I smile. Doc was the most money-hungry man I ever met.
“Must’ve been a hell of a slush fund.”
“It was, and still is.”
I say, “So the head of Homeland told Sherm Phillips and the others that Doc was to be known only as Darwin?”
“That’s right. We set it up that way because Sensory Resources is too valuable to be a political pawn of whichever party controls Congress at any given moment.”
“The show must go on,” I say.
“Exactly. But when you bought the spa and plastic surgery center and offered me a job, I saw it as a way to put this life behind me.”
“You seriously want to run a private surgical center?”
“Very much so.”
“You don’t need the money.”
He smiles. “You’ve been quite generous.”
“I’m sure you were wealthy long before I started paying you.”
“I was indeed. But every little bit helps.”
“What about my daughter?”
“Kimberly? What about her?”
I watch him carefully while saying, “She’s got a benefactor.”
“A benefactor,” he says.
“That’s right. Someone taught her how to kill people, then paid her to kill them. You know anything about that?”
“Yes.”
“Was it you?”
“No.”
We look at each other a moment, then he says, “You’re referring to Sam Case.”
“Excuse me?”
“I only learned this very recently,” he says.
“What does Sam know about killing?”
“Believe it or not, he’s been running a team of assassins for a year.”
“Kimberly being one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Kimberly told me the man who hired her uses a voice-altering device.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve used such a device for the past twenty years.”
“That’s correct.”
“Does Kimberly know the voice belongs to Sam Case?”
“Yes.”
“Is he posing as a pre-Rapture pet salesman?”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Is Kimberly…
Without taking his eyes off mine he says, “No. Sam is in Area B at Mount Weather, and hasn’t left the facility since day one. I’ve been monitoring his activities from the moment I learned he hired Kimberly to kill Jonah Toth. You’ll remember Toth used to guard Kimberly. When you discharged him from that duty, I put him back on the payroll, posing as a college professor. And before you ask, I don’t know how or why Sam selected Toth or any of the other victims.”
He lets that sentence hang in the air a minute, but I can tell he knows more than he’s saying. He’s hesitating because he’s concerned how it’s going to come across.
I say, “This is a good time to come clean about everything you know, because I’ll eventually find the truth. And when I do, I’ll hold you accountable for what you’ve left out.”
“I know something about Kimberly, but it’s highly sensitive.”
“I’ll keep that in mind as you tell me.”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Then says, “I know you’re concerned Kimberly might be having sex with Sam. I can tell you emphatically she’s not. I know for a fact she’s not having sex with anyone.”
“Why’s that?”
“She has serious issues regarding sex.”
I frown. “How serious?”
“She met with a psychiatrist regularly for months, until he was murdered in his office. Are you aware of her condition?”
“No. And I don’t want to hear about it from you.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you know who she’s dating?”
“I think she’s making it up about dating a young man.”
“That’s her cover story for doing hits for Sam Case?”
“I can’t say. But if she’s dating at all, it’s quite recent. And I know nothing about it.”
“Rachel heard I slept with a young woman in Vegas.”
“Gwen Peters.”
“Is there anything about my life you don’t know?”
“I don’t know if you’re going to kill me today.”
I allow that comment to hang in the air a long time before saying, “I assume Gwen told Kimberly we had sex, then Kimberly told Sam, and Sam told Rachel.”
“That’s probably accurate.”
“And you believe Sam paid Kimberly to kill people? Without ever meeting her in person?”
“From what I gather, everything took place by phone.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Is it? You’ve worked for me that way for twenty years.”
“True. But I was an assassin before you took over Sensory. Kimberly allowed Sam to manipulate her into becoming a killer. How’s that possible?”
“Think about it.”
I screw up my face and give him my best Curly impression from the Three Stooges: “
He gives me an odd look. Then says, “Kimberly craves your love and acceptance.”
“You’re saying she killed people to gain my approval?”
“Of course.”
“And somehow Sam knew she would?”
“That’s right.”
“Does Kimberly know Sam and I have a history?”
“No.”
“Sam’s turned Kimberly into a killer to punish me?”
“Yes.”
“And you know all these things because?”
“I tapped their phones.”
“Kimberly and Sam’s?”
“Yes.”
“And mine?”
“Yes.”
“What about Callie’s?”
“No one can tap Callie’s phone.”
“Why?”
