“But,” Kat continued, “if they flash FBI credentials, get names, ask them to come back in an hour, and meantime get to the dock phone and call me.”
“That’s pretty weak, Kat,” Dan said.
“I know it, but it’s the best we can do.”
“I called my mother,” Steve said without warning.
There was stunned silence in the room.
“When, Steve?” Kat asked quietly.
“I’m sorry if I messed up, but I couldn’t stand her crying over me and all.”
“When and where did you call, Steve, and what did you tell her?” Kat asked, working hard to control the panic she felt.
“From that grocery store in Seattle. While you all were buying food.”
“Damn, boy!” Dallas said, rolling her eyes. “What’d you tell her?”
“Nothing about where we were going. Honest. I said I was okay and with an FBI woman, but I couldn’t come home for a while because people were chasing us.”
“Did you give names, Steve?” Kat asked.
“Yeah. Yours. I’m sorry.”
“But you did not say anything about heading for a lake, or a mountain cabin, or Chelan, or Stehekin? You’ve got to level with us, Steve.”
He was shaking his head vigorously. “No. I didn’t say anything about that. She wanted me to tell her, but I said I couldn’t.”
Kat sat frozen for a few seconds before nodding. “Probably no harm done. But please, whatever you do, all of you, do not try to phone any friends or relatives from that phone near the dock. It will be traced back here in a heartbeat.”
“We all have lives, Kat,” Dallas said. “I’ve got a few people to reassure, too.”
“I don’t,” Graham said with no expression in his voice.
Kat raised her hand. “I know we—you’ve got friends and family who may think you’re dead. If you’re really worried, give me names and phone numbers and I’ll call them from a safe distance.”
“Do you really think you can solve all this?” Dan asked quietly.
“Maybe,” she said. “Depending on what Walter Carnegie left us. At least I can arrange to bring all of us in safely where those goons can’t touch us.”
“Provided they don’t get you.”
“There’s always that chance.” She took another deep breath as she studied her shoes and listened to the crackling of the freshly stoked fire. “Look, if I don’t come back within five days”—she raised her head and looked at them one by one—“take the ferry to Chelan together, rent a car or take a bus to Spokane, go to the FBI office there, and tell them everything you know.”
Dan had hugged her unexpectedly at the door, the hug becoming a clench as he broke down and cried. His broad shoulders shook as he tried to speak. “Thank you… for all you’ve done to end this nightmare, Kat. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start bawling like a kid.”
Kat hugged him back, patting his arm as Dallas massaged his shoulder. “It’s okay, Dan. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Yeah,” he acknowledged, the tears still flowing from under the bandages on his eyes. He pulled away at last, though reluctantly.
Graham Tash had tried to shake her hand, but that evolved into tears and another clinging hug, followed by a tentative hug from Steve Delaney.
Robert was waiting by the door, afraid to hug her but determined not to part with the cold detachment of a handshake. Kat put her arms around him for a quick hug, feeling as awkward as he.
“So,” she said with a forced smile as she zipped one of the parkas she’d found in the closet. “Ready, Dallas?”
The DeHavilland Beaver had just arrived when Kat stepped out of the beat-up old Dodge and waved a quick good-bye to Dallas, who got out to give her a sisterly hug. “Stay safe, girl, and get back here,” Dallas said.
Kat greeted the pilot and handed him her ubiquitous roll-on bag before negotiating the small ladder. The lines were cast off and the engine started when something landed on the rear of the right pontoon.
“What the hell?” the pilot muttered, trying to look out to the right. “See anything back there?” he asked Kat.
“Someone’s on the float. I can’t see…”
The right rear passenger door was flung open, and the interloper threw a small duffel bag on the seat before hauling himself in and turning with a grin toward Kat.
“Robert! What…?”
“Remember what we talked about last night? Teamwork?”
“You’re supposed to stay back there and watch the others,” Kat said, consternation competing with surprise in her voice.
“Dallas is a force of nature. She can handle it alone. I think she could take Saddam and the Republican Guard single-handedly.”
The pilot had throttled back to idle, but the Beaver still drifted slowly toward the middle of the upper bay. The fragrance of the lake mixed with the scent of pine trees as the water lapped gently at the floats. He looked over his shoulder, waiting for the two of them to resolve it.
“Robert, dammit…”
“Want me to leave?”
“I work alone.”
“Not what you indicated yesterday.”
“This could be dangerous, for God’s sake!”
“I’m the one who ended up in a crash and running through the jungle, evading cutthroats. Besides, I need to get shot at at least once a year to reclaim my combat reporting credentials. It’s a currency requirement.”
Kat was shaking her head. “No. I’m responsible for—”
“Not for me, you’re not! We may decide to be responsible for each other as a team, but don’t forget, I’m a damn good investigative reporter. I know how to look under rugs, I’ve got extensive contacts, too, and you’re going to need all that kind of help you can get. And this is too good a story, and I’m in the middle of it. It’s unreasonable to ask a reporter to sit on his tail in a beautiful setting where he might actually enjoy himself, thus pissing off his editor and imperiling his job. Now. Still want me to go back and baby-sit?”
She looked at the floorboards and shook her head again before meeting his eyes. “Yes… no. All right. You’re deputized.”
“Now you have that power?” he asked.
“Not really,” Kat said and looked at the pilot. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
CHAPTER 37
By noon Snoqualmie Pass was twenty miles behind them and the Seattle area was visible in the distance. Kat glanced over at Robert as she drove. He had been deep in thought, but stirred suddenly and turned toward her.
“I have an idea,” he said. “Let’s find a motel.”
She gave him a startled look. “Excuse me? I’m not that kind of FBI agent.”
Robert was smiling. “I thought that would get your attention. No, I’m serious. If we can hole up and have time to work the phones, maybe I can save us a trip to D.C.”
“How so?”
“I’ve got a friend at the Library of Congress. If he can get me modem access to the computer, there’s no need to go there in person.”
Kat smiled energetically. “Great! That’s worth a try. Maybe we can get a line on Dr. Thomas as well. We don’t have much time.”
“Let’s get two connecting rooms, and thus two phones.”
“Appropriately conservative, Mr. MacCabe. Any hotel preferences?”
He shook his head. “Something between a Ritz Carlton and a Motel Six.”
She nibbled her lip for a few seconds. “Robert, about SeaAir, I—”
He raised his hand. “Kat, please. We’ve been talking about this and racking our brains for hours, and what did we solve? Nothing. All we have is speculation. We know there’s a group out there, we know they’ve got at least one exotic eye-killing weapon, we know that somehow our government is frightened of them, we suspect a mole at the FBI, and other than that, we’re chasing our tails.”