“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll set it up and let you know the details about when and where to meet us.”
“And my kids come too.”
“What? No, that’s not—”
“This might take a couple days. I can’t leave them alone that long, and it’s too late to find someone who’d be able to take in four children.”
Lonnie is seventeen and very responsible, but I couldn’t help but agree with Fionna that it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave him alone to watch his three younger siblings. Fionna doesn’t have family in the area, and while she could farm the kids out to their friends’ houses, that might be awkward. She was also right that this would likely involve a couple days of work. Still, even taking all that into account, I’m hesitant to say yes.
“I don’t know, I’m—”
“They’ll be safe in the hotel rooms you’re going to get us, if that’s what you’re worried about. They’ll have plenty of security. After all, we’re staying at a nice hotel, right? Because it’ll really be a lot easier if there’s room service.”
“This isn’t exactly—”
“My kids like to swim, so let’s make sure there’s an indoor pool.”
I wish I could tell her that there wouldn’t be enough room on the plane for her and her kids, but the Gulfstream 550 that’s on its way to Portland would actually have just enough seats.
I rub my head. “Really? You want me to fly your kids to Philly?”
“You’re already paying for the flight, why not get your money’s worth? Besides, they’re due for a field trip, and they’ve never been to the City of Brotherly Love.”
“You told me earlier today that you took them on a field trip this morning?”
“That doesn’t really count. It was in the same state.”
Oh. Is that how it works.
“I see.”
“You won’t regret having them along. Trust me. They can help me out, and from what I’ve seen, you could use it. I mean, this project is about as confusing as when you have two dozen gerbils running around a pet store and you’re trying to catch the one with the little white tuft on his left ear, and you can’t seem to find him because all the other ones are just too dang frisky.”
I knew a simile would sneak in here eventually. Or an analogy. Or metaphor. I’m not really sure what that one was.
“Where do you get these from, Fionna?”
“Sometimes they just come to me. So?”
I hold back a sigh. “Okay, they can come. But I’m not guaranteeing you a pool.”
“Hot tubs in the suites will be fine.” She turns from the phone and I hear her calling to her family, “Kids, pack up your things. We’re going to Pennsylvania!”
Part II
MEANS of DISPOSAL
Critical Condition
Cyrus slipped into his Jag and took a deep breath.
Had Helen really invited Riah out for coffee? Or was that a lie? If Helen had asked her to meet, did she know about the affair?
He felt his temperature rising.
Who was the wasp here and who was the cockroach? Who was the helpless one? Riah was not the one calling the shots in this, he was. And he was not about to have her try to control him, try to seal him in a corner.
Her mention of Helen annoyed him, really annoyed him. And then, of course, there was this whole botched job with Tanbyrn.
The assassin was dead and the doctor was not.
Cyrus pounded the steering wheel.
How could you have been so stupid to hire an inept goon like him!
Frustrated, he drove toward the drop-off point at First Central Bank, the place Akinsanya had told him to leave the DVD of the footage in Kabul.
Earlier, while they were waiting for Oriana to show up, Cyrus had decided that if the police came knocking, he would tell them the truth: yes, he had been in touch with Banner, had spoken with him on several occasions.
And he would also tell them a lie — Banner had been blackmailing him from the beginning, threatening to expose his affair with Riah.
The conversation played out in his head:
“How did he find out about you and Dr. Colette?” the cops would ask him.
A lie: “He told me he had a tip. That’s all he said. He had photographs. Compromising ones.”
“What did you pay him?”
The truth: “So far, $12,500. He wanted more. Another twelve five.”
“Then why would he burn down the building where they were doing research related to RixoTray?”
A lie: “I have no idea. Dr. Colette is in charge of the research project. She might be able to help you with that.”
The blackmail angle worked. It explained the money, the fact that Banner had been in touch with him, and the reason Cyrus had kept it all a secret. Admitting to the affair might not help his marriage, but he could work through all that, play the repentant husband, reconcile, move on. Or maybe go back to Caitlyn. She really was a fine little office helper.
But for now there was still the issue of Tanbyrn.
Put quite simply, he knew too much.
You never know — he might already be dead.
Cyrus put the DVD in the mail slot of First Central Bank. The bank was, of course, closed. He had no idea who Akinsanya was, had never met him, only spoken with him on the phone.
He didn’t know why Akinsanya had chosen this location, but he was not going to question him, not after the photos Akinsanya had sent him of what he’d done to the people who’d betrayed him or failed him in the past. All using a needle and thick, black thread.
Back in the car, before starting the engine, Cyrus considered his course of action.
He had a meeting tomorrow morning at nine with the vice president at the White House. Papers to verify, a myriad of details to arrange.
Cyrus took out his cell phone, surfed to a dozen news sites, one after another, to see what details had emerged about the fire at the Lawson Research Center.
He found out that the famous Nobel laureate Dr. Tanbyrn wasn’t dead yet. Some guy had gotten him out of the building just in time. But the doctor was in critical condition with carbon monoxide poisoning and had slipped into a coma within the last twenty minutes or so.
Well, that was a bit of good news.
The circumstances surrounding Banner’s death were still sketchy, but apparently he was killed while fighting one of the people at the center.
Some professional he turned out to be.
Tanbyrn’s in a coma. Nonresponsive. If he ever does recover, he’ll probably have brain damage. Just get through until tomorrow night. There’ll be time to deal with Tanbyrn later, once things have settled down.
After thinking things through, Cyrus decided to go home, get everything ready for tomorrow, and keep an eye on the situation with Tanbyrn. Yesterday he’d briefly considered contacting Atabei. Maybe, with Tanbyrn in a weakened condition like this, that would be the best route to take after all.
Yes, keep tabs on his condition and make a decision in the next couple hours regarding Tanbyrn.
After contacting the charter flight service again and making arrangements for us to stop by to pick up Fionna and her children in Chicago, I put in a call to make our hotel reservations. With people streaming to central Philly to hear the president’s speech in the morning, there aren’t many vacancies, so it takes a little time to find some rooms, but finally I do.
Because of our early morning arrival, I book the rooms for both tonight and tomorrow so we’ll be able to check in immediately when we get there and not have to wait for the normal check-in time later in the day. It’s only a couple thousand dollars more for an extra night for the four rooms, and it would save us the hassle of stowing our luggage until the afternoon. I figure it’s worth it.