Vail said, “You got to love a communist who appreciates capitalism more than we do.”
“Exactly.”
Vail asked, “Well, let me ask you—hopefully for the last time—why me?”
“The only ones who know about this are the people in this room. If we gave this to any of our agents, I guarantee it would leak out. Your discretion has been established more than once. You have a certain reputation for getting things done despite obstacles that our agents would find . . . well, procedurally insurmountable.”
Vail laughed. “You mean none of you want to get caught.”
The director said, “The rest of us here are not exactly street-ready, and this has the potential to get challenging. The men in this room haven’t been out there in decades.” Lasker glanced around to see if anyone objected. “Sorry, guys.”
Vail glanced at Kate and then back at the director. “When you offered me this kind of arrangement before, I said no.”
The director pursed his lips. “That was because I thought your not being an agent was a waste of talent and I was hoping you’d eventually realize it. When you were vehement, I accepted it. But this is different. This is vital.”
Vail got up and walked over to the window. He raised the shade and stared at the old Russian embassy across the street. “Funny, five years ago I thought this was exactly what I’d be doing right now. Instead I’m a bricklayer.” He turned back and looked at the men. “While you may find that ironic, I find it unjust.”
“Steve, we have to assume that Calculus is being interrogated in Moscow right now. If the Russians break him, there will be no list and all those spies will go on selling our secrets.”
“I’m sorry. I’m going home.”
Everyone in the room was silent. Finally the director said, “Could you come with me for a minute? There’s something you need to see.”
Vail followed him downstairs and then through a series of small, unfurnished rooms.
Once Lasker was satisfied they were completely out of earshot of the others, he said, “Did Kate tell you what happened to her just before Thanksgiving?”
“No.”
“She almost died.”
“What?”
“She left her car running at her place as well as the door to the garage open. She’d been drinking. Wound up in the hospital for a couple of days.”
“You think it was a suicide attempt?” Vail’s voice was accusatory.
“No, I don’t. But it was a couple of days after she’d gone to see you in Chicago, which OPR tells me did not go well.”
“Kate’s way too strong for anything like that. And as up and down as we’ve been, I’ve never seen her depressed for a second.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“She dumped me. I’m the one who’s supposed to be suicidal.”
“I thought you guys made up. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“That was a lie. She didn’t know I was coming. I was trying to patch things up. She was driving me back to the airport when she got the kidnapping call.”
“Like I said, I know it wasn’t a suicide attempt, but I can’t call off the OPR investigation just because I think so. I’m sure you can remember how petty people can be in this organization when it comes to someone else’s problems. When somebody is as successful as Kate is, they want to believe it. She’s got people looking at her like she’s a time bomb. I want her to work with you on this Calculus thing. If you two did half the job you did in L.A., all that petty whispering would come to a screeching halt.”
Vail laughed. “Are you blowing this out of proportion to hook me?”
“When you and she walked into that room upstairs, did you notice that none of those men would look at her? When’s the last time you saw that happen?”
Vail took a moment to consider what Lasker had said. “I’d be a fool to say yes to this.” There was something in Vail’s tone that told the director that was exactly what he was about to do. “Fortunately for you, it’s not exactly construction weather in Chicago.”
Lasker clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks.”
When they walked back into the upstairs room, the director said, “Steve’s decided to give us a hand, and Kate will work with him.”
Kate’s eyes locked onto Vail. She had heard the surety in his tone when he’d said no to the director. She’d never seen him change his mind once it was so firmly set.
Vail looked back at her. “However, this time, if you’re going to saddle me with Deputy Assistant Director Bannon, she has to understand that I am working with and not for her?”
Kate took a moment to recover and then said, “Yes, those were the two big disruptions in L.A., me giving orders and you following them.”
The director looked slightly distracted by what he was about to say, missing the humor in Kate’s response. “I know how you feel about answering to anyone, Steve, but because this is so potentially explosive, I’m going to need you or Kate to report to Bill at least once a day so he can keep me advised.”
“Define ‘report to,’ ” Vail said.
“This is extremely complicated, so I need everyone to work together. Whatever other intelligence agency might be involved, add in the Russians and our own State Department and it’s going to be a diplomatic high-wire act. The potential for disaster is incalculable. You have to keep Bill advised.”
“Is that actually what you want us to do, or are you giving me one of those orders that when you’re called in front of some congressional subcommittee, you can say I disregarded your instructions? If it’s the second, I have no problem with it.”
“I’m sorry, Steve, I need you to report daily. I wouldn’t be much of a director if I didn’t keep a very close eye on this one.”
Vail knew that because of Kate he had no choice. “You do realize how this is going to
