David Baldacci - The Innocent

She glanced up at him, looking ashamed. “I know you don’t need to hear this.”

“I can understand how you might need to get it off your chest.”

“I’ve already vented plenty, thanks.” She finished her breakfast and pushed the plate away.

She took a few moments to collect her thoughts. “I saw the bus come down the street. It was really noisy so it woke me up. I don’t sleep well on the street. Concrete isn’t too comfortable. And it’s just not… well, safe. I get scared.”

“I can see that.”

“And then the bus stopped, right there in the middle of the street. I remember sitting up and leaning around the Dumpster and wondering why it had stopped. I’ve been over to that bus terminal going through the trash cans. It wasn’t a city bus. It goes up to New York. Leaves same time every night. Seen it before. Sometimes I wish I were on it.”

Not that night you don’t, thought Robie.

“What side of the street were you on? Side facing the bus door or the other side?”

“The door was on the other side.”

“Okay, go on.”

“Well, it just blew up. Scared the hell out of me. Saw stuff flying everywhere. Seats, body parts, tires. It was horrible. I thought I was in the middle of a war zone.”

“Did you see anything that might have caused the bus to explode?”

“I just assumed it was a bomb on the bus. You mean it wasn’t?”

“We’re still trying to figure it out,” said Robie. “But if you saw something, anything impact the bus, that could be important. A shot fired into the gas tank, maybe? Did you see or hear anything like that?”

Jordison shook her head slowly. “I know I didn’t hear a shot.”

“Did you see anyone?”

Robie stared directly at her but hid the tension he was feeling.

“After the bus blew up, I saw two people on the other side of the street. Before the bus was blocking my view. But then there wasn’t any more bus. A man and what looked to be a girl, maybe a teenager.”

Robie sat back but kept staring at her. “Can you describe them?”

Better it come out now, he thought.

“The girl was short, wearing a hooded coat, so I didn’t see her face.”

“What were they doing?”

“Getting up. Well, the guy was. The blast must’ve knocked them both down. Maybe knocked them out. I guess I was far enough away and the Dumpster I guess acted as a barrier. But they must’ve been closer. They were on the other side of some parked cars.”

“What happened next?”

“The guy came to first and then he went over and helped the girl up. They spoke for a few moments and then the guy started looking around the parked cars. That’s when the old guy back there started dancing around yelling about s’mores. Then the guy and girl took off.”

“Any idea where they came from?”

“No.”

“What did the guy look like?”

She stared at him pointedly. “He actually looked a lot like you.”

Robie smiled. “I guess I look like a lot of people. Can you be more specific?”

“I’ve got great eyesight. Had eye surgery done before my life fell apart.”

“But there were flames and smoke between you and the man. And it was dark.”

“That’s true. I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, if that’s what you mean. But the fire really turned night to day.”

“But my height, build, age roughly?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re sure you saw nothing hit the bus before it blew up?”

“Well, I was pretty wide awake by that time. But I didn’t see or hear anything that would have made that bus detonate.”

“Thanks, Diana. If I need to get back in touch with you, will you be around here?”

“I really don’t have any other place to go,” she said, her gaze downcast.

Robie handed her a card. “I’ll see what I can do to get you off the streets.”

Jordison’s voice shook as she looked down at the card. “Whatever you can do, mister, I’d really appreciate it. There was a time when I didn’t take charity. Figured I could get it done by myself. Those days are long gone.”

“I understand.”

Robie drove back to Donnelly’s and was getting out of his car when Vance spotted him.

“We got a break in the case,” she said after hurrying over to him.

“What?”

“ATF guys found the source of the detonation.”

“Where?” Robie asked sharply.

“Wheel well of the bus, left side. Had a motion sensor. Bus starts going, engages the timer. A few minutes later, boom.”

Robie stared at her, his mind racing.

The guy after Julie certainly wouldn’t have gotten on a bus he had just rigged to explode.

That left only one explanation.

I was the target.

Robie spent an hour with Vance going over the ATF findings and then he slipped away and made a call to Blue Man.

“Her name is Diane Jordison.” Robie described her. “She’ll be hanging around the area where the bus detonated. She was very helpful and I think she might be more helpful down the road. But she needs to get off the streets. Too risky otherwise.”

Blue Man said he would take care of it and Robie had to trust that he would. At least for now. He planned to check on that later. At the end of the day Robie could not trust anyone.

“I also want you to run down whatever you can find on a Leo Broome. Works somewhere on Capitol Hill.”

“How does he figure into this?” asked Blue Man.

“I don’t know if he does. But I have to cover that angle.”

“That briefing, Robie. I want it soon.”

Blue Man clicked off.

I want a lot of things, thought Robie. I want a way out of this nightmare.

An hour later he was back at his apartment. He took a shower and changed his clothes. He put his gun in a belt holster centered on his back and climbed in the Volvo, then texted Julie and received a response a few seconds later confirming that she was okay. He sent her another text saying he would be by to see her later and would probably stay at the apartment with her tonight.

He drove across town and pulled into a parking garage around the corner from the Old Ebbitt Grill, a Washington landmark that sat facing the east side of the Treasury building, which was located next to the White House. He snagged a space near the entrance.

Robie was here to keep his eight o’clock drink date with Annie Lambert. He entered the W Hotel and rode the elevator up to the rooftop outdoor bar, which was actually covered. Up here one could enjoy views from the White House all the way up to Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.

It was a weeknight so the tables weren’t full, but there were about twenty people cradling drinks, munching snacks, and ordering off the bar menu. Robie glanced around but did not see Lambert. He checked his watch. He was about two minutes early.

He took a seat at a table next to the railings and gazed out over the cityscape. The buildings here were impressive. Anyone would think so. Well, probably not the people who were doing their best to blow them up. The waiter came over and Robie ordered a ginger ale. He sipped on it and constantly checked the door into the bar. On his fifth rotation he glanced at his watch. Fifteen after. Lambert might turn out to be a no-show. She might have wanted to call him, but he hadn’t given her his number and he didn’t have hers. Maybe late duties at the White House had interrupted her plans.

He was about to get up when she walked in, spotted him, and rushed over.

“I am so sorry,” she said. She draped her coat over the back of the chair and sat down, setting her bag next to her. She had kept on her heels, he noted. Her sneakers were probably in the bag. Her hair was down around her shoulders and proved to be an attractive backdrop for her long neck.