Mercy

open a door and effect an escape before they were fully submerged. He would have preferred to get out through the driver’s door, on the side closest to the rocks, where there was still a thin sliver of land to offer them temporary safety. But it would have been hard to pull Nat past the steering wheel.

He considered getting out on the driver’s side and then swimming round to the passenger side to rescue Nat. But he wasn’t sure if he would make it. And the thought of leaving Nat, even temporarily, seemed like cowardice. So instead he leaned past Nat, opened the door and then pushed Nat out, following immediately.

In the rough waves of the Pacific Ocean, he couldn’t tell if the tide was coming in or going out. But he knew that he had to get himself and Nat onto the rock-strewn foot of the cliff as quickly as possible. The water was still shallow enough to stand in and keep his chin above water. But he didn’t know how long it would stay that way and the waves were too rough to keep his balance for long.

So he got behind Nat, held him and leaned back into the classic life-saving position, kicking to propel himself round the car and toward the sliver of land at the foot of the cliff that offered their only hope of salvation. He noticed a stirring in his arms and he realized that Nat was regaining consciousness.

Then an almighty wave swept them onto the precious strip of land, Alex’s back crashing into the wall of the cliff with some considerable force. He realized that nothing was broken, but realized too that he had been lucky. For an instant he let go of Nat to rub his back and soothe the pain. But then, as Nat pulled himself up onto a rock and struggled to his feet in a state bordering on sleepwalking, the undertow took hold. While Alex in his half-seated position close to the cliff face was able to hold his position, Nat, who was standing a yard or so further out, was caught by the undertow and swept off his feet. Before he was able to grab on to the rock that he had used to get into a standing position, he was dragged out to sea.

He screamed again as he twisted his body to face Alex and reached out with his arms like a child desperate to be held. And despite the dim light, Alex was able to discern that the look of fear in Nat’s eyes was also like that of a child.

Or was it a look of sadness?

Whatever it was, it remained frozen in Alex’s memory as the tidal current — evidently going out — pulled Nat away from him.

He didn’t see Nat go under at any time. All he saw was a head bobbing up and down on the turbulent surface, drifting further and further away. And all he heard was a voice crying out indiscernibly from the distance.

09:55 PDT

It wasn’t Melody. It wasn’t his wife whose beautiful face smiled down at him when he opened his eyes.

But it was another beautiful angel.

He didn’t know her name. But she had a young, innocent, fresh face and the clear complexion of one who has a long life ahead of her and everything to live for.

Is this heaven?

Was she his guide to paradise?

He wanted to ask her. But he didn’t trust his mouth to speak.

Then he felt a plastercast on his leg and he realized that he wasn’t in heaven. He was in a hospital. They had saved him.

Someone had saved him.

He couldn’t remember. He remembered the car crash and the waves — and he remembered trying to save Nat. But that was all. After that it was a blank.

“Mr. Sedaka.”

Alex nodded weakly.

“There’s someone who’d like to have word with you.”

Alex was confused, but not frightened. After everything he’d been through yesterday, there was very little that could frighten him.

He nodded, still weak, but gaining strength.

He felt the upper half of his body being raised.

I’m being raised from the dead like a Freemason, he thought, with ironic humor. Eventually a man came into view. It took a few seconds for Alex’s eyes to refocus on the face of the man who stood further back than the nurse. But there was no mistaking that ample girth.

The governor smiled.

“Mr. Sedaka.”

The tone was polite, friendly. Alex nodded for Dusenbury to continue.

“It’s been quite a roller-coaster for you, Alex, this past twenty-four hours.”

“Quite,” said Alex, stiffly, the first word he’d used since regaining consciousness. He wasn’t altogether comfortable with this situation.

“I feel bad about what happened to Burrow.”

Alex was tempted to say “and well you should.” But this time he resisted the temptation to give voice to his emotions.

The truth of the matter was that he no longer knew what he felt. Burrow was innocent of murder and by all accounts a wretched figure in the end. But he had still been the bully who had made Dorothy’s youth a living hell — the rapist who had violated her when she was already suffering a tortured life.

Nat had obstructed justice — to the point of sending an innocent man to the death chamber. But he had had the excuse of having been subjected to the most excruciating mental torture not only at the hands of Clayton Burrow, but also at the hands of Edgar Olsen.

How could Alex express outrage or indignation, when his own moral compass had been sent haywire by the turbulent force-field that raged round him?

“I’d like to make up for it, in some way,” said the governor.

“How?” asked Alex, skeptically. He hadn’t meant it to sound cold, but that was the way it came out, as if he was brushing off Dusenbury’s offer before he even knew what it was.

“I can grant David an amnesty on the computer hacking charges.”

“I thought those charges are federal?”

“Okay, but I can protect him against Section 484 charges — ”

“He’s not going down on a State 484’cause there was no pecuniary gain. The only thing I’m worried about is a US 1030.”

“Well I can’t help you there ‘cause that’s federal. But I’m pretty sure you can get him a good lawyer. In any case, I don’t think he has too much to worry about. He can always cite the fact that he was trying to save an innocent man’s life.”

“That’s not a defense in law.”

“No!” the governor’s voice boomed into life. “But it’ll make one hell of a plea in mitigation!”

Alex could see that the governor was just trying to be helpful. There was no reason to fight him.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Besides,” Dusenbury continued. “I have a feeling the feds won’t be too anxious to bring the case to trial. It’ll throw a spotlight on the execution of an innocent man and give too much impetus to the anti-capital punishment lobby. There’s a big debate over that right now. New Jersey’s getting rid of it. They had that big amnesty in Illinois. And this great state of ours has a backlog so long that even if we execute five people a month it’ll take eleven years just to clear up the backlog!”

“What happened to Nat?”

“We don’t know. Some clothes washed ashore at Maintop Island, but no body.”

Alex felt saddened by this, in some inexplicable way.

“They think he’s dead?”

“They assume it,” said the governor. “But it’s not yet official.”

“Is he classified as a fugitive?”