David Kent - The Triangle Conspiracy

A strange look came over Sean’s face. “Sanborn took it. He had a gun on us, on Daryn. My gun’s…”

“Where?”

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter now. How will you get home?”

Faith shrugged. “I’m not sure when I’ll get to go home. When I’m doing an intake like this, I sometimes don’t get to go home for a couple of days at the very beginning. I’ll either get Scott to give me a ride, or if he’s too tied up, I’ll have someone from the Marshals Service get me a car. I’ll have to call in a couple of them to work protective detail for your friend in there.”

“Faith,” Sean said.

Faith waited.

“I’m sorry.”

Faith nodded. “Go on back home. Try to forget about her. I don’t know what’s already happened, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but you have to put her out of your mind.”

“She’s not an easy woman to forget.”

Faith glanced down the hall. “I believe you,” she said.

FAITH WAITED UNTIL SHE HEARD THE MIATA LEAVEthe garage. Then she walked to the front window, pulled aside the curtains, and watched her car until it reached the corner and turned.

She walked down the hall, doing a breathing exercise as she went. When her friend Alex had had a baby, three months premature, last year, Faith had learned about the power of controlling one’s breathing, and now often used prenatal breathing exercises to steady her nerves and focus her senses.

Daryn McDermott wasn’t lying down when Faith walked into the bedroom. Rather, she was sitting on top of the sleeping bag, her back propped against the wall. The lights were off.

“Let me turn on the light,” Faith said.

“Don’t, please,” Daryn said. “I get these terrible headaches, and it’s better in the dark when I have one.”

“If someone shoved you to the ground, you may have a mild concussion,” Faith said. “The offer of medical attention still stands.”

“No, thank you. Getting shoved to the ground didn’t cause my headache.”

“All right.” Faith sat down on the floor, at an angle to where Daryn sat. Not too close, not too far away. “Can I get you anything? A glass of water? I’ll do some shopping later and get some supplies in here.”

“No, nothing.” The sky outside had become overcast, and much of the room was in shadow. “Tell me something, Faith. Are you as good a lover as your brother?”

Faith didn’t blink and didn’t hesitate. “That depends on who you ask, I suppose.”

Daryn chuckled lightly, yet another new emotion from her. “True. Your brother’s quite good, actually.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“No, I guess you wouldn’t. Though you never can tell in some families.”

“Voice of experience?” Faith said.

Daryn was silent for a long time. “You’re impressive. Usually when I make statements like I just made, people are shocked, appalled, outraged that such a pretty young ‘ thing’ would talk about such matters.”

“Number one: you’re not a thing. Number two: nothing shocks me. I am capable of outrage, though.”

“I’m sure you are. So am I.”

“Obviously.” Faith crossed her long legs at the ankle. “What outrages you, Daryn?”

“Social injustice. Phony moralistic laws, unfair tax codes that punish real people while the ruling classes-those like my father and his cronies-gain wealth and power on the backs of others. My father’s never worked an honest day in his life.”

“Well, I’m no lover of politicians myself, and trust me, I’ve known a few.” Faith wondered what Daryn would say if she knew that the newly reelected president of the United States considered Faith a personal friend. Faith didn’t like the man, but that hadn’t stopped them from doing “professional favors” for each other.

“Oh, it’s not just politicians. I’m not just another antigovernment nutcase.”

“That’s refreshing.”

“Yes. It’s the entire fabric of society. It’s corrupt and immoral, cloaked in this invisible language of ‘values’ and ‘the American dream’ and that kind of silliness.”

“Okay, then,” Faith said. “What led the daughter of a United States senator to be here, at this point, talking to me? Start with this guy Sanborn. He sent people to break into your apartment, you get away, and somehow you wind up connected with him afterward.”

Daryn moved her head in the semidarkness, but only slightly. “I misjudged Franklin.”

“You don’t seem surprised to find out that he sent those guys to your apartment.”

“I’m not surprised by anything I learn about Franklin Sanborn now. I trusted him, and he betrayed that trust.”

“Who is he? Ever since you-or ever since Katherine Hall, I should say-became a missing person a week ago, and I found out from the local police that the guys who broke into your apartment drove a car rented by Franklin Sanborn, I’ve been trying to find out about him. He’s a ghost, a phantom. He doesn’t exist.”

“He was a professor in Indiana.” Daryn’s voice was very soft and very even. “I think he was fired for his political views. He’d read about one of my tours last year and he found me in Washington. He had a plan, he had a vision for the cause I was already promoting. That’s how we created the Coalition for Social Justice.”

“Nice name. This Coalition for Social Justice? It’s responsible for bombing the Chase Tower?”

Daryn sighed. “I don’t know when, but somewhere Franklin lost control. Maybe it was seeing me with Michael…I mean Sean. I was never with Franklin sexually, yet he struck me as the kind who could have been very possessive, even without having ever done it.”

Faith shook her head. “You speak a lot of different languages, Daryn. You talk to Sean about ‘last fucks for the road,’ like any street hooker, and here and now, you sound like a social scientist.”

Daryn said nothing.

“So you and Sanborn created this Coalition. Why here? Why Oklahoma?”

“I’d been through here on my tour last year. I made a friend here, one of the girls on the street. Plus, there’s the whole ‘heartland’ syndrome. That’s about the only possible thing I could agree with that fool McVeigh on. Starting in New York or Washington or Chicago or Los Angeles would have been lost on everyone.” Daryn shifted on the sleeping bag. She moved a little closer to Faith “Why don’t we get down to business, Faith?”

“Okay, we’ll get down to business. When I talk to my boss, he’s going to want to know what information you have, and how important it is to national interests. Let’s start there.”

Faith thought she heard Daryn’s breathing quicken.

“And so,” Daryn said after a moment, “you would protect a terrorist if the information was right?”

“Are you a terrorist, Daryn?”

“You answered my question with a question.”

“Yes, I did,” Faith said. She didn’t move, staring at the other woman with unflinching eyes.

There was a long silence.

“You’re a very disarming woman,” Daryn said after a full minute. “I’m rarely at a loss, and you’ve done it twice now.”

Faith shrugged.

“It’s a very attractive quality. To me, it’s quite erotic.” Daryn’s voice was almost a whisper.

Breathe, Faith, breathe.

“Well,” she said slowly, “I’m only into guys, Daryn.”

Daryn moved a little closer. “No, you’re not, Faith. You say that, but you’re not. Let me touch you, Faith. I want to touch you everywhere.” She reached toward Faith, fingers outstretched.

“Daryn,” Faith said. “If you put your hand on me, I will break your wrist.”

Daryn froze.