“That’s right. Very good. I spent a summer interning in Amsterdam, and that’s part of what opened my eyes about this issue. But I’d never had the experiences, and I wanted the experiences. I craved a real life. So Kat Hall was born. I knew her life would be short. I designed a website, put escort ads in various places on the Internet, and just like that, I was a professional escort. I met some intriguing men and women, had some great sex, some not-so-great sex, made connections with people. I knew it wouldn’t last long.” Her voice grew far away. “I had even asked the people at the Mulhall house to call me Kat, at least for a while, until we went public. It kept her alive a little longer.”
Faith got to her feet. “You’re a very unusual person, Daryn. I’ve dealt with some intriguing people in the last few years, but none like you.”
Daryn’s tone changed, became animated again. “You could still stay here with me for a while, woman to woman. I’m still interested.”
“And I’m still just into guys.” Faith moved toward the door. “There are some things I have to do now, to begin processing your case. I have phone calls to make, paperwork to do.”
“You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you?”
“I’ll call in a protective detail. There will be two deputy United States marshals here with you, a man and a woman. Do not under any circumstances try to seduce them, Daryn. If you do, I’ll know about it, and you’ll be on the street. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“They will not know any details of why you’re here, or what’s happening. They will not try to get information out of you. I am the only one you talk to about the case. The only things they can talk to you about are neutral subjects like what you want to eat, if you’re comfortable in the house, that sort of thing. Just so you know, they will be armed. They’re required to be, just in case. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Do I look like I could overpower two federal marshals?”
“Stranger things have happened,” Faith said. “I’ll be back when I can.”
“Will you be seeing your brother?”
“Not for a while. He needs a ‘time out’ too. I’ll deal with him later.”
“You know that he’s an alcoholic,” Daryn said, without emotion. “It controls him.”
“Yes, I know that,” Faith said, and left the room.
22
AT FIRST FAITH THOUGHT DARYN WOULD FOLLOW her out of the bedroom, but Daryn stayed where she was, propped against the wall in the semidarkness. Faith whipped out her cell phone. Her first call was to Chief Deputy Mark Raines in the office of the Marshals Service. She ordered a protective detail-two teams, twelve-hour shifts-and Raines got right on it, no questions asked. She also asked if they could provide her a car for the short term. Affirmative, with no questions. Such was the way of Department Thirty.
The two deputies arrived in two cars, a little less than an hour later. Faith knew both of them. The woman, Hagy, had done protection on the Alex Bridge case last year, and the man, Leneski, was one of the few Faith actually counted as personal friends. She gave them vague instructions-vague instructions are my life, she thought for a moment-then left to go shopping. She went to the giant supermarket on the corner of Danforth and Santa Fe and bought a variety of ready-to-eat and microwavable foods, bottled water, juice, and some Tylenol for Daryn’s headaches. She took the groceries back to the safe house, then left Daryn and the two deputies.
It was a little past noon, and the brilliant skies of morning had turned to drizzle. You don’t like the weather in Oklahoma, wait five minutes, someone had told her shortly after she moved to the state. It was especially volatile in spring: sunshine, heat, wind, thunderstorms, even tornadoes-all in the space of a single day. She’d seen it many times by now.
She wasn’t really hungry, adrenaline pumping in overdrive, but she’d learned in doing recruitments-or “intakes”-that she got so wrapped up in things that she sometimes simply forgot to eat, and would then suddenly find herself sapped of energy when her adrenaline crashed. So she drove through McDonald’s, ate without tasting, and made her next call as she drove south through Edmond.
“Richard Conway,” said a voice she knew well.
She had to wait a moment, as she always did. She knew the voice, the precise, occasionally pompous diction, but he wasn’t Conway to her, and never would be. He was still Dean Yorkton in her mind. Ironically for the present case, he’d been a field officer, living next door to Frank and Anna Elder in the neighborhood she’d just left, for more than twenty years. Now he was the director of Department Thirty, administering the unit from a tiny unmarked office in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
“Mr. Director,” she said, knowing how he liked formality.
“My dear Officer Kelly,” Yorkton said. “I haven’t heard your voice in a while, though I was just preparing to type you a message giving you the go-ahead on the Bankston case.”
Faith nodded. “Good. I’ll move him as soon as I can. I’m calling about something new that’s come my way.”
“I’m listening,” he said.
“Have you heard anything about a bombing of the Chase bank building here in Oklahoma City this morning?”
“It was on CNN. Dreadful business. I know that building well, from when I lived there. Though it wasn’t Chase then…that was three or four bank mergers ago. From the coverage I’m seeing here, it could have been much worse than it was.”
“I don’t know details yet,” Faith said. “What I do know is that I have one of the lead conspirators in the bombing sitting in the safe house in Edmond.”
Long pause. “He came to you?”
“She. And yes, she was brought to me.”
“What do you mean, she was brought to you?”
Faith slowed through a construction zone on Santa Fe. All parts of Oklahoma City were under construction these days, it seemed. “It’s complicated.”
“Yes?”
“I know, I know, everything we do is complicated. Actually, my brother brought her to me.”
“Your what?”
“My brother.” She explained Sean’s involvement, omitting any references to his drinking. By the time she’d explained what she knew of the situation, she was out of Edmond, on the Broadway Extension crossing Interstate 44.
“Oh my,” Yorkton said when she’d finished. “This is messy, isn’t it? How did your brother know about your job? Oh wait a moment…he’s Customs, isn’t he? So he knew of our existence, then put two and two together and brought the girl to you for protection. You didn’t actually tell your brother you worked for Department Thirty, did you?”
“No, of course not.”
“That would have been a severe breach of security protocols.”
“Blah, blah, blah. I know that. What’s your take on the girl?”
“A senator’s daughter. Very, very messy. But if she’s truly the force behind this coalition, she could qualify. If we can prevent any other bombings from happening…”
He was counting political brownie points, Faith knew. That was what he did, what she supposed he had to do. She had enough difficulty grappling with Department Thirty’s mission at times, just as a case officer. She wasn’t sure she could have handled the political end of it.
“You’ll investigate her information, of course,” Yorkton was saying.
“I’m moving on it now.”
“Send me the list of targets.”
“I’ll do it as soon as I get to the office. Can you run this Franklin Sanborn name?”
“You sound uncomfortable about it.”
“I am,” Faith said. She steered around a slow-moving truck. “I know the name. I’m positive I know Sanborn, but I’ve come up totally empty so far. When the local cops were running this as a missing persons case, they looked for him, and he’s a phantom. But I don’t think so. I know him, I’m just not sure why.”