the thousands and say, 'You're the one I've chosen. I've trained myself since I was a baby to ignore the screams of the dying because if I let even a little of the sound in I couldn't hear or think of anything else. But for you I'll risk my own life.''
'You're right, I wouldn't.' She leaned forward. 'But not saying it is the argument, isn't it? I'm supposed to think of doing it, and if I think of it, I have to admit a second later that I'm not the kind of person who does that, and wonder why not.'
'I apologize for telling you about him.'
'But he's the reason why you're doing this, isn't he?'
'There's not much more I can do for him. I was in a fight, and all of the people on my side except Timmy are dead. That's all.'
'I don't suppose the money has anything to do with it.'
'For me? Not this time.'
'You're above that kind of consideration.'
'Hardly,' said Jane. 'I have enormous expenses. But money is not a pressing problem. Once you have what you need, it's hard to get yourself to lean over a cliff to reach for more. And I can't even spend what I have. A fancier house or a lot of expensive jewelry raises my profile and maybe gets me killed.'
'Then why does this kid's money matter to you?'
'Or your money either? It's important only because it's what Barraciough wants. He uses it to grow stronger. I don't want him to succeed. I don't want to feed him.'
'Why do you care?'
'I'm the rabbit, he's the dog. I run, he chases. He's good at it, and he's getting better. He's using Intercontinental to recruit young guys with nothing much to do and criminal records that make it unlikely that anybody else will ever pay them to do anything. He's picking out the ones with a certified history of violence and training them to hunt.'
'We're finally getting down to a reason that means something. You're afraid he might get to be a problem, aren't you? Not just to people like me, but to you.'
'He already is. If I let him get stronger, eventually he'll kill me.'
Mary slumped back in her chair and breathed a deep, windy sigh. 'At last. Thank you.'
'You haven't changed your mind, have you?'
'No, but now maybe I can sleep. You're no better than I am.'
When Mary came out into the living room again it was nearly noon. She looked at Jane and her face seemed to deflate. 'You're still here.'
'Even if you won't help me get Barraclough, it's still to my advantage to make sure he doesn't get you.'
'How long do I have to live like this?'
'After we get you working, it will be easier,' said Jane. 'We'll study the other women here - shop where they shop and buy what they buy. Everything you do has to keep your head down where there are lots of other heads.'
Mary looked as though she were considering it. 'How long do I have to do this?'
Jane shrugged. 'The longer you do it, the safer you'll be. Most women live quiet, private lives, and most women are basically happy. It helps to make new friends and be part of a community. If you look at the way your friends live, you'll feel better, and that will keep you from getting lazy.'
'Lazy?'
'The average person sets an alarm to get up early, goes to work, has a little leisure time, sets the alarm, and goes to bed. The weeks get long, and people don't get paid what they deserve. There will come a day when you can't get your mind off some fantasy - a week in the Bahamas, or maybe only a dress you saw in a magazine. It doesn't matter what it is. Live within your means. I mean your visible means.'
Mary's face turned hard and her eyes glittered. 'I'm not sure I understand.'
'Don't touch the money that's in Zurich or Singapore.'
'I told you: there is no money.' She stared at Jane for a long time, waiting for the contradiction.
Jane sat motionless and returned her stare evenly. Finally Mary angrily jumped to her feet, threw on her coat, and walked out the door. When Jane heard the dull thump of the door at the bottom of the stairs, she stood up, put on her coat, and prepared to go out too. She had a lot of work to do.
20
The Detroit-Wayne County airport was only twenty-six miles east of Mary Perkins's apartment on Route 94. The flight was not even three hundred miles, so when Jane Whitefield emerged from the gate at O'Hare, the clock on the wall said 3:10. The taxi took her to the State Street mall and she walked two blocks along East Madison Street. On another day she might have had the taxi driver leave her farther away, but last night's snow had reached Chicago by morning, and today the wind was picking it up and moving it along between the big buildings in horizontal sheets. Most pedestrians were just scurrying across the open to get from one building to another, and she saw none who might have followed her.
She reached the Bank of Illinois before four o'clock and was behind the counter in a quiet cubicle opening her safe-deposit box within five minutes. Months ago she had come to Chicago to pay the bill for the Furnace corporation's post office box, shop for clothes, and store Catherine Snowdon's papers. She took them out and studied them. Catherine Snowdon had a birth certificate, a driver's license, a Social Security card, a Visa card, and an ATM card from the Bank of America in case she needed cash. Jane examined the other papers in the box.
That left only Wendy Lewis, Karen Gottlieb, and Anne Bronstein. She examined their papers to reassure herself that she had not let any of the expiration dates go by. Then she put them back under the savings passbook and the nine-millimeter Beretta pistol, closed the box, and rang for the lady who would go with her to return it to its slot in the vault.
A guide needed more insurance policies than any of her clients, but she could spare Catherine Snowdon for Mary Perkins. She would hide the Catherine Snowdon papers with ten thousand dollars in cash somewhere within walking distance of Mary's apartment in case she had to bail out.
Jane caught a cab from the Dirksen Building on West Adams and flew back to Detroit to do some shopping. At a Toys 'R' Us she found a toy called Musical Moves. If the child stepped in the right places on a brightly colored mat, he could play a tune electronically. Jane would redirect the wire so that instead the pressure on the mat would send current to a small lightbulb. Two would be better - one mounted inside the apartment and one somewhere outside - maybe in the mailbox, if it could be done without alarming the letter carrier. If the bulb was lit, Mary Perkins would know that somebody was in her apartment waiting for her.
At a hardware store she bought the tools, wires, electrical tape, and a rope ladder designed for getting out a second-floor window in an emergency. She decided these purchases would be enough for the present. Mary had a lot to get used to in a short time, and she would be less likely to make mistakes in a crisis if she wasn't distracted by complexity.
Jane stopped at a pay telephone and dialed her own number. She heard the telephone ring four times and then heard her own voice. 'Hello. Please leave a message at - ' Jane quickly punched in her two-digit code, then heard the machine rewind. It seemed to be taking a long time. Then there were a couple of clicks and Carey McKinnon's voice.
'Jane? It's Carey. I know you're probably calling in for messages, and this is the only way I have to reach you. I'm sorry I had to go back to the hospital the other night. Give me a call when you can - at home or the hospital or my office. If I'm in surgery or something, leave me a number where I can reach you.' The machine's computer voice said, 'Tuesday, ten-fifteen a.m.'
Carey's voice came on again. 'Hi, Jane. Just me again. It's been a few days and you still haven't called me. Am I imagining that you said you would? I'm in my usual haunts.'
'Saturday,' said the machine, 'two thirty-six p.m.'
The next one said, 'I'm beginning to think you're mad at me or something. If you are, please call me up and yell at me. Two weeks is a long time to sit around wondering.'
'Friday, six fifty-two p.m.'
Jane hung up the telephone and then dialed Carey's number. When his machine came on, she said, 'Hi, Carey. It's me. I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you. This job has turned out to be just awful. I'm trying to help a woman make her business profitable, and her business is promoting products all over the country. I've been in more
