killed him—’
'I would have, I will kill him! Where's that doctor, where is he?'
'What doctor?'
'You lying shit!' yelled Kendrick into the wind, straining at the cloth straps. Then he was struck by a thought. 'My car, the driver! He knows I didn't leave.'
'But you did. You weren't feeling too well, so you didn't say much and you wore your tinted glasses, but you were very generous with your tip.'
As the boat lurched in the water, Evan suddenly looked down at the clothes he was wearing, squinting in the dim wash of light coming from the cabin behind him. The trousers were a thick corduroy and the shirt a coarse black denim… not his clothes. 'Bastards!' he roared again, and again another thought. 'Then they saw me get out at the hotel!'
'Sorry, but you didn't go to the hotel. About the only thing you said to the driver was to drop you off at Balboa Park, that you had to meet someone and you'd take a cab home.'
'You covered yourselves right down to my clothes. You're all garbage, you hired killers!'
'You keep getting it wrong, Congressman. We were covering for you, not anybody else. We didn't know what you'd been snorting or shooting into your veins, but as my excitable grandfather would say, we saw you go pazzo, crazy, you know what I mean?'
'I know exactly what you mean.'
'So naturally we couldn't let you be seen in public, you can understand that, can't you?'
'Va bene, you Mafia prick. I heard you—“I'm in charge,” you said. “I know people who can handle this,” you said that, too.'
'You know, Congressman, although I admire you a great deal, I'm very offended by anti-Italian generalizations.'
'Tell that to the federal prosecutor in New York,' replied Kendrick as the boat dipped sharply, then rose with a heavy wave. 'Giuliani's been putting you away by the truckload.'
'Yes, well, talking about things that go bump in the night, which we weren't but we could have been in this water, a number of people in Balboa Park saw a man who could easily fit your description—I mean dressed like you when you left the hotel and then in the limo—going into The Balthazar.'
The what?'
'It's a coffeehouse in Balboa. You know we've got a lot of students down here; they come from all over, and there's a large contingent from the Mediterranean. You know, kids from families who lived in Iran and Saudi Arabia and Egypt… even what some still call Palestine, I guess. Sometimes the coffee gets out of hand, politically, that is, and the police have to quiet things and confiscate items like guns and knives. Those people are very emotional.'
'And “I” was seen going inside, and naturally there'll be those inside who'll confirm “I” was there.'
'Your bravery has never been questioned, Congressman. You go into the most dangerous places looking for solutions, don't you? Oman, Bahrain… even the house of the Vice President of the United States.'
'Add bribery to your list, garbageman.'
'Now just a minute! I haven't anything to do with whatever you came to see Viper about, get that straight. I'm just providing a service beyond my official duties, that's all.'
'Because you “know people who can handle this,” like someone wearing my clothes and using my car and walking in Balboa Park. And maybe a couple of others who were able to get me out of Bollinger's place with no one recognizing me.'
'A private ambulance service is very convenient and discreet when guests become ill or over-indulge.'
'And, no doubt, one or two others to divert whatever press or maintenance people might be around.'
'My nongovernment associates are on call for emergencies, sir. We're happy to provide assistance wherever we can.'
'For a price, of course.'
'Definitely… They pay, Congressman. They pay in
