Scratching, nagging, worrying at the back of his head. He wanted to run. “Except for the baby,” McGarvey said, and he took the elevator upstairs leaving Dick Yemm standing flat-footed in the corridor. Ms.
Swanfeld was waiting for him when he barged through the outer office and into his office. She took his coat, hung it up, then got him a cup of coffee, into which she poured a healthy measure of brandy. “I thought that you could use this,” she said, setting it down on the desk. He smiled tiredly. “The boss isn’t supposed to be a drunk.”
She smiled faintly. “President Lincoln had the same problem with Grant.” “I wish it was that simple,” he said. “What’s on the schedule?” “You’re supposed to be on the Hill at two.” “Not today.”
“Very well. Mr. Paterson thought that might be the case. He would like a few minutes of your time this afternoon.” “Whenever he’s free.”
“Barry Willis of the New York Times is coming at five-thirty for a backgrounder on the Havana incident. But I suspect that he will actually ask you questions about the Virgin Islands.” “Reschedule him for sometime next week.” “Yes, sir,” she said. “In that case, except for Mr. Paterson, you are free for the remainder of the day.” “I want a staff meeting at five. I’d like to see the preliminary NIE and Watch Reports. I’d like to speak with Fred Rudolph at some point, and then the President.” McGarvey glanced at the door to Adkins’s office. “Is Dick here this afternoon?” “Yes, sir. But he had a terrible night of it. Mrs. Adkins is back in the hospital.” McGarvey felt terrible for him. “I’ve tried to force him to take a leave of absence. But he won’t do it.” “Neither would you, Mr. Director,” Ms. Swanfeld countered sternly. “But I’m-” “Indispensable?” she asked. He was going to say under fire, but he just shook his head. “Point well taken.” “How is Elizabeth?” “She won’t let go of the teddy bear. She says to tell everybody thanks.” Ms. Swanfeld smiled warmly.
“She’s black-and-blue, and her back hurts, but she wanted to come back to work this afternoon.”
“Good heavens. Pardon me, sir, but you are not going to allow that child to resume her duties this soon, are you?”
“No, they’re keeping her overnight at the hospital, and she’ll be out on sick leave for at least a week. Maybe longer. My wife will be returning home, probably tomorrow morning. I’ll see if I can’t convince Elizabeth to come home to help out. Her mother could use her.”
“Indeed,” Ms. Swanfeld said. Her manner brightened, as if a burden had been lifted. “I’ll go make your calls.”
“Give me a half hour.”
“Yes, Mr. Director.” Ms. Swanfeld went to the door. “I’m glad Elizabeth is back safe and sound.”
“So am I.”
McGarvey stared out the windows at the deepening gloom as he finished his coffee. Then he went next door to his DDCI’s office. Adkins, in shirtsleeves, was just sitting down at his desk as the outer door from his office closed. “Who was that?” McGarvey asked. Adkins looked up, startled. “Oh, hello, Mac. Elizabeth got back okay?” McGarvey nodded. “She’s going to spend the night in the hospital. We’ll see tomorrow. But it’s good to have her back.” He glanced at the door.
“That was Bob Johnson, he had a final report on Otto’s accident.
Somebody did tamper with the wheel bearing. Curious though, whoever did it wasn’t a mechanic. They just jacked up the car, took the wheel off and dug around in the wheel bearing well with a screwdriver, or something.” “So it could have been Otto himself.” Adkins nodded glumly. “But whoever did it wasn’t trying to fix anything. They were trying to sabotage the wheel so that it would come off.” “I was told that Ruth’s back in the hospital. What happened, Dick?” “She had another relapse,” Adkins said, looking down at his hands. “This time she was puking up a lot of blood. But there are no bleeders. Nothing they can fix.” “Ulcers-” “She’s riddled with cancer. It’s everywhere in her body. She’s disintegrating from the inside out.” McGarvey was disturbed. “I can’t believe that you came in today. Get the hell out of here. You need to be with your family.”
“The girls arrived last night, they’re with their mother.” He shook his head again. “There’s nothing I can do for her that makes any sense. She’s in intensive care, and ”
“And nothing, Dick.” McGarvey softened his tone. “I mean it, you have to get back to the hospital, if for no other reason than your daughters.” “They don’t want me.”
“Bullshit, and you know it. I’m placing you on sick leave right now.
Dave Whittaker can help take up the slack for the time being.”
Adkins’s mood, which seemed terribly matter-of-fact, did not match the situation. It was denial. This wasn’t happening to him. By throwing himself into work he could forget for a few hours what was really going on around him. And yet there was something else. Another layer of meaning in Adkins’s gestures and words. As if he were hiding something so terrible that he had to watch his every movement lest he give himself away. “I’m ordering you out of here,” McGarvey said. He gestured to the pile of folders on the desk. “Are those the NIE and Watch Report?” Adkins nodded. “Give them to me, then put on your coat, tell your secretary that you’ll be gone until further notice, get in your car and drive over to the hospital.” Adkins reluctantly handed the thick file folders to McGarvey. “There’ve been no substantive developments in the past five days.” “Call me when you can. Let me know what’s happening,” McGarvey said. “Tell Ruth that… we’re thinking of her.” McGarvey went to the door. “I hate to leave like this, Mac.” “I know,” McGarvey said, and he walked back into his own office. He sat down at his desk and forced himself to flip through the reports. No matter what else happened to them individually, the business of the world and therefore the CIA, continued. Adkins came to the door a few minutes later, his coat on. “I’m gone then,” he said.
“If you need us, we’re here for you, Dick,” McGarvey said. Adkins nodded. “I know,” he said. “Good luck.” He turned and walked out.
McGarvey was about to call after him, to tell him that no matter how long it took he would be welcomed back with open arms, when his secretary buzzed. “What is it?” “It hasn’t been a half hour, but Fred Rudolph is on one for you. Do you want to take it, or should I ask him to call back?”
“I’ll take it,” McGarvey said. He punched one. “Fred, what do you have for me?” “We’re having no luck tracking down Nikolayev in France, and now Dmitri Runkov has disappeared.” “What are you talking about, disappeared? Did he return to Moscow?” “Not on any flight out of Washington or New York,” the FBI supervisor said. “He’s apparently not at home, and he’s not available at the embassy.” “What about his family? Are they still in Washington?” “His wife and kids are at the house, living like they normally have. Grocery store, the dry cleaners, the bank, gas station, liquor store, little league hockey.
But no Dmitri.” “Has this happened before? Has he disappeared like this, I mean?” “He’s played games with us, but never like this. Never for so long. Hours usually, never days.” Mysteries within mysteries.
Nothing was as it seemed to be. The one idea that would solidify everything danced at the edges of McGarvey’s understanding. It was as if he were being teased by some truth, some sudden insight that would make everything clear to him. “If he hasn’t managed to slip out of the country under our noses, then it means he’s gone to ground for some reason,” Rudolph suggested. “That doesn’t make him guilty of anything,” McGarvey countered, working it out. “Maybe he’s just a cautious man.” “You might be right, Mac. But if that’s the case, if he’s just ducked into the nearest bunker, it means that he’s expecting an explosion. Soon.” “It would seem so,” McGarvey said. “Dmitri knows something that we don’t.” “We’ll keep trying to dig him out,” Rudolph promised. “In the meantime, maybe you should take his example and keep your head down, too.” “The thought has occurred to me,” McGarvey said.