'Gotcha. And you have people there now?'
'Of course.' She said, as if to herself, 'The man's got Alzheimer's. Who would want to kill him?'
'Well, he may have Alzheimer's, but the people who want to kill him have long memories.'
'I hear you. It's under control.'
'How big is this ranch?'
'Pretty big. About seven hundred acres.'
'How many Secret Service guarded it when he was there as President?'
'About a hundred.'
'And now?'
'I don't know. There were six today. We're trying to get another dozen up there. The Secret Service office here in L.A. isn't big. None of our offices are big. We get the manpower from the local police and from Washington when we need it.'
Kate didn't seem so hot to trot now and asked Lisa, 'Why don't you use the FBI?'
Lisa replied, 'There are FBI on their way from Ventura. But they'll be posted near Santa Barbara. That's the closest town. We can't have non-Secret Service actually on the ranch who don't understand our modus operandi. People can get hurt.'
Kate pointed out, 'But if you don't have enough people, then the person you're protecting can get hurt.'
She didn't reply.
I asked, 'Why don't you get him out of there and into a safe location?'
Lisa looked around again and said, 'Look, this is not considered a highly credible threat. But to answer your questions, there's only one narrow winding road into those mountains, and it's ambush heaven. The lighted presidential helipad is no longer there, but even if it were, the mountains are totally socked in with fog tonight, like they are most nights this time of year.'
'Jesus. Whose idea was this?'
'You mean to go to Rancho del Cielo? I don't know. Probably seemed like a good idea at the time.' She added, 'Understand that this man, despite his past job, is a sick old man who hasn't been in the public eye for ten years. He hasn't done or said anything that would make him a target of assassination. In fact, we log more death threats against the White House pets than we do against this former President. I understand that the situation has possibly changed, and we'll react to that. Meanwhile, we've got three heads of state visiting L.A., two of whom are hated by half the world, and we're stretched pretty thin. We don't want to lose a visiting head of state from a friendly country, even if they are not nice people. I don't want to sound cold and heartless, but let's face it, Ronald Reagan is not that important.'
'I think he is to Nancy. The kids. Look, Lisa, there's a psychological downside to having a former President whacked. Bad for morale. You know? Not to mention your job. So, try to get your bosses to take this seriously.'
'We take it very seriously. We're doing all we can at the moment.'
'Also, this presents an opportunity to capture the number one terrorist in America.'
'We understand that. But understand that this theory of yours is not getting much play.'
'Okay. Don't say I didn't warn everyone.'
'We appreciate the warning.'
I opened the car door, and Lisa asked us, 'Are you going there?'
I replied, 'No. Not in the mountains, in the dark. And we have to be in D.C. tomorrow. Hey, thanks.'
'For what it's worth, I'm with you on this.'
'See you at the Senate inquest.'
I got into the car, and Kate was already behind the wheel. She pulled out of the parking area and onto the driveway. The gates opened automatically, and we moved out onto St. Cloud Road. Kate asked me, 'Where to?'
'The Ranch in the Sky.'
'Why did I even ask?'
CHAPTER 53
Off we went to Rancho del Cielo. But first, we had to get out of Santa Bel Air, and it took a while to get to a freeway entrance.
Kate asked me, 'I already know the answer, but tell me why we're going to the Reagan ranch.'
'Because ninety percent of life is just showing up.'
'Try again.'
'We have six hours to kill before our dawn flight. Might as well try to kill Asad Khalil while we're killing time.'
She took a deep breath, smelling the flowers, I guess. She asked me, 'And you think Khalil knows that Reagan is there, and that Khalil intends to kill him there. Right?'
'I think Khalil intended to kill Reagan in Bel Air, got some new information from someone when he got to California, had Aziz Rahman drive him north from Santa Monica to check out the terrain around the Reagan ranch, and to ditch his overnight bag that probably contained the Clocks and his false identity papers in a canyon. It fits, it makes sense, and if I'm wrong, I'm really in the wrong business.'
She thought a moment, then said, 'Okay, I'm with you on this, for better or for worse. That's what commitment is all about.'
'Absolutely.'
'And commitment is reciprocal.'
'Hey, I'd take a bullet for you.'
She looked at me, and we made eye contact in the dark car. She saw I was serious, and neither of us said the obvious, which was we might be about to find out. She did say, 'Me, too.'
Finally, she found the freeway entrance, and we got on, heading north on the San Diego Freeway. I asked her, 'Do you know where the ranch is?'
'Somewhere in the Santa Inez Mountains near Santa Barbara.'
'Where's Santa Barbara?'
'North of Ventura, south of Goleta.'
'Got it. How long will it take?'
'Maybe two hours to Santa Barbara, depending on the fog. I don't know how to get to the ranch from there, but we'll find out.'
'You want me to drive?'
'No.'
'I can drive.'
'I know how to drive, and I know the roads. Go to sleep.'
'I'm having too much fun. Hey, if you want, we can stop at the Ventura office for body armor.'
'I'm not anticipating a shoot-out. In fact, when we get to the ranch, we'll be politely asked to leave, just as we were in Bel Air. The Secret Service are very protective of their own turf.' She added, 'Especially with FBI involvement.'
'I can relate to that.'
She said, 'We are not going to be given a piece of this, but if you want to be close to any possible action, then we're headed the right way.'
'That's all I want. Call the Ventura office later and find out where the FBI folks are posted in Santa Barbara.'
'Okay.'
'Hey, this is a nice road. Really beautiful country here.
Reminds me of those old cowboy movies. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix.'
'Never heard of them.'
