“Could be.” Fisher turned around and looked out at the water. “Maybe he threw it in the water.”
“You want to drag the harbor?”
“Even I’m not that crazy,” said Fisher.
“They use the phones once or twice, they reprogram the chips,” said Macklin. “I was at a seminar a few weeks back explaining how it’s done. So you think he was in the park?” added the Homeland Security agent.
“Maybe,” said Fisher. “Or on the water.”
“What, swimming?”
“Could have been in a boat.”
“Well, sure,” said Macklin.
A ferry loomed in the distance. There were ferry slips at the very southern tip of the island; you could get to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as well as Staten Island.
“Should we look for a boat?” asked Macklin.
“Probably not.”
“Did they case out the Statue of Liberty, maybe?”
“Could be.”
“ ‘Could be’?” said Macklin.
“Could be a lot of things, Michael. That’s the problem.”
“Well, what the hell are we looking for?” asked Macklin.
“Damned if I know,” said Fisher. “But a good cup of coffee would sure hit the spot.”
“We have to figure this out, Andy. We have to. America ’s counting on us.”
The wind was too strong for Fisher to risk rolling his eyes. Instead he asked, “Where are those apartments?”
“One’s in Washington Heights, the other’s in Queens. They’re under surveillance.”
“Okay,” said Fisher, starting to his left.
“Where are we going?”
“To get some coffee.”
“Andy—”
“Then we’re going to take a subway ride.”
Chapter 12
“You can’t command the force,” Colonel Thos told Tyler as they walked downstairs.
“The President told me to do it,” replied Tyler.
“He didn’t tell you to go on the mission.”
As originally drawn up, the ground commander would be an A Team captain working with men already in Korea and the Asia theater. Tyler interpreted the President’s order to mean that he should go along personally and the captain would answer to him. Thos pointed out that the President hadn’t specifically said that. Not only would it be contrary to normal procedure, from a logistical point of view, getting from Washington to Korea in time to be on the raid would be extremely difficult.
Tyler wasn’t going to argue with Thos. As far as he was concerned, the President’s order meant that he was to be there himself personally. Period.
Period.
Tyler replayed the meeting in his mind. Some of the others were looking at him with contempt, but the President hadn’t. The President — his eyes had said something to him.
I need someone I can trust. Can I trust you?
There was no way Tyler was backing out. And screw anybody who suggested he do so.
If he were white, no one would say anything, Tyler thought.
That wasn’t fair, not really, and certainly not in Thos’s case. The colonel was from a mixed background himself: Malaysian as well as European. His argument was based on command structure and the normal rules and procedures the Army followed.
But it did make sense for Tyler to take command of the mission. He sure as hell had the experience and expertise: He’d only recently been an A Team captain and had been in Korea; he undoubtedly knew many of the men who would be on the mission. He had planned it and so knew the details intimately. He knew Howe as well. The only problem was getting over to Korea.
“Look, Tyler, you’ll never make it in time,” said Thos as they reached their car.
“I will,” said Tyler. “And I think we can shave twenty-four hours off the timetable. You have to let me go, Vic. You owe it to me.”
“I owe it to you? Bullshit on that.” Thos frowned. “That’s not the way it works.”
“Well, it should be,” said Tyler. “And I’m going whether you like it or not. The President told me to.”
Chapter 13
Howe had been around enough military planners to realize that the Berkut plan was being developed as the weak sister to make the other options look better. Still, he agreed to hang around Washington, D.C., just in case the President green-lighted the operation. And so he found himself back at the hotel with nothing to do except sit in his hotel room and watch the last of the first-round games of the NCAAs. It was Auburn against St. John’s, and for some reason he found himself rooting for Auburn, which of course was a mistake. While St. John’s was no powerhouse, it had Auburn put away by halftime, and a few minutes into the second half Howe decided he’d go out for a walk.
It was warm for March, and Howe found he didn’t need to zip his jacket.
He’d volunteered for the mission without question. More than that, he wanted to do it.
Maybe leaving the Air Force had been the wrong thing to do. But if he were still in the Air Force, he’d be queuing up for a general’s slot down at the Pentagon, kissing as many butts as he could find.
An exaggeration. And surely he’d have a choice of commands. His star was rising. Had been rising.
Not that Howe didn’t have detractors. He’d been having an affair with a woman who was known to be a traitor, and there were undoubtedly rumors about that.
More than an affair: She’d been the love of his life. What did that say about his judgment?
A few kids were taking advantage of the almost spring-like weather to cut school and ride their skateboards down the back steps of an office building. Howe stopped and watched them through a chain-link fence as they tried to ride down the railing. Neither of the kids made it without falling as he watched, and while they were wearing helmets and pads, the lumps had to hurt. But they kept bounding up from the ground, eager to try again.
As Howe walked back to the hotel, he decided that he’d call Tyler and tell him he was heading home. It was time to get on with the next part of his life, move on.
But Elder, the Pentagon messenger, was waiting for him in the lobby, holding his suitcase.
“I took the liberty of settling your bill,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind. They’re pretty anxious to have you get to Andrews as soon as possible.”
Chapter 14
You could take the 1 or 9 subway up the west side of Manhattan from Battery Park to Washington Heights, and get out two blocks from the apartment the DIA and Homeland Security task force was watching. What an endorsement for mass transit, thought Fisher. Even the terrorists take the train.
During the American Revolution, Washington Heights had been the site of a needless fiasco for the American
