“Congressman—”
“I don’t want to hear it. Just get out. You come here again, there’ll be orders to call the cops. You hear that, Frank?” he said to the guard at the door. “Take a good look at this one. You want to remember, if he shows up.”
“Yes, sir.”
They were outside now, Minot watching his car pull up.
“He was an old man,” Ben said to him. “There wasn’t much to squeeze.”
“That’s not for you to decide, is it?” he said, his voice fast, a whiplash. “Or maybe you think it is.” He looked at Ben. “It isn’t. He was my witness and he’s gone. Dennis.” He nodded toward another car pulling into the lot. “Let’s get the subpoenas served before Paul Revere here has any more ideas.”
“What subpoenas?”
“You think I’m going to let this happen again? Once is a lesson. Twice is stupid. I learned my lesson. Thanks to you.” He stopped, his face breaking into a jagged smile. “That’s right, isn’t it? They’ll all owe it to you. Maybe we should let them know. Make you a popular guy.” He switched tone. “I didn’t want it like this. I wanted more time, do it right. Now I don’t have a choice, I have to use a net. But there’s something to be said for surprise.” He smiled to himself again. “Catch the lawyers off guard.”
“Mine too? You going to put a lamp in my face?”
“I don’t want to see it again. Ever. I trusted you.” He shrugged. “Another lesson in life.”
“You’re a lot upset over very little.”
“That depends. Maybe you’re right, maybe I don’t need him at all. But I sure as hell don’t need you. So I’m throwing you back.” Another smile. “We’ll let the others take care of you.” He opened the car door and got in. “Dennis? Make sure he gets out of here.”
“What others?” Ben said after Minot had left.
“What?”
“Taking care of me. He meant something by it.”
“He gets mad, that’s all. He likes to get even. In other ways.”
“Such as?”
“Targeting Continental. They get to go first. Kind of a payback.”
“To me? That’s crazy.”
“You shouldn’t have crossed him.”
“When is this?”
“As soon as the subpoenas—” He stopped. “Get out of here, okay? You don’t have to warn anybody. They’ll know soon enough. Maybe nobody’ll connect the dots.”
“To me. The dots in his head.”
The other car had pulled up.
“Hey, Kelly,” Ben said. “Still picking up Polly’s laundry?”
Kelly took the envelope from Riordan, a little embarrassed.
“Anything yet on Ray?”
“I just put out a feeler yesterday.”
“And then you got busy,” Ben said, looking at the envelope. “Is Polly getting a lead this time or still playing shill?”
“What’s it to you?”
“I like to see you get ahead.”
Kelly looked at Riordan, a thanks for the envelope. “I’m doing all right.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Riordan said.
“I can find it,” Ben said. “You’re busy.”
They watched Kelly drive away.
“So who were they? In the letter,” Riordan said.
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t say.”
“They wanted to find you in a hurry.”
“You know what I think? They don’t know. They were looking to me to tell them.”
Riordan made a face, skeptical. “Communists?”
“Haven’t you got enough?” Ben said, cocking his head toward the office.
Riordan didn’t bother to answer. “Maybe we’ll run into each other some time. Lunch at the Market.”
Ben headed for his car, then turned, watching Riordan go in. So who were they? Friedman. Someone the San Francisco operator didn’t have. A few names lodged somewhere in the back of his mind, the rest in a drawer, unavailable. He looked at the building, the guarded back door. Minot’s office would face the side street. He followed it toward the front entrance on Wilshire, trying to guess which windows were Minot’s. There, both open now, but locked tonight. High enough to require a jump to catch the sill. And then what? He saw himself dangling in the street, pulling himself up, breaking the window, the sound of smashing glass—impossible, something even the Partners would find absurd. The way into any office was through the door.
He skirted the building, going in through the Wilshire entrance. Also locked at night, presumably part of Frank’s rounds. He walked down the long hall to Minot’s office, then stood near the door. Behind the translucent glass he could hear voices, Dennis and the secretaries. Did they all go out to lunch together? But then they’d lock it. He looked at the doorknob, the keyhole in the middle. Something Frank could open with a master key, but not Ben.