“You’re serious? An attack…where?”
Alex ran a finger over her teeth, tapping them, shaking her head. “Sometimes I think you’re in the wrong job. They could have used you down at Gitmo. You could talk the nuclear codes out of the president. Where’s the attack? Here. New York. Or somewhere close by. At least, that’s my guess.”
“Soon?”
Alex nodded.
“You stop to think it could have something to do with my dad? The guy—Palantir—said something about an attack, too. He talked about their being desperate, whoever they are.”
“This isn’t financial. We’re talking a real physical assault.”
“Something took control of the car my father was in and made it appear as if it were a threat to the White House. If that isn’t physical, I don’t know what is.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
“I am. The same people screwed with my elevator.”
“I’m not willing to make that connection. Your elevator could have malfunctioned on its own. A woman was killed in midtown just last year when an elevator went haywire.”
“This isn’t a coincidence.”
“Bobby, the guys I’m looking for aren’t desperate. They’re well organized and well financed and well armed. I’ve seen nothing that suggests these two incidents are tied together.”
“What are we talking then, another 9/11? A nuke? I don’t know what kind of stuff you guys come up against every day.”
“I’m thinking Mumbai.”
“That’s not good.” Astor knew all about the attack. Alex had called it a shoot and scoot and had been one of the team sent to Mumbai to work with the Indian police to analyze the event, with a view to formulating plans to improve their response. Astor also knew that she had been part of a task force to train the NYPD in how to deal with such an emergency if it took place in Manhattan. “If this thing is going down in New York, why are you so keen on taking the jet to London?”
“Jesus, Bobby, stop hounding me. I have to go to London. That’s all there is to it. Tell me yes or no.”
Astor sat on the edge of the desk. “Yesterday when Sully told me about the shooting out on Long Island, there was a second there when I didn’t know who had been killed. I thought about you—about us.”
“There is no us, Bobby.”
“That was your decision, not mine.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Alex flared before catching herself. “We hadn’t been getting along for years. Don’t act like it was all my fault.”
“You stopped talking. You stopped wanting to be near me. You stopped…well, you stopped everything.”
“Yes, I did, Bobby. You know why? ’Cause you were half in the bag every time I was near you. You weren’t exactly a romantic yourself. When was the last time you tried to make an effort?”
“From my exile in the guest bedroom? Getting into the bedroom was like breaking into Alcatraz.”
“I don’t sleep with drunks,” Alex said.
The word hit Astor like a hammer. She’d never called him that before. He rose and walked to the far side of the room. “I was never a drunk.”
“Maybe not. But it got bad all the same.”
“It did,” he said. “And I’m sorry.”
Alex met his gaze. For once, she didn’t challenge him. Something in her face softened.
“Really?”
“I wonder if I’d done something differently…”
“It wasn’t just the drinking. It was your business. It never ended. The first thing you did when you got up and the last thing you did before you went to bed was check the markets. Last couple of years, you even slept with a phone under your pillow so you could look at your positions if you woke up. That’s not a job, Bobby. That’s an addiction.”
“Were you always this harsh?”
“Were you always this sentimental?”
Astor shrugged. “Something about nearly being killed, I guess. I do know that I’m ready to give it another try.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“You meet someone?”
“No.” Alex shook her head, angry at letting herself be drawn into this kind of conversation. “It’s none of your business. Leave it alone.”
Astor came closer. It was difficult not to touch her. “We had something good.”
“This is not the time or the place.”
“I’m not going to get another chance. Not if you go to London.” He saw her eyes light up as she realized that she would get the jet. “Just think about it.”