“Must’ve been a hell of a slush fund.”
“It was, and still is.”
I say, “So the head of Homeland told Sherm Phillips and the others that Doc was to be known only as Darwin?”
“That’s right. We set it up that way because Sensory Resources is too valuable to be a political pawn of whichever party controls Congress at any given moment.”
“The show must go on,” I say.
“Exactly. But when you bought the spa and plastic surgery center and offered me a job, I saw it as a way to put this life behind me.”
“You seriously want to run a private surgical center?”
“Very much so.”
“You don’t need the money.”
He smiles. “You’ve been quite generous.”
“I’m sure you were wealthy long before I started paying you.”
“I was indeed. But every little bit helps.”
“What about my daughter?”
“Kimberly? What about her?”
I watch him carefully while saying, “She’s got a benefactor.”
“A benefactor,” he says.
“That’s right. Someone taught her how to kill people, then paid her to kill them. You know anything about that?”
“Yes.”
“Was it you?”
“No.”
We look at each other a moment, then he says, “You’re referring to Sam Case.”
“Excuse me?”
“I only learned this very recently,” he says.
“What does Sam know about killing?”
“Believe it or not, he’s been running a team of assassins for a year.”
“Kimberly being one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Kimberly told me the man who hired her uses a voice-altering device.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve used such a device for the past twenty years.”
“That’s correct.”
“Does Kimberly know the voice belongs to Sam Case?”
“Yes.”
“Is he posing as a pre-Rapture pet salesman?”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Is Kimberly…dating…Sam Case?”
Without taking his eyes off mine he says, “No. Sam is in Area B at Mount Weather, and hasn’t left the facility since day one. I’ve been monitoring his activities from the moment I learned he hired Kimberly to kill Jonah Toth. You’ll remember Toth used to guard Kimberly. When you discharged him from that duty, I put him back on the payroll, posing as a college professor. And before you ask, I don’t know how or why Sam selected Toth or any of the other victims.”
He lets that sentence hang in the air a minute, but I can tell he knows more than he’s saying. He’s hesitating because he’s concerned how it’s going to come across.
I say, “This is a good time to come clean about everything you know, because I’ll eventually find the truth. And when I do, I’ll hold you accountable for what you’ve left out.”
“I know something about Kimberly, but it’s highly sensitive.”
“I’ll keep that in mind as you tell me.”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Then says, “I know you’re concerned Kimberly might be having sex with Sam. I can tell you emphatically she’s not. I know for a fact she’s not having sex with anyone.”
“Why’s that?”
“She has serious issues regarding sex.”
I frown. “How serious?”
“She met with a psychiatrist regularly for months, until he was murdered in his office. Are you aware of her condition?”
“No. And I don’t want to hear about it from you.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you know who she’s dating?”
“I think she’s making it up about dating a young man.”
“That’s her cover story for doing hits for Sam Case?”
“I can’t say. But if she’s dating at all, it’s quite recent. And I know nothing about it.”
“Rachel heard I slept with a young woman in Vegas.”
“Gwen Peters.”
“Is there anything about my life you don’t know?”
“I don’t know if you’re going to kill me today.”
I allow that comment to hang in the air a long time before saying, “I assume Gwen told Kimberly we had sex, then Kimberly told Sam, and Sam told Rachel.”
“That’s probably accurate.”
“And you believe Sam paid Kimberly to kill people? Without ever meeting her in person?”
“From what I gather, everything took place by phone.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Is it? You’ve worked for me that way for twenty years.”
“True. But I was an assassin before you took over Sensory. Kimberly allowed Sam to manipulate her into becoming a killer. How’s that possible?”
“Think about it.”
I screw up my face and give him my best Curly impression from the Three Stooges: “I’m tryin’ to think, but nothin’ happens!”
He gives me an odd look. Then says, “Kimberly craves your love and acceptance.”
“You’re saying she killed people to gain my approval?”
“Of course.”
“And somehow Sam knew she would?”
“That’s right.”
“Does Kimberly know Sam and I have a history?”
“No.”
“Sam’s turned Kimberly into a killer to punish me?”
“Yes.”
“And you know all these things because?”
“I tapped their phones.”
“Kimberly and Sam’s?”
“Yes.”
“And mine?”
“Yes.”
“What about Callie’s?”
“No one can tap Callie’s phone.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. If I knew, I’d love to listen in. Wouldn’t you?”
“Hell yes.”
We’re quiet a minute. Eventually he says, “So, are you going to let me live?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
He nods slowly. Then says, “You’re familiar with the saying Live and let live?”
I’m not happy about the phone tapping. I also don’t like the fact he knew about Kimberly and Sam and didn’t tell me. Of course, telling me would expose him as Darwin, so I understand it. I also don’t like Doc and Ethel Howard being killed just so Dr. P. can retire peacefully. On the other hand, killing Dr. P. won’t bring them back.
“Are you out of the phone tapping business?” I say.
“Yes, effective immediately. I’m sick of all the subterfuge. The killing. If you allow the world to believe Doc Howard was Darwin, I can make a clean break. I want nothing more than to run your plastic surgery center. I want to help people.”
He looks at me. “I know you understand this, Donovan. I can tell you’re getting close to retiring. I only hope you do it before you get to be my age.”
“I’d have more money available for my retirement if I don’t have to pay your protection fee,” I say.
“Yes, of course. If you allow me to live, I would expect the monthly payments to stop.”
I think about the women and children at Jeff Memorial in Louisville, whose faces and hands we promised to restore. Dr. P.’s the only surgeon in the world I’d trust to fulfill that promise. Not only that, but running a plastic surgery center in Las Vegas? The breast implant capital of the world? I can’t imagine a better way to meet young, beautiful women.
“I’m okay with Live and let live,” I say.
He smiles. “Excellent.”
“But that doesn’t apply to Sam Case.”
“I would think not,” Dr. P. says.
“I want you to keep monitoring his activities, and report them to me.”
“Even the calls between Sam and Kimberly?”
I think about that a minute, and decide Kimberly’s entitled to her privacy. I hope to hell she’s not sleeping with Sam Case, because if she is, it’s a pure manipulation play to punish me. And if she somehow cares for him, it’ll be that much harder on her when she learns the truth. I want to know what Sam’s up to, but I don’t want to intrude on my daughter’s private conversations.
Dr. P.’s waiting for my answer. I give it to him.
“Forget about Sam and his activities. I’ll deal with him in my own way. You want to make a clean break? Make it. No more wiretaps, listening devices or monitoring of any kind. No more clandestine activities. I’ll let you retire in peace. You’ll run the surgical center. We’ll help those moms and kids from the Derby City Fair attack, and anyone else who comes to us in need.”