'There is no safe place.'
'Well, somewhere has to be safe, doesn't it?'
'Not when the NSA is trying to kill you.'
'Don't worry about the NSA. I can arrange for the Secret Service to pick you up somewhere, and they can take you to a safe house while you wait for me to get back.'
This sounded attractive, but I knew I couldn't risk such a rendezvous. Getting to it alive would be close to impossible. 'I can't do that, sir.'
'You don't trust the Secret Service?'
'It's not that. The point is that I don't know any Secret Service agents by sight.'
'I see.' Silence. 'Well, couldn't we set up a code or a signal or something?'
'It wouldn't be secure from the NSA. Nothing like that will be safe.'
'We could pick one right now.'
'We have to assume the agency is listening to this call. They can pull it right out of the ether over China.'
Mathews sighed. 'All right, David. Tell me this. Do you trust Ewan McCaskell?'
I thought about that. There'd been no attempt on my life until McCaskell returned my call at my house, which had told the Trinity security people that I hadn't yet talked to the president. If McCaskell was tied to anyone at Trinity, he would have communicated this to them long before that phone call. 'I trust him. But I'll have to see his face.'
'Well… it looks like you're just going to have to lie low until we get back. McCaskell and the Secret Service will pick you up then. Can you get to Washington in four days?'
'I can. Mr. President, could I ask you one thing?'
'Of course.'
'Do you believe anything I've said?'
Matthews replied in a less folksy voice. 'David, I won't lie to you. John Skow says Dr. Fielding died of natural causes, and that you shot a Trinity security officer outside your house without provocation. He also says you've kidnapped your psychiatrist.'
I blinked in disbelief. Skow had finally made a mis¬take.
'Hold on, sir.' I handed the phone to Rachel. 'Tell him who you are.'
She hesitantly took the phone and held it to her ear. 'This is Dr. Rachel Weiss… Yes… No, sir. I came with Dr. Tennant of my own free will… That's right. Yes, people are trying to kill us… Yes, sir. I will.'
She handed me the cell phone.
'Mr. President?'
'I'm here, David. Look, I'm not sure what to think. But I know you come from good people, and I want to see you and hear you out.'
The first tiny fillip of relief went through me. 'Thank you, sir. All I ask is a fair hearing.'
'You'll get that as soon as I get back. Keep your ass in the grass, Dave.'
A bubble of laughter burst through the lump in my throat. That saying was right out of my older brother's mouth. 'Thank you, Mr. President. I'll see you then.'
I clicked end.
Rachel was watching me expectantly. 'What do you think?'
'I think we're better off than we were five minutes ago. What did he ask you?'
'Whether I was under duress. He also told me to take care of you. My God… I can't believe this. What are we going to do for the next four days?'
I pressed down the accelerator and sped up to sev¬enty. 'We're going to Oak Ridge.'
'Tennessee?'
'Yep. I know that place like nowhere in the world. Five miles outside of town, you're lost in the wilderness. No police. No TVs to broadcast photos of wanted fugi¬tives and stolen trucks. Nothing.'
'How far away is it?'
'Eight hours.' I passed a slow-moving car and settled back into the right lane. 'Settle in and get some sleep.'
'I can't sleep in a car.'
'This is a truck.'
'Wiseass.'
Escaping the plane and reaching the president had produced a sense of elation in both of us, but that feeling wouldn't last long. 'I'm not kidding about the sleep. You're going to need every bit of energy you have in the morning.'
'For what?'
'Mountains.'
CHAPTER 19
Geli was running on adrenaline, her body charged by the chase. Between the hunt for Tennant and Weiss and the search for Lu Li Fielding, her resources were stretched to the limit. But when the lack of manpower vexed her, she thought back to the Iraqi desert, where her total force had numbered only eight Delta Force commandos.
Her latest headache was Jutta Klein, the German MRI expert. Klein had apparently taken advantage of her reduced surveillance and driven to Atlanta, where she'd boarded a Lufthansa flight for Germany. The German government had pledged to 'assist in any way possible,' but Geli knew they would welcome Klein and her newfound expertise with open arms.
Geli spun in her chair. Someone with the day's access code had buzzed through the door of the control center. John Skow stepped out of the shadows, clad in his unvarying Brooks Brothers suit, his eyes glinting with fear or excitement.
'What are you doing here?' she asked. 'What's hap¬pened?'
Skow straddled a chair opposite Geli and folded his almost feminine hands on its back.
'Tennant just spoke to the president. Matthews was in Air Force One, en route from Beijing to Shanghai. Our routine intercepts over China picked it up, and I just broke the executive comm codes.'
Geli felt as though she'd opened the door of a hot oven. No wonder Skow hadn't wanted to talk on the air. 'What did they say?'
'The president tried to arrange for the Secret Service to pick up Tennant somewhere, but Tennant wouldn't bite.'
'Did Matthews buy our story? Or does he believe Tennant?'
Skow bit one side of his lower lip, like a man weigh¬ing odds. 'I'd say he's leaning toward us. But he told Tennant he would get a fair hearing.'
'And how will that happen?'
'Ewan McCaskell and the Secret Service will meet Ten¬nant and pick him up when the president gets back. Ten¬nant trusts McCaskell.'
'When does the president get back?'
'Four days.'
'Are we talking D.C.?'
'Yes.'
'Perfect.'
'Why?'
Geli had already foreseen that Tennant might run for Washington. 'D.C. gives us a perfect cover story to take Tennant out. Starting now, we maximize our effort to discredit him, expanding on what we've already said. Tennant's side effects worsened to psychosis. He shot his security guard and kidnapped Dr. Weiss.'
'And?'
'Now he's threatened the president's life.'
Skow's eyes narrowed. 'But he just talked to Matthews. And he didn't make any threats.'
