Nelson Demille - The Lion's Game

I took a deep breath. The standard stuff didn't seem to be working. But I tried again. "Look, Mr. Khalil, I'd like us to meet, to talk in person, alone-"

"I would welcome the opportunity to meet you alone. Perhaps we will someday."

"How about today?"

"Another day. I may come to your home someday, as I came to the homes of General Waycliff and Mr. Grey."

"Call before you come."

He laughed. Well, the asshole was toying with me, but that's okay. Part of the job. I didn't think this was going anywhere, but if he wanted to talk, that was fine. I said to him, "How do you think you're going to get out of the country, Mr. Khalil?"

"I don't know. What would you suggest?"

Asshole. "Well, how about we fly you to Libya in exchange for some people in Libya that we'd like to have here?"

"Who would you rather have in jail here more than me?"

Good point, asshole. "But if we catch up with you before you leave the country, we won't offer you such a good deal."

"You're insulting my intelligence. Good night."

"Hold on. You know, Mr. Khalil, I've been in this business for over twenty years, and you're the…" Biggest scumbag. "… the most clever man I've had to deal with."

"Perhaps to you, everyone seems clever."

I was about to lose it and took a deep breath and said, "Such as having that man killed in Frankfurt, so we would think it was you."

"That was clever, yes. But not so clever." He added, "And I congratulate you on keeping the newspeople in ignorance-or perhaps it was you who was ignorant."

"Well, a little of both. Hey, for the record, Mr. Khalil, did you… dispose of, I guess you'd say, anyone else we don't know about yet?"

"Actually, I did. A motel clerk near Washington, and a gas station attendant in South Carolina."

"Why'd you do that?"

"They saw my face."

"I see. Well, that's a good… but the lady pilot in Jacksonville saw your face, too."

There was a long pause, then Khalil replied, "So, you know a few details."

"Sure do. Gamal Jabbar. Yusef Haddad on board the airliner. Why don't you tell me about your travels and the people you've met along the way?"

He had no problem with that, and gave me a nice rundown on his travels by car and plane, the people he met and killed, where he'd stayed, things he'd seen and done, and all that. I thought maybe we could get a fix on him, if we could determine what false identity he'd used, but he burst my bubble and said, "I have a complete set of new identity, and I assure you I will have no problem leaving here."

"When are you leaving?"

"When I wish to leave." He then said, "My only regret, of course, is not being able to see Mr. Wiggins. As for Colonel Callum, may he suffer and die in agony."

My goodness. What a prick. I got a little testy and said, "You can thank me for saving Wiggins' life." "Yes? And who are you?" "I told you. John."

He stayed silent a moment, then said again, "Good night-"

"Hold on. I'm having a good time. Hey, did I tell you that I was one of the first Federal agents on board that aircraft?"

"Is that so?"

"You know what I'm wondering? I'm wondering if we saw one another. You think that's possible?" "It is possible."

"I mean, you were wearing a blue Trans-Continental baggage handler's jumpsuit. Right?" "Correct."

"Well, I was the guy in the light brown suit. I had this good-looking blonde with me." I winked at Kate. "You remember us?"

He didn't reply right away, then said, "Yes. I was standing on the spiral staircase." He laughed. "You told me to get off the aircraft. Thank you."

"Well, I'll be damned. Was that you? Small world." Mr. Khalil picked up the ball and said, "In fact, I saw your photograph in the newspapers. You and the woman. Yes. And your name was mentioned in Mr. Weber's memo that I found in your Conquistador Club. Mr. John Corey and Miss Kate Mayfield. Of course." "Hey, this is special. Really." You prick. "In fact, Mr. Corey, I believe I had a dream about you. Yes, it was a dream, and a feeling… a presence, actually." "No kidding? Were we having fun?" "You were trying to capture me, but I was more clever and much faster than you."

"I had just the opposite dream. Hey, I'd really like to meet you and buy you a drink. You sound like a fun guy."

"I don't drink."

"You don't drink alcohol. You drink blood."

He laughed. "Yes, in fact, I licked the blood of General Waycliff."

"You're a mentally deranged camel-fucker. You know that?"

He thought about that and said, "Perhaps we will meet before I leave. That would be very nice. How can I reach you?"

I gave him my number at the ATTF and said, "Call anytime. If I'm not in, leave a message, and I'll get back to you."

"And your home number?"

"You don't need that. I'm at work most of the time."

"And please tell Mr. Rahman someone will be calling on him, and the same to Mr. Wiggins."

"You can forget that, sport. And by the way, when I catch up with you, I'm going to kick your balls into your mouth, then rip your head off, and shit down your neck."

"We'll see who catches who, Mr. Corey. And my regards to Miss Mayfield. Have a good day."

"Your mother was fucking Gadhafi. That's why Moammar had your father killed in Paris, you stupid-" The line was dead, and I stood there awhile, trying to get myself together. The room was really quiet.

Finally, Tom said, "You did a nice job."

"Yeah." I walked out of the living room, into the TV room to where I had spotted a bar, and poured myself a few inches of Scotch. I took a deep breath and drank it all.

Kate came into the room and asked softly, "You okay?"

"I will be soon. Want a drink?"

"Yes, but no thanks."

I poured another and stared off into space.

Kate said, "I think we can go now."

"Go where?"

"We'll find a motel and stay in Ventura, then check in tomorrow with the L.A. office. I still know some people there, and I'd like you to meet them."

I didn't reply.

She said, "Then, I'll show you around L.A., if you want, then back to New York."

I said, "He's here. He's very close to here."

"I know. So, we'll stay around a few days and see what develops."

"I want all car rental agencies checked, I want the Libyan community turned upside down, all ports of departure watched, the Mexican border under tight-"

"John, we know all of that. It's in the works right now. Same as New York."

I sat down and sipped my Scotch. "Damn it."

"Look, we saved Wiggins' life."

I stood. "I'm going to sweat Rahman a little more."

"He doesn't know anything more, and you know it."

I sat again and finished my Scotch. "Yeah… well, I guess I'm out of ideas." I looked at her. "What do you think?"

"I think it's time to leave these people to their work. Let's go."

I stood. "Do you think they'll let us play with the goo-gun?"

She laughed, the kind of laugh that's more a sigh of relief when someone you like is getting weird, then gets back to normal.

I said, "Okay. Let's blow this place."

We went back into the living room to wrap it up and say good night. Rahman had disappeared somewhere, and everyone was looking a little down. Tom said to Kate and me, "I called Chuck to give you a lift to a motel."

Just then, Tom's cell phone rang, and everyone became quiet. He put the phone to his ear and listened, then said, "Okay… okay… no, don't stop him… we'll handle it here." He hung up and said to us, "Elwood Wiggins is coming home." He added, "Lady in the car with him."

Tom said to everyone, "We'll all stay here in the living room, and let Mr. Wiggins and his friend enter his house-through the garage or the front door. When he sees us-"

"We all yell, 'Surprise!'" I suggested.

Tom actually smiled and said, "Bad idea. I will put him at ease and explain the situation."