Which is probably still illegal.
But if Im right, our little transgression will come out smelling like the proverbial rose. He shrugged. Think. Sleep on it. Youre a reasonable woman and I think youll agree that Im not asking you to do anything that would betray your code of ethics.
If youre telling me the truth.
He nodded. If Im telling you the truth. Ive no intention of trying to convince you that I am. I know it wouldnt do any good. Youll have to make up your own mind. He opened the top desk drawer and pulled out a leather address book. Good night. Let me know your decision as soon as you make it.
She was dismissed, she realized. No persuasion. No protestations. The ball was in her court.
Or was it?
Good night. She left the library and swiftly climbed up the stairs to her bedroom.
Kennedy.
Impossible. Kennedy was lying at Arlington, not in some hole in a Maryland cornfield. Logan had been suckered into paying for nothing.
But Logan was anything but a sucker. If he thought there was any truth to Donnellis story, that might be enough reason for her to look deeper into it.
And to give credence to any plan Logan might have for a smear campaign. He could be lying, dig-ging desperately for a way to get what he wanted.
She had made a deal with him and he had kept his end of it.
Oh, what the hell. She was too tired to make a de-cision now. She would go to bed and hope she would see things more clearly in the morning. It would be the sensible thing to
The window.
She stiffened and inhaled sharply. Imagination. She wouldnt let herself be tricked by her own mind. She was tired and discouraged and prey to her own imagination. She wouldnt let herself be
The window.
She moved slowly across the room to the window and stood looking out into the darkness.
Darkness. Mosquitoes. Bugs. Snakes.
His Italian designer loafers were being ruined by the damp, rotting foliage on the trail, Fiske real-ized with annoyance.
He had never liked the woods. He remembered one time when he was a kid, hed been sent to some fucking camp in Maine and been forced to stay there for two weeks. His parents were always sending him somewhere to get rid of him.
Bastards.
But hed fixed them. Hed made sure the camp would never accept him back after that summer. They hadnt been able to prove anything, but the counselor had known. Oh, yes, he had known. It had shown in the pricks scared face, the way his eyes slid away from him.
That summer had taught him a few lessons hed been able to apply to his chosen vocation. Camping nuts almost always needed reservations for a camping site at a national park, and each reservation was tidily documented by the forest rangers.
There was a glimmer of fire up ahead.
Target.
Approach directly or wait until they were asleep?
Adrenaline was starting to pump through him.
Direct approach. Let them see him, feel it coming.
He ruffled his hair and smeared a streak of dirt on his cheek.
The gray-haired old man was sitting staring into the fire. His wife came out of their tent, and she laughed and said something to him. There was an air of intimacy and affection between them that Fiske found vaguely annoying. But then, he found every-thing about this kill annoying. He didnt like being forced into practicing his skills in the middle of the wilds, and he would make sure the old man and woman realized it.
He paused, drew a deep breath, then burst into the clearing. Thank God. Can you help me? My wife is hurt. We were setting up camp down the road and she fell and broke
I know where theyre camped, Gil said. Im on my way. But Im two hours behind. The ranger said there was another inquiry earlier this evening.
Logans hand tightened on the receiver. Be careful.
Am I stupid? Of course Ill be careful. Particu-larly if its Fiske.
Fiske?
I called my contact in the Treasury Department and the word is that Timwicks been known to use Al-bert Fiske on occasion. Fiske was a hit man for the CIA and a damn good one. He always wanted the toughest jobs, the most prestigious hits. He takes in-ordinate pride in his efficiency and ability to do jobs no one else can do. In the last five years hes severed his ties with the Company and struck out on his own, and hes done very well. He moves fast, knows the system well enough to make it work for him. He paused. And he likes it, Logan. He really likes it.
Shit.
Ill call you back when I find them.
Logan slowly replaced the receiver.
He moves fast.
How fast?
And in what direction?
The house phone on the desk buzzed.
Ms. Duncan left the house three minutes ago, Mark said.
Is she heading for the front gate?
No, shes going up the hill.
Ill be right there.
Logan came into the carriage house a few min-utes later.
Shes at the graveyard, Mark said.
Logan walked over to the bank of monitors. Whats she doing?
Its dark and shes in the shadow of that tree. Shes not doing anything as far as I can tell. Just standing there.
Standing just outside a graveyard in the middle of the night.
Zero in closer.
Mark made an adjustment on the control board and Eves face was suddenly on the screen before him.
It told him nothing. She was looking at the flower-covered graves, her face totally without ex-pression. What had he expected? Strain? Torment?
Pretty weird, huh? Mark asked. What a nutcase.
Damn you, shes not a nut He broke off, as surprised as Mark at the sudden burst of fury. Sorry, but shes not crazy. Shes just carrying around a lot of baggage.
Okay, okay, Mark said. I just thought it was all kind of weird. I wouldnt be trekking up to a grave-yard at night. I guess she He suddenly started to laugh. Shit. Youre right, shes normal as hell.
Eve was looking up into the trees, and the middle finger of her right hand was lifted in an obscene gesture.
Shes giving us the bird. Mark was still chuck-ling. I think I like her, John.
Logan found himself smiling. He liked her too, dammit. He liked her strength and intelligence and resilience. Even her stubbornness and unpre-dictability intrigued him. In other circumstances he would have liked having her for a friendhellip; or even a lover.
Lover. He hadnt realized he was regarding her in a sexual light until that moment. She was attractive, but hed been more aware of her mind and person-ality than her tall, graceful body.
Yeah, sure. Who was he kidding? Hell, sex was al-ways important and, if he was honest with himself, Eves very breakability aroused him.
Which made him pretty much of a scumbag.
So forget it. Concentrate on what was important, the reason hed brought her there.
And why the hell she was still in that damn graveyard.
The warm wind stirred the carnations on the graves and carried the faintest scent to where Eve was standing outside the fence.