'Thanks, Manny, I intend to.' The intelligence officer turned briefly to Evan and Khalehla on the couch. 'I mean that,' he added quietly. 'I heard the reference to Fairfax in the car and let it pass, but it wasn't easy. You see, I'm the only one here who knows what happened; it's why I insisted on leading this team. My older sister's son, my nephew—I brought him into the Agency—he was part of that unit. I intend to have a damned good track-down.' The CIA man left quickly.
For starters, sir, terrorists make it a point to kill innocent people. Ordinary men and women who just happened to be there, kids with backpacks, and employees—young and old alike—simply doing their jobs. Where's your case, sir?
'How terrible for him,' said Khalehla. 'He must feel such hurt, such guilt.'
'Which of us doesn't?' asked Kendrick, his voice floating, then stopped abruptly with a sudden, forced intake of air.
'You can't blame yourself for what's happened,' insisted Khalehla.
'Happening,' exclaimed Kendrick. 'It's happening! How the hell did these people get into the country? Who let them in? Where are our so-called brilliant security measures that can catch fifth-rate Soviet agents we exchange for set-up reporters in Moscow because it's good PR, but can't stop a dozen killers who come in to kill? Who makes it possible?'
'We're trying to find out.'
'You're a little late, aren't you?'
'Stop it!' ordered Weingrass, leaning forward, punching the space in front of him with his forefinger. 'This girl has nothing to do with what you're talking about and I won't have it!'
'I know that!' said Kendrick, reaching for Khalehla's hand, 'and she knows I know it. It's just that everything's so insane—I feel so helpless, so frightened. Goddamn it, how many others have to be killed? We can't stop these people! They're maniacs and they're running loose and we'll never find them!' Evan lowered his voice, his eyes, filled with pain, levelled at the field agent from Cairo. 'Any more than we've found the bastards who stole that “theft-proof” Oman file and splattered me all over the world. How long has it been—eight, ten weeks? We're no closer than when we began. At least now we know why they did it. It wasn't to make me a hero, or to promote my so-called career as a political contender for Christ knows what… it was to set me up for the kill! A “vengeance death” I believe is the literal Arabic translation. The point is we're not getting anywhere!'
'Listen to me,' said Khalehla softly. 'I'm going to say something I probably shouldn't, but sometimes we break a rule because hope is important, too… Other things have happened that you don't know about—are happening, as you say—and each new piece of information brings us a step closer to the truth about this whole horrible mess.'
'That's pretty cryptic, young lady.'
'Manny, try to understand. Evan does because we have an agreement. He knows that there are times when I can't explain things.'
'May an old man who's been a resident in your territory once or twice before ask why?'
'If you mean your work with the Mossad, you shouldn't have to—forgive my being blunt… The basis is an imperative need-to-know, because what you don't know you can't reveal.'
'The Amytals and the Pentothals?' asked Weingrass. 'In the old days, scopolamine? Come on, my lovely girl, we're not in the back streets of Marrakesh or the partisan mountains of Ashot Yaaqov. Who would use chemicals on us here?'
'I'm sure that young prisoner Evan identified, the one who's on his way to a clinic in Virginia, probably felt the same way. Within twenty-four hours his entire life will be on tape.'
'Not applicable,' insisted Weingrass.
'Perhaps not, but something else is. Six hours ago we got a trace—a possible trace—that may take us higher up in this government than any of us wishes. If we're wrong, Congressman Kendrick of Colorado can't be a part of it; quite simply, he can't know anything. He has total deniability. As a result, neither can you, Manny.'
That radio transmission on the plane,' said Evan, looking hard at Khalehla. 'There was no station chief in Cairo, was there?' Khalehla shrugged, releasing his hand and reaching for her drink on
