Дэвид Балдаччи - Long Road to Mercy

“I’m not asking for asylum, Joe.”

“Then what?”

“Just trust me. You’ll see. I swear.”

Joe was about to say something when his wife put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

“We trust you, Atlee,” she said.

Joe glanced at his wife for a long moment and then returned his gaze to the windshield.

They drove on.

The police station was in the middle of flat land. The building was the color of terra cotta, with the round main structure architecturally enhanced by wooden pergola wings.

As they all trooped in, some of the staff and police officers looked at them curiously, and others suspiciously. Joe Yazzie said tersely, “Official business,” and kept walking.

Pine, Roth, and Kettler cleaned up in the restrooms of the station.

Jennifer had hot coffee and some vending machine food ready for them when they came out.

Blum helped her pass out the hot coffee and food. She touched Atlee on the arm. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, Agent Pine.”

“We had a few close calls, Carol. But we made it. Now comes the really hard part.”

They ate and sipped the coffee in Joe Yazzie’s little office, while he and his wife looked on.

“I want to know what’s going on,” said Joe when they were done. “Right now. You’re in my country and it’s my rules. So, no more help until you tell me.”

Pine looked from Yazzie to his wife. “I never told you this. Anybody ever asks, you don’t know anything.”

Jennifer glanced nervously at her husband, but Joe kept his gaze resolutely on Pine. “I don’t tell anybody anything ever,” he replied firmly.

Pine drew a long breath and said, “In the back of your truck is a nuclear weapon.”

“Dear God,” said Jennifer as the blood drained from her face.

Roth stepped forward. “It’s not armed. It can’t go off.”

“Says you,” Joe snapped angrily. He looked furiously at Pine. “You had me drive a fucking nuke to Navajo land? To the police station? With my wife in the truck?”

“The weapon can’t detonate,” said Pine firmly. She pointed at Roth. “He does this shit for a living. And would you have preferred that I left it in the Canyon?”

“What are you going to do with it?” demanded Joe heatedly. “Because it’s sure as hell not staying here.”

“I’m actually taking it to my office.”

“Your office!”

“That’s what I said.”

Joe shook his head, a disgusted look on his face. “Nukes. When in the hell will you people stop this crap?”

“I wish I had a good answer for you, Joe, but I don’t. Now I need a few minutes alone with these folks.”

Joe looked at his wife. “All right. Take all the time that you need. I’m going to go out to my truck. Any black chopper that comes near it, I’m going to shoot down. You cool with that?” he added gruffly.

“Knock yourself out, Joe.”

After he and Jennifer left, Roth turned to Pine.

“You said you’re taking the nuke to your office? Why?”

“Because when you’re negotiating, you need some ammo. I’m betting that nuke has all the bullets I need.”

Roth blanched. “What are you intending to do?”

Blum said, “You can trust Agent Pine, Mr. Roth. She knows what she’s doing.”

“But you have to understand, we’re dealing with Goliath here.”

Blum smiled and said, “Well, then, David , you’re quite aptly named.”

Are you insane?”

Clint Dobbs, the head of the FBI in Arizona, sounded like he was about to suffer a stroke, or have an anxiety attack, or both.

“I don’t think so, sir, no,” replied Pine calmly into the phone.

“Where the hell have you been all this time?” demanded Dobbs.

“On the vacation you told me to take, sir.”

“Damn it, you haven’t answered any calls or emails.”

“There’s no service where I was, sir. I’m just back now.”

“Do you realize how long you’ve been gone?”

“Yes, sir, to the day.”

“And you want to meet at your office in Shattered Rock?”

“Yes, sir, and bring some reinforcements, like I asked. I’m talking Hostage Rescue Team, long guns, body armor, the works.”

“Do not be insubordinate. I’m not coming to Shattered Rock. You can come to Phoenix.”

“I would, sir, but I have something at my office that I can’t really transport.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Just trust me, sir.”

“I don’t see why I should. I’ve already gotten an earful from the DD about you.”

Pine drew a deep breath. “I think the DD might be involved in what’s going on.” Which is the reason I’m calling you and not him , she said to herself.

“What in the hell are you saying? That sort of talk could cost you your shield, Pine.”

“Why else would he have intervened and had you call me off this case, sir? Wasn’t that extraordinary on his part? I mean, what does the DD care about a dead mule?”

Dobbs didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then: “What the hell are you involved in, Pine?”

“Something bigger than I could have ever imagined, sir. That’s why I need your help and support. I can’t do it alone. And if the DD won’t do it, I need you to have my back, sir.”

“And why do I need to bring reinforcements?” asked Dobbs after another few moments of silence.

“Because I expect company here.”

“Company? What do you mean, some criminals? A gang?”

“Depends on how you define that, sir, but this company might actually be more dangerous.”

“Look, Pine, this is beyond ridiculous. If you think—”

She broke in, “Sir, I would not be asking this if it were not absolutely critical. Once you get here you will understand exactly what is going on. It’s a matter of national security. Not just for this country, but for the world.” She paused. “I’m trying to do my job, sir, as an FBI agent. I gave an oath. I intend to carry that oath out.”

She once more listened to him breathing.

“You’re really not joking, are you?”

“I have never been more serious in my life.”

“You haven’t been on vacation, have you?”

“I would not call it a vacation, no, sir.”

“Your career hangs in the balance on this, Pine.”

“A lot more than my career hangs in the balance, sir.”

There was a short pause. “I’ll be there in three and a half hours.”

“And don’t forget the reinforcements I asked for.”

Dobbs already had clicked off.

Pine sighed.

Well, here goes nothing.

Later, Pine and Blum waited in the Yazzies’ Suburban down the street from their office in Shattered Rock. It was important that they arrive at the same moment as Dobbs and his men.

“Did you and Sam get the package into our office okay?” Pine asked.

“No problem. We went in through the garage so no one could see us.” Blum paused. “Although, I have to say, it’s a little unsettling how easy it was to get a nuclear weapon into a building housing federal agents.”

“Nobody stopped you?”

“One ICE agent that I know did. I told him it was a new credenza for the office. He even helped us carry it in.”

Pine stiffened as a black SUV drove past at speed down the empty street. It pulled to a stop in front of the office building and the doors opened.

Clint Dobbs, around six feet tall and in his fifties with thinning gray hair, broad shoulders, a thick neck, and the beginnings of a paunch, got out of the truck’s rear passenger seat. He was followed by five other agents.

“Shit, he didn’t bring enough guys,” said Pine. “No HRT. No long guns. Just suits and pistols. Why the hell don’t some people listen?”