to see the hand grasp his shoulder. Then the world rotated and the brick wall of a building approached his face very rapidly. Fortunately, his boom-box absorbed most of the impact, which, however, had a negative effect on the boom-box.
“Motherfucker!” the kid snarled, coming out with a knife. His companion was six feet away, and also had a knife out.
Clark just smiled at them. “Who's first?”
The thought of avenging his appliance died a quick death. Both youths knew danger when they saw it.
“You lucky I don't have my gun, man!”
“You can leave the knives, too.”
“You a cop?”
“No, I am not a policeman,” Clark said, walking over with his hand out. Chavez backed him up, his coat opened, as both youths noticed. They dropped their knives and started walking away.
“What the hell is—”
Clark turned to see a policeman approaching, with a large dog. Both were fully alert. John pulled out his CIA pass. “I didn't like their attitude.”
Chavez handed the knives over. “They dropped these, sir.”
“You really should leave that sort of thing to us.”
“Yes, sir,” Clark agreed. “You're right. Nice dog you have there.”
The cop pocketed the knives. “Have a good one,” he said, wondering what the hell this had been about.
“You, too, officer.” Clark paused and turned to Chavez. “God damn, that felt good.”
“Ready to go to Mexico, John?”
“Yeah. I just hate leaving unfinished business behind, you know?”
“So, who's trying to fuck him over?”
“Not sure.”
“Bull,” Ding observed.
“Won't be sure until I talk to Holtzman.”
“You say so, man. I like her,” he added. “That's some lady.”
“Yeah, she is. Just what he needs to set things straight.”
“You think she'll call that Murray guy?”
“Does it matter?”
“No.” Chavez looked up the street. “A question of honor, Mr. C.”
“I knew you'd understand, Ding.”
Jacqueline Zimmer was a beautiful child, Cathy thought, holding her. She wanted another, must have another. Jack would give her one, maybe another girl if they were lucky. “We hear so much 'bout you!” Carol said. “You doctor?”
“Yes, I teach doctors, I'm a professor of surgery.”
“My oldes' son must meet you. He want to be doctor. He student at Georgetown.”
“Maybe I can help him a little. Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes.”
“Your husband…”
“Buck? He die. I don't know all the things, just that he die — on duty, yes? Is secret thing. Very hard for me,” Carol said soberly, but without overt grief. She was over that now. “Buck was a very good man. So your husban'. You be nice to him,” Mrs. Zimmer added.
“Oh, I will,” Cathy promised. “Now, we have to make this a secret?”
“What secret?”
“Jack doesn't know that I know about you.”
“Oh? I know there are many secret, but — okay, I un'erstan'. I keep this secret, too.”
“I will talk to Jack about that. I think you should come to our house and meet our children. But for now, we keep the secret?”
“Yes, okay. We surprise him?”
“Right.” Cathy smiled as she handed the child back. “I will see you again, soon.”
“Feel better, doc?” Clark asked her out in the parking lot.
“Thank you…?”
“Call me John.”
“Thanks, John.” It was the warmest smile since his kids at Christmas.
“Any time.”
Clark drove west on Route 50. Cathy turned east for home. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel of her car. The anger was back now. For the most part, she was angry at herself. How could she have thought that of Jack? She'd been very foolish, very small, and so disgustingly selfish. But it wasn't really her fault. Someone else had invaded their household, she decided as she pulled into the garage. She was on the phone almost immediately. She had to do one more thing. She had to be completely certain.
“Hi, Dan.”
“Cathy! How's the eye business, kid?” Murray asked.
“Got a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
She'd already decided how to do it. There's a problem with Jack…'
Murray 's voice became guarded. “What is it?”
“He's having nightmares,” Cathy said. It wasn't a lie, but what followed was. “Something about a helicopter, and Buck somebody… I can't ask him about it, but—”
Murray cut her off. “Cathy, I can't talk about it over the phone. That's a business matter, kid.”
“Really?”
“Really, Cathy. It's something I know about, but I cannot discuss it with you. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. It's business.”
Cathy went on with a touch of alarm in her voice. “It's not something that's happening now — I mean —”
“It's way in the past, Cathy. That's all I can say. If you think Jack needs professional help, then I can make a few calls and—”
“No, I don't think so. It was really bad a few months ago, but it does seem to be getting better. I was just worried that it might be something at the office…”
“All behind him, Cathy. Honest.”
“You sure, Dan?”
“Positive. I would not kid around on something like this.”
And that, Cathy knew, was that. Dan was every bit as honest as Jack was. “Thanks, Dan. Thanks a lot,” she said in her best medical voice, the one that revealed nothing at all.
“Any time, Cathy.” By the time he hung up, Murray wondered if he'd just been had in some way. No, he decided, there was no way she could have found out about that.
Had he seen the other end of the disconnected phone line, he would have been surprised to discover how wrong he was. Cathy sat alone in the kitchen, crying one last time. She'd had to check, there had not been a choice to purge all the emotions from her soul, but now she was completely certain that Clark had spoken the truth; that someone was trying to hurt her husband, that whoever it was was willing to use his wife and his family against him. Who could ever hate a man so much that they would try that! she wondered.
Whoever it was was her enemy. Whoever it was had attacked her and her family just as coldly as those terrorists had done, but much more cravenly.
Whoever it was would pay for that.
“Where have you been?”
“Sorry, Doc. I had some errands to run.” Clark had come back through the S&T office. “Here.”
“What's this?” Ryan took the bottle. It was an expensive container of Chivas Regal in a ceramic bottle. The
