Stuart Woods - D.C. Dead

Todd dumped his bag in his suite, dug out his satphone, and walked out to the pool. It was too early for swimmers, but he’d have a clear view of the satellite. He punched in the number, and it rang.

“This is Holly Barker,” she said.

“It’s Todd Bacon.”

“How did it go in San Diego?” she asked.

“It went extremely well,” he replied.

“Does that mean you actually bagged Teddy?”

“No, that would have been super well. We missed him by, well, maybe as little as thirty minutes-four hours, max.”

“Poor timing, then.”

“We’ve been working flat-out. We couldn’t take him yesterday afternoon, when you got the call from the doc in San Diego. It would have caused an uproar in the neighborhood, would have been all over drive-time news. We do not want to be the talk of the town on this ~ey>e c job.”

“Certainly not,” Holly replied. “You were right to wait until the middle of the night. You must have spooked him somehow.”

“Impossible,” Todd said. “He had no idea.”

“So he’s in his airplane now, free as a bird.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Listen, next time concentrate on finding the airplane first, then stake it out so if he runs, you’ll get him at the airport.”

“That’s a very sensible suggestion,” Todd said.

“It’s not a suggestion,” Holly said emphatically. “You should have thought of it earlier, instead of waiting for me to tell you.”

“All right, all right. I have a good team, though, and we are going to get Teddy. We’ve already started a survey of every GA airfield on the West Coast, all the way to the Canadian border.”

“Why the West Coast? I mean, apart from why not?”

“His choices were south to Mexico, north up the West Coast, or east to God-knows-where. I think he likes the West Coast, it’s a very appealing place. I can’t see Teddy disappearing into Kansas, you know? He has certain needs of a hometown-some arts, good restaurants, shopping. We mustn’t forget that he has the girl. She’s not going to rely on Walmart for her shopping.”

“I know her,” Holly said, “and your assumption is correct. She needs opportunities for style around her.”

“Well, that sounds like San Francisco or Seattle to me-how about you?”

“Either would fit the bill, or any suburb of the two places.”

“The airport is the key,” Todd said. “He has to have that to make his escape when we rumble him, and we will rumble him. How much time have I got?”

“I want a definitive, provable, but very quiet end to this well before our man’s term is up.”

“That’s eighteen months. Have we got that long?”

“Make it a year.”

“I can do it in that time,” Todd said.

“I think you can, too,” she replied, “and if you cant, there’s always that big pot of oil we keep on simmer down in the basement, waiting for your tender carcass.” She hung up.

Todd hung up, too, and then he gulped. It wouldn’t be boiling oil, he knew; it would probably be something worse.

Stone and Dino were having breakfast when the phone rang, and Stone picked it up.

“Mr. Barrington?”

“Yes.”

“This is Fair Sutherlin.”

“Good morning. You’re up early.”

“It’s eight o‘clock. I’ve been in my office for an hour. Oh, that’s right, I forgot: you’re on vacation.”

Stone ignored the dig. “I’m an attorney. I keep banker’s hours.”

She laughed. “I’m sorry, I can’t resist getting at real people, who have a business life and a private life. When you work at the White House,~ey>iv>

“You make it sound like drudgery,” Stone said.

“Oh, no, it’s too exciting for drudgery. It’s more like combat.”

“I see.”

“I’m breaking out and giving a small dinner party on Saturday night,” she said. “Could you both come? I’ll get Mr. Bacchetti a dinner partner, if he needs one.”

“Hang on,” Stone said, and turned to Dino. “Fair Sutherlin wants us for dinner Saturday night. Do you want her to get you a date?”

“I already have a date,” Dino said. “I’ll bring her.”

Stone went back to the phone. “Is a female FBI agent okay?”

“Oh, that’s perfect,” Fair said. “Nobody there will ever have met a female FBI agent.”

“Where and what time?”

“Seven-thirty for eight.” She gave him the address. “Of course, everything will be off if the country suddenly goes to hell, as it so often does. You’ll be called, in that case.”

“I understand,” Stone said. “The country comes first.”

“But not necessarily in my heart,” she said. “See you then.” She hung up.

“That’s a surprise,” Stone said.

“You’re too easily surprised,” Dino said. “You always were. If I’d put my mind to it, I could have predicted the invitation. She was looking at you a little hungrily back when she was a murder suspect.”

“Good thing we cleared her,” Stone said. “It probably would have been unethical to go out with a suspect.”

“When did that ever stop you?”

“Is this the guy talking who was fucking a desk sergeant not so long ago?”

“Yeah, but she was a hot desk sergeant.”

“I can’t deny that. I always admired your guts, Dino. If that had come to light, you’d be walking a beat now, instead of moonlighting for the president.”

“Nah,” Dino said, “the commissioner and I are like that.” He held up crossed fingers. “The chief of detectives wouldn’t dare mess with me-at least not while he’s fucking a lieutenant in the Public Affairs office.”

“God, the department is a hotbed of illicit liaisons these days, isn’t it?”

“So what else is new?”

“It’s considerate of the chief to give you a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

“You’d better watch your ass if his lieutenant dumps him.”

“Don’t worry, I know her, she’s not stupid. She knows which side of her badge gets polished.”

“I’m going to try and make sense of that metaphor while I do the crossword,” Stone said, picking up the Times.

“Good luck.”

“With the metaphor or the crossword?”

“Both.”

Stone folded the paper back and looked at one-across. Almost immediately, the phone rang. “Hello?”“It’s Holly.”

“Hey, there.”

“Did I wake you?”

“Wake me? I’m already on the crossword.”

“You want to take me to a fancy restaurant on Saturday night?”

“I’d love to, but I’ve accepted an invitation to a dinner party at Fair Sutherlin’s house.”

“I’m jealous already.”

“Oh, come on.”

“The woman’s a shark, you know.”

“And she seems so nice.”

“That’s because she knows you’re in with the president and the first lady.”

“You mean she’s not this nice to everybody?”

“Everybody thinks so, until they suddenly feel blood running down their necks from an open artery.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Are you forgetting what city you’re in?”

“Is it really all that different from New York?”

“In New York, everybody thinks only of business. Here, they think about politics, and believe me, that’s a whole different ball game. Every person you meet is not just out for himself, he’s out for the guy he works for and the guy he works for. That means everybody has at least three main causes to screw other people for, and that’s before you take into account the effect of partisan politics on relationships.”

“So you’re worried about me?”

“Listen, a simple, barefoot New York lawyer like yourself wouldn’t last a week in this town. Where Washington is concerned, you’re a rube, and a disposable one at that.”