Personal(84)
We got a square table near a window, where we got a spectacular high-floor view of the twinkling city, interrupted only by the black of the park. The window glass was also reflective enough to let us see most of the room behind us. Both picturesque and safe, all at once. A two-for-one deal. We ordered drinks, bottled water for her, black coffee for me. There was candlelight, and crystal, and a piano tinkling somewhere. She said, ‘This is very glamorous. It’s just like the movies.’
I said, ‘I guess it is.’
‘This is the scene where you try to get rid of me, isn’t it?’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘Because now it gets hard.’
‘Which would argue for maintaining numbers, not reducing them.’
‘But you’ll worry about me. You’ll look at me and you’ll see Dominique Kohl. That’s worth two beats a minute.’
‘Suppose I say I won’t worry about you?’
‘Then I’ll say you should. The only way to do this is to go through Little Joey first. Who will be difficult to go through. Who likes rough sex with new hookers. If you get captured, you’ll get a bullet in the head. If I get captured, I’ll be begging for one.’
‘Suppose neither one of us gets captured. That’s the more likely outcome. Joey needn’t be difficult to go through. He’s a big target. Lots of centre mass.’
‘With a driver and four guards in a Jaguar, everywhere he goes.’
‘Until we make them all unemployed. Then they’ll disappear. They won’t fight on for free.’
‘You really want me there?’
I didn’t answer. Dominique Kohl had asked: Will you let me make the arrest? Which was a question I wish I had answered differently. A waiter came over and took our order. I got a rib-eye steak. Nice got duck, and when the waiter left she asked again, ‘You really want me there?’
‘Not my decision,’ I said. ‘You’re the boss. Joan Scarangello told me so.’
‘I think the strategy is sound.’
‘Me too.’
‘But the execution will be complex.’
‘I’ll take all the help I can get.’
She said, ‘Suppose you had never picked up that newspaper? Where would you be now?’
‘Seattle, probably. Or the next place.’
‘And all of this would be happening without you. Do you think about that?’
‘Not really. Because I picked up the paper.’
‘Why did you call? Were you curious?’
‘Not really,’ I said again. ‘I knew O’Day would be involved. And I prefer not to be curious about his line of work.’
‘So why did you call?’
‘I owed Shoemaker a favour.’
‘From when?’
‘About twenty years ago.’
‘What kind of favour?’
‘He kept his mouth shut about something.’
‘Want to tell me?’
I said, ‘Personally, no.’
‘But?’
‘It could be argued the nature of the incident has a bearing on the mission. In which case you’re entitled to the information.’
‘Which is what?’
‘Long story short, I shot a guy trying to escape.’
‘Is that a bad thing?’
‘The trying to escape part was invented for the record. It was a routine execution. National security is a tricky thing. It’s all about public image. Therefore sometimes retribution is public, and sometimes it isn’t. Some traitors get arrests and trials, and some don’t. Some end up as tragic accidents, maybe shot to death by muggers, on street corners in weird parts of town.’
‘And General Shoemaker knew?’
‘He was an accidental witness.’
‘Did he object?’
‘Not in principle. He understood. He was in military intelligence. Ask around. The CIA was just the same. It was a pragmatic period.’
‘So how do you owe him a favour?’
‘I shot the guy’s friend, too.’
‘Why?’
‘I got a bad vibe. Which ended up righteous, because the guy had a gun in his pocket, and his home address was a treasure trove. He turned out to be my guy’s contact. As an espionage thing, they got a twofer out of it. More than that, in the end. They made arrests up and down the chain. But the inquiry panel wanted to be absolutely sure I had seen the gun first. Some legal thing. And the truth is, I hadn’t. And Shoemaker didn’t rat me out.’
‘So now you’re going to fight his battle for him. That’s a lot of payback. Seems out of proportion.’
‘That’s how favours work. Like in the mob movies. Some guy says, one day I will call on you to perform a service. You don’t get to pick and choose. And anyway, maybe it was Shoemaker’s battle in the beginning, but it’s mine now. Because O’Day was right. It’s a big world, but I can’t be looking over my shoulder all the time. So Kott gets a rematch.’