“Your coming here today may cause us a problem, unless you took care not to be seen,”
Spranger said.
The Japanese man turned around and smiled. “You should not worry about such inconsequential details when there are so many other things to be concerned about, Herr Spranger.”
Spranger crossed the veranda and shook hands with the man. “Nonetheless, Mr. Endo, I trust you took the proper precautions.”
“Naturally.”
“You understand that we have other clients who must also be protected.”
The expression in Endo’s eyes was unfathomable, but he did not stop smiling. “My message will be brief, but let us sit down together as friends, still.”
Liese was watching and listening from a room in the rear that contained the villa’s security equipment. Later they would go over the tape together to make sure neither of them had missed anything.
The Italian houseboy served them tea when they were settled and after he withdrew, Endo pushed his cup aside and sat forward.
“Tell me what progress you have made concerning Mr. McGarvey. It is still our wish to stop the man.”
“We have temporarily lost direct track of him in Washington. My people there think he may have left the area, but at this point we’re still not certain. In any event, it’s not our intention to confront him directly… and certainly not on his home ground.”
“Your intentions are…?”
“To lure him back to Europe, of course, where we will set up a killing zone of our own choosing.”
“When and where will this be accomplished?”
“The when is very soon, but to answer your question about where is more complicated.
We have reliable intelligence that McGarvey may be an extraordinary man who might not be so easily cornered and killed. First he must be given an incentive to do what we wish, and then he must be softened up. But the odds are with us. We’ll stack them that way.”
“Are you afraid of this man?”
Spranger bridled at the question. “Of course not.”
Endo shook his head. “You should be, Herr Spranger.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. McGarvey is presently in Tokyo, where he gunned down three of our people in cold blood. And in broad daylight, I might add, with all of the odds, as you say, stacked against him. Now the police are investigating us as well as the Americans.
It is an intolerable situation. One which we have paid your organization a great deal of money to prevent.”
The news was stunning. Spranger needed time to think. “Has he gone back to work for the CIA?”
“The fact that he was so recently in Washington makes that a distinct possibility.
As does the fact that he was seen with a woman who has been identified as the mistress of two CIA officers.”
“Who are these men?”
“The chief of station and his assistant,” Endo said. “We eliminated both of them.”
“Verdammt,” Spranger swore. “Is the CIA investigating your operation?”
“That is no concern of yours, Herr Spranger. This man must be made to leave Tokyo.
Immediately.”
“If you’re being investigated by the CIA, if they are making the connection between you and what happened in Paris, then our entire contract is in grave jeopardy.”
“The connection has not been made as yet. But time is of the essence. You must lure McGarvey out of Japan immediately.”
“It may take some time,” Spranger said, his thoughts racing. “There are certain details still to be worked out.”
“Work them out,” Endo said, standing. “You have twenty-four hours in which to do it.”
Spranger looked up. “Or else?”
“We will cancel our contract with you, and demand an immediate repayment of all monies we’ve paid to date.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Spranger warned.
“Our reach is much longer than you would think,” the Japanese said. “Do this for us and you will be a wealthy man. Fail and you will die.”
Endo turned and left the veranda. His car and driver had waited in front for him.
Liese, wearing a stunningly revealing string bikini, came out of the house a moment later, and sat down across from Spranger. She was smiling.
“Why the hell did the bastard go to Tokyo?” Spranger asked. “What the hell is he playing at now?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Liese said.
Spranger focused on her. “What are you talking about?”
“The news from Bern,” she said sweetly. “It has finally come.”
“I see,” Spranger said, grinning. It was as if a giant weight had been taken off his shoulders.
Chapter 31
Traffic on the Washington Memorial Parkway was heavy, though most of it was headed toward the city, and not north, along the river. Already the morning was hot, humid and hazy, and only when the Mercedes convertible turned off the main highway up the Bureau of Public Roads’ treelined entry road, was there any relief.
“I’m here to speak with Phil Carrara,” Kathleen McGarvey told the gate guard. “I didn’t make an appointment, but if you’ll just tell him who it is, he’ll see me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the guard said, and went back into the glass-fronted hut.
During the few minutes it took him, there was a steady stream of traffic into the CIA Headquarters. Most spies, Kath
leen reflected, were nine-to-fivers like the rest of official Washington. She’d had the misfortune of picking one who wasn’t.
“Someone will meet you in the lobby, Mrs. McGarvey,” the guard said, giving her her visitor’s passes. “Just to the right after the clearing.”
“I know the way,” Kathleen said, and she drove up the hill. It’d been years since her one visit here, and she’d vowed then never to come back. Now she was frightened.
The same old fear as in the early days. This time it was the call.
She signed in with the guards in the lobby, and after her purse was searched, a young man who said his name was Chilton escorted her up to the DDO’s office on the third floor.
Carrara was waiting for her at the door to the office. “This is certainly a surprise, Mrs. McGarvey.”
“Not a pleasant one, I’m sure,” Kathleen said, preceding him into his office and taking a seat in front of his desk. She wore a crisply tailored off-white linen suit, and a pastel green blouse with matching shoes and broad-brimmed hat.
“The Agency regrets the intrusion of your house the other day,” Carrara said going around behind his desk. “But if there’s anything I can do personally…
“I want to know where Kirk has gone off to this time,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. McGarvey but I don’t know anything…
“Short of that I want to get a message to him.” She crossed her legs. “I won’t leave here until I get what I’ve come for. And if need be, I’ll speak with the general.”
“I don’t know if that will be possible, this morning,” he replied, and for the first time Kathleen noticed that something was wrong. It looked as if he hadn’t slept or shaved in a week. His complexion was pale, and his eyes bloodshot.
“I’ll wait right here if I have to,” she said. “Kirk is on another assignment for you, and I must get word to him.”
“He told you that, Mrs. McGarvey?” Carrara asked sharply.
“Not in so many words. But I know him. One day he is here, and the next day, after your people show up at my front door, he disappears. I merely put two and two together.”
“I’m sorry,” Carrara said tiredly. “I don’t know where he is. And even if I did I could not tell you. I’ll have you escorted back downstairs to your car.”