My last stop, without Kate, was the legal office upstairs where a young lady lawyer-about sixteen years old- gave me some papers to fill out and sign, including a power of attorney in the event I was abducted or missing. She explained, “If you’re dead, the executors named in your will have the power to settle your estate. But if you’re just missing, it’s like, a real pain in the ass. You know? I mean, Are you dead or alive? Who’s going to pay your rent and stuff?”
“Jack Koenig.”
“Who do you want to have the power of attorney? It doesn’t have to be an actual attorney. Just someone you trust to sign your checks and act on your behalf until you’re found, or presumed dead, or declared legally dead.”
“Who did Elvis Presley use?”
“How about your wife?”
“She’ll probably be in Africa.”
“I’m sure they’ll let her come home. Your wife. Okay?”
“You mean if I’m missing or kidnapped, my wife will have access to my checkbook, savings account, credit cards, and my salary?”
“That’s right.”
“What if I show up a year later and find out I’m broke?”
She laughed.
I’m not
“She hasn’t been here yet.”
“I see… all right, my wife.”
She wrote Kate’s name on the document, I signed it, and it was notarized right there.
We slogged through some more crap, and she finally said, “That’s about it. Have a good trip. See me when you get back.”
“I’ll send you a postcard if I get kidnapped.”
Kate and I had decided not to walk out together, so we set a rendezvous for 6P.M. at Ecco. I got there first, and as always, the place was full of lawyers, mostly criminal defense attorneys who can only stand each other’s company when they’re drunk.
I ordered a double Dewar’s straight up and got off to a good start. There was a pretty woman at the end of the bar, and it took me a while to realize it was my ex with a new hairdo and color. Robin and I made eye contact, she smiled, raised her glass, and we toasted across the room. Fact is, we still get along on the rare occasions we speak or meet. She motioned me to join her, but I shook my head and ordered another double.
A few men and women from the NYPD side of the twenty-sixth floor came in, including Harry Muller, and I joined them. Then some FBI buddies of Kate’s arrived, so I guessed this was a little send-off thing.
Kate arrived with a few co-workers, and by 6:30, there were about fifteen ATTF people in the place, including Jack Koenig, who never passes up the opportunity to show what a regular guy he’d like to be.
Koenig made a little speech that could barely be heard above the barroom noise, but I caught the words “duty,” “devotion,” and “sacrifice.” Maybe he was practicing for my eulogy.
Robin, who has more balls than most men, came over and introduced herself to some of my co-workers, then she caught up to me, and we exchanged an air kiss. She said, “Someone said you’re going to Yemen.”
“Are you sure? They told me Paris.”
She laughed. “You haven’t changed.”
“Why mess with perfection?”
Kate made her way over to me, and I said, “Robin, this is my wife, Kate.”
They shook hands, and Kate said, “I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Robin replied, sincerely, “I’m pleased to meet you. I hear you’re going to Tanzania. What an interesting job you have.”
They chatted a bit, and I really wanted to be somewhere else. Robin asked Kate, “Have you redone the apartment?”
Kate replied, “Not yet. I’m working on redoing John.”
They both got a good chuckle over that. Why was I not laughing?
I asked Robin, “Where is your boss?”
She glanced at me and replied, “Working late. He’s meeting me here for dinner. Would you like to join us?”
“You never asked me to join you when you both worked late, and we were married. What’s the occasion?”
She replied coolly, “You also worked late. Well, have a good trip and be safe.” She turned and went back to the far end of the bar.
Kate said, “You didn’t need to be rude.”
“I’m not very sophisticated. Okay, let’s go.”
“Another fifteen minutes. That would be polite.” She moved off to join the crowd.
Koenig left first, as he always does, followed by most of the FBI crowd who’d made an appearance for Kate and didn’t want to be hanging around too long with the cops.
David Stein came up to me and said, “You made the right choice.”
“Given my choices, there was no choice.”
“Yeah, there was, and you made it. You’ll come back with a clean slate and even some power in your pocket. You need to get back on the Khalil case and forget this other thing. Right?”
“Right.”
“Mean it.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you.” Stein informed me, “You’re not getting screwed. You’re getting a second chance. Kate understands that.”
“I also understand that this outfit doesn’t usually give second chances. How did I get so lucky?”
He leaned close to me and said, “You scared the shit out of them.” He turned and walked away.
This seemed to be a night for running into my least favorite people, and on that theme, I saw Liam Griffith come in and make his way to the bar. He ordered a drink, then came over to me, raised his glass, and said, “Bon voyage.”
I wanted to tell him to eat shit, but I asked him, “Did they forget the little umbrella in your drink?”
He smiled. And why shouldn’t he? He said to me, “I was in Yemen for a few weeks. Also Tanzania and Kenya. Yemen was a little dicey.”
I didn’t reply.
He continued, “I’ve also been to Sudan and Somalia, and some other trouble spots.”
“You must have really fucked up.”
He looked at me a long time, then went into a little rap and said, “As we widen the global scope of our counter-terrorist operations, we realize that the answers to who attacked us at Point A are often found at Point B. And our response to those attacks might take place at Point C. Follow?”
“I lost you after bon voyage.”
“No, you didn’t. What I’m telling you is that counter-terrorism is a vast, complex operation against an equally vast global terror network. The key to success is coordination and cooperation. And that leaves out hotshots and loners who often do more harm than good.”
“Do you mean me?”
“Well, I’m not talking about
“Actually, it is.”
He moved closer to me and said, “Do you know why I’m talking to you?”
“No one else here wants to talk to you?”
“I’m talking to you because Jack asked me to talk to you and make you understand that the answer to what
