the 9mm model, and so forth. 'It won't penetrate body armor, but it will knock down a man.'
She seemed uninterested in this subject and said, 'I need to get this apartment squared away.'
'It looks fine.'
'Do you live in a dump?'
'I used to. But I wound up in the marital residence. It's not bad.'
'How'd you meet your wife?'
'Mail order.'
She laughed.
'I sent for a cappuccino machine, but I think I wrote the item number wrong, and she showed up, UPS.'
'You're weird.' She looked at her watch. 'I want to catch the eleven o'clock news later. There were three press conferences.'
'Right.'
She stood up and said, 'I'll check my answering machine, and tell the ICC I'm home.' She looked at me and asked, 'Should I say that you're here?'
'That's your call.'
'They have to know where you are at all times with this case.'
'I know that.'
'Well? Are you staying?'
'That's also your call. Surprise me.'
'Right.' She turned and went through a door that led to her bedroom or office.
I sipped my Scotch, contemplating the length and purpose of my visit. I knew that if I finished my drink and left, then Ms. Mayfield and I would no longer be pals. If I stayed and did the deed, then Ms. Mayfield and I would also no longer be pals. I'd really gotten myself into a corner.
Anyway, she returned and said, 'There was just that message from you.' She sat down beside me again and stirred her Scotch and ice with her finger. 'I called the ICC.'
Finally, I asked, 'Did you mention that I was here?'
'I did. The duty officer had it on speaker, and I could hear a cheer from the crowd.'
I smiled.
She made another drink for herself, then rummaged around the cellophane bags, commenting, 'I shouldn't have this junk in the house. I really can cook. But I don't. What do you do for meals at home?'
'I bring home roadkill.'
'Do you like living alone?'
'Sometimes.'
'I've never lived with anyone.'
'Why not?'
'The job, I guess. The hours. Calls at all hours, trips here and there. Reassignments. Plus, you've got guns and classified documents in the house, but I guess that's not a big deal.' She said, 'The older guys tell me that years ago if a female agent lived with a guy, she was in trouble.'
'Probably true.'
'I don't think the guys got away with a lot either. The FBI has changed.' She said, 'You're an older guy. What was life like in the forties?'
I smiled, but that wasn't funny.
Ms. Mayfield had consumed four cocktails, but she seemed lucid enough.
We listened to 'I Only Have Eyes for You' awhile and made small talk. She surprised me by saying, 'I drink when I'm nervous. Sex always makes me nervous. I mean, first-time sex. Not sex itself. How about you?'
'Yeah… I get a little tense.'
'You're not as tough as you act.'
'That's my evil twin you're thinking of. James Corey.'
'Who's the woman out on Long Island?'
'I told you. A homicide cop.'
'Is it serious? I mean, I don't want to put you in an awkward situation.'
I didn't reply.
She said, 'A lot of the women in the office think you're sexy.'
'Really? I've been on my best behavior.'
'It doesn't matter what you do or say. It's how you walk and look.'
'Am I blushing?'
'A little.' She asked me, 'Am I being too forward?'
I had a good standard answer to that and said, 'No, you're being honest and up-front. I like a woman who can express her interest in a man without any of the hang-ups that society forces on women.'
'Bullshit.'
'Right. Pass the Scotch.'
She took the bottle and walked over to the couch. 'Let's watch the news.'
I took my glass and sat on the couch. She turned off the CD, found the zapper, and turned on the CBS 11 o'clock news.
The lead story was Trans-Continental Flight 175 and the press conferences. The anchor-woman was saying, 'We have some startling new developments regarding the tragedy of Flight One-Seven-Five at Kennedy Airport on Saturday. Today, in a joint press conference, the FBI and the New York City police announced what has been rumored for days-the deaths on board the Trans-Continental flight were the result of a terrorist attack and not an accident. The FBI has a prime suspect in the attack, a Libyan national, named Asad Khalil-' A photo of Khalil came on the screen and stayed there as the anchorlady continued. 'This is the photo that we showed you last night and the person we reported was the object of a nationwide and worldwide manhunt. Now we have learned that he is the prime suspect in the Trans-Continental-'
Kate zapped to NBC and the story was basically the same, then she zapped to ABC, then CNN. She kept channel surfing, which when I do it is okay, but when someone else does it, especially a woman, is annoying.
Anyway, we caught the gist of the various news stories, then some tape of the first press conference came on, and Felix Mancuso, head of the New York FBI field office, was giving a few carefully considered details of the incident, followed by the Police Commissioner.
Then Jack Koenig came on and said a few words about the FBI and NYPD coordinating their efforts and so forth, but he didn't mention the Anti-Terrorist Task Force by name.
Koenig did not mention Peter Gorman or Phil Hundry, but he spoke of the deaths of Nick Monti, Nancy Tate, and Meg Collins, whom he identified as Federal Law enforcement people, and he didn't mention the Conquistador Club, of course. His brief description of their deaths sounded as if they'd been killed in a shootout with the terrorist as he made his escape.
The tape of the joint FBI/NYPD press conference ended with a barrage of questions from reporters, but everyone of importance seemed to have disappeared, leaving little Alan Parker alone at the podium, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
The anchorperson then introduced the story of the second press conference at City Hall, and there were snippets of the Mayor, the Governor, and some other politicians, all of whom vowed to do something, though they were vague about what it was they were going to do. More important, they had the opportunity to get on TV.
Next was some videotape from Washington that featured the Director of the FBI and also the Deputy Director in charge of Counterterrorism, whom we'd met at FBI Headquarters. Everyone made a grim, but optimistic statement.
The Deputy Director took the opportunity to announce again the one-million-dollar reward for any information that led to the arrest of Asad Khalil. He didn't even say, 'conviction,' just arrest. For people in the know, this was unusual, and indicated a high degree of anxiety and desperation.
Anyway, following was a quick scene from the White House where the President made a carefully worded statement that I thought could be used for almost any occasion, including National Library Week.
I noted that the entire story, including long press conferences, had taken about seven minutes, which is a lot of airtime for network news. I mean, I have this funny skit in my head where an anchorguy reads the
