“I don’t know what we would have in common. I know very little about him.”
“What’s your gut tell you? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about him?”
“Fighting. Wanting to smack him upside the head.”
Josh laughed. “This Sam must have done something nasty.”
“He saved my life.”
She watched the corners of Josh’s mouth turn down.
“Come on, Josh, don’t worry. I’ll tell you when you need to look smitten. We aren’t there yet. And you’re too big a man to ever allow even a whisper of a whine to pass your lips. Besides, if you’re going to be jealous, be jealous of the right guy. Be jealous of Lane.”
“You know you are really good. You’d have me holding my head at my own execution and my decapitated face still smiling. I’ll try to find out about Sam. Boats are registered. This guy told you things but was very selective. No schools, no Indian tribe. People can’t hide. Nobody can. But this guy is sure trying.”
“I know. God, I feel like some lower life form doing this.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I promised not to talk and now I’m talking.”
“You didn’t mention that when you went through the list.”
“I know. I feel really guilty.”
“Listen, it’s sensible to know something about this guy before you trust your life to him. Why was he in the vicinity?”
“I know. I know.”
He looked at his notes. “The mother thing, if we knew the tribe or the school, could be the break we need.”
“But we don’t. And if you ask Peter Malkey, the only mutual friend that I seem to share with Sam, he’ll tell him and I’m cooked, so don’t make that mistake.”
“No hint of a real name?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. Unless you want to call Sam of the Silverwind a hint.”
“Just be careful.” He paused. “What else? There’s something else, isn’t there?”
“Jason gave me a CD-ROM at the lodge. I was going to catch a seaplane that I had called in after he gave it to me. He was so serious about it I wanted to get out of there. It’s the reason I was running. Jason is so mixed up by his paranoia sometimes, I can’t be sure why he gave it to me. I’m sure it’s full of his research. That means it’s valuable to Grace. I want to take it to a mathematician that I can totally trust. I want to deliver it myself.”
“With all the swimming did it get wet?”
“Not very. It was in a waterproof bag that leaked a little the first time I went in. After the first dunking I rinsed it out in fresh water and I put it in a waterproof Ziploc bag, then back inside the waterproof bag. After that I think it was dry.”
“It’s plastic. It should be fine. I can get you someone. Probably someone in academia. But you’re right about Grace. It’s their property. Trade secrets. No wonder they were after you.”
“How dangerous are they?”
“I think they are business people. Would they kill somebody? No. They’ll try to get their property back. This is really eating on you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“It was an honest mistake with Jason. You can’t blame yourself. …”
“Well, I do. And now to top it off I’m going behind Sam’s back.”
“You have no ill motive whatsoever. You’re trying to protect yourself and Jason.”
As she left Josh’s she felt guilty, nasty. There had been a little magic cord between her and Sam-something mysterious and indefinable. Now it was gone. At home she sat down at the computer and tried to compose an e- mail to Sam, but she couldn’t think what to say.
Fourteen
“What are we gonna do?” Paul asked.
“Hit it head-on and hard.”
They waited thirty minutes over some take-out Chinese food that Typhony brought from her brother-in-law’s place. He was blond and hadn’t a speck of Chinese blood, but he cooked great Chinese.
With one last swallow Sam picked up the phone.
“What have you done?” he said to Anna. His voice was firm but soft.
“Please, Sam, just trust me.”
“I trust you fine. You have one chance. Tell me what you’ve done.”
“Don’t be a jerk, Sam. You’re putting me in a corner.”
“I’m gonna hang up now.”
“No!” she shouted. “Can’t you see I need some autonomy here? Some freedom. You’re pulling this ridiculous macho crap on me.”
“Listen to me.”
He could hear her take a deep breath.
“I’m going to have a sponsor call you.”
Before she could ask “A sponsor?” he hung up.
“Well?” Paul said.
“We call Peter Malkey.”
She plopped the receiver into its cradle. She should have known what Sam was capable of. Damn him.
The phone rang.
“Anna. It was great to see you at the party last month.”
Instantly she recognized Peter Malkey. The producer was one of the few LA people she trusted.
“Are you calling about Sam?”
“He gave you the ‘Sam’ card, huh? Then he likes you.”
“What if he hadn’t liked me?”
“Actually, whether he liked you or not, you might have gotten any one of the other cards. He’s got John of the Silverwind. Sonny of the Silverwind. Or maybe Robert I don’t know them all. Those of us in his little club mostly call him Sam the History Man.” Malkey seemed to search for what to say next. “This call is unusual because you already know him. Few people know him before they get this call, and most don’t even know him after they get it. Sam works in mysterious ways.”
“Well, you tell Sam to get his mysterious ass back on the phone. He hung up on me.”
“That attitude won’t work with Sam. Not even for Anna Wade.”
“All right, what do I do?”
“You told someone to find out about Sam, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” She sighed.
“Who?”
“Josh.”
“Oh, damn.”
“What’s that mean-oh, damn?”
“Josh still loves you. Everybody knows that. He’s stubborn and powerful. Bad combination. Somehow you have to make him stop if you ever want to hear from Sam again. I can vouch for Sam. He’s pure gold. Total integrity. Other than stretching the law a little.”
“I’m not going to simper. I want to talk to Sam. Tell him to call me.”
“A contest of wills. Okay. I told you I can’t do that. But he says you have an e-mail address. Write him.”
With that Peter hung up.
She typed out an e-mail:
