But now I know too much. I can tie him to Oklahoma City, among other crimes. He wants me dead.”
Loving nodded. “I know people who can make you disappear. Give you a new identity. IDs and everythin’.”
Shohreh laughed so hard, she clutched her bandages to ease the pain. “I have been that way before, thank you. The General is smart. A new identity will not stop him. But that is beside the point. I do not want to disappear. I want to seek out the General. And now I have lost my only lead.”
Loving allowed himself a hint of a smile. “Maybe not. I think the man who tried to kill you back at the cemetery can help us.”
“But-you said he had disappeared already when you returned.”
“That’s true. But I searched him before I left. And I found this address scrawled on a scrap of paper.”
Shohreh snatched the paper away from him. “I know this house. I thought it was long since closed down. They must have reopened it. They must have needed it to deal with…an upsurge in business.”
“Terrorism?”
“No. How they finance the terrorism.”
“Oil?”
She looked at him, her eyes wide. “Will you help me? I must find the General. For Djamila’s sake.”
Loving’s forehead creased. “Who’s that?”
She suddenly grew distant. “A little girl. An innocent whose life was taken by the General and his cruel business.”
“And that business is?”
Shohreh’s eyes lowered. “Sex.”
“You mean-you mean he makes his loot off…hookers?”
Shohreh shook her head sadly. “Children.”
26
Agent Gatwick tried to stay in the shadows as he slowly made his way to the appointed rendezvous site. He hated this whole business. He hated meeting at night; he hated meeting in darkness. And he especially hated meeting in a parking garage. It was way too Deep Throat for his taste.
Why did they have to meet like this, anyway? The explanation he’d been given was that certain “enemy eyes” might be watching. To him, that was all the more reason not to meet in secret. Meet in their offices and close the door, for God’s sake. Surely even the NSA couldn’t eavesdrop in the Secret Service offices. And a meeting like that wouldn’t attract any undue suspicion. This one surely would-if anyone found out about it.
He would just have to make damn sure no one found out about it.
“Psst!”
Gatwick whirled around. There, huddled behind a Land Rover, was the director of Homeland Security, Carl Lehman. A huge over six-foot-tall black man wearing-swear to God-a trench coat.
Gatwick knew the man was his boss, but he still couldn’t manage to keep his mouth shut. “I’m sorry, but don’t you feel just a little bit-silly?”
Lehman frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The director of Homeland Security. Crouched in shadows.”
“May I remind you what happened to the last director of Homeland Security?”
Okay, there the man had a point. “Do you have some reason to believe we’re in danger?”
“Don’t you get it?” Lehman slowly rose, careful to keep himself in the dark and out of view of the concealed video monitors. “I’m always in danger.”
“But today-”
“I was on national television today. My face was beamed all over the globe. Every terrorist on earth knows what I look like.”
Fine. Allow the man his paranoia. It seemed to boost his ego. “It wasn’t a terrorist who asked to meet with you. It was me.”
Lehman’s eyes darted left, then right. “You can never be too careful.” He paused, then added, “I think it’s best we’re not seen together, Tom. At least not until this amendment passes.”
So that was it. “Why would us being seen together arouse suspicion?”
“You support the amendment.”
“Along with virtually every other Secret Service agent.”
“Yes,” Lehman said slowly, “but there are…special circumstances in your case. You know it as well as I do.”
A deep furrow creased Gatwick’s brow. “Those special circumstances are exactly what we need to discuss. I’ve got Zimmer crawling all over my ass.”
“Sounds unpleasant.”
“He’s certain he’s uncovered some kind of conspiracy.”
Lehman’s left eyebrow rose. “Does he indeed.”
“Yeah.”
“What does he know?”
“Just enough to be irritating.”
“What are the goals of this imagined conspiracy?”
“He has no clue. But he thinks I’m in on it. I’m not sure he doesn’t think I’m in charge of it.”
“How flattering for you.”
“Not so much. He wants to blame me for the death of the first lady.”
“Wasn’t he shielding the first lady when she was killed?”
“Exactly!”
Lehman waved the air dismissively. “Guilt. He screwed up. Didn’t take the bullet. So now his superego has to find a scapegoat, someone else to blame, some way to tell himself he was not at fault. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“I have no choice but to worry about it!” Gatwick said, raising his voice. Lehman drew a finger across his lips, hushing him. “The man is not stupid. And he has a very big mouth. People listen to him.” Gatwick folded his arms, suddenly very cold. “I think something is going to have to be done about him.”
“Something…done about him? What exactly did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. You’re the director of Homeland Security. You tell me.”
“You want me to fire him?”
“At the very least.”
“Are you saying-?”
“Look, do you understand how much I’m hanging out here? I made the changes to Domino Bravo-just like you told me. And the first lady got killed, along with more than a dozen other people.”
“All I was doing was trying to fix one of my predecessor’s poorly designed protocols.”
“Zimmer doesn’t know that. My ass is totally hanging out on this one.”
