She said, “Oh,” and that was it. Didn’t seem too overjoyed.
He held out his hand. “Ready to go?”
Pulling on a red beret, she said, “Sure,” and turned to Sister Louise. “Bye, Sister.”
“Just one moment,” said the nun, staring at him like she wished she had X-ray vision. “Tell me, Katie. Have you ever seen Mr. Anderson before?”
The kid shook her head. “No.”
Sister Louise’s fingers drummed the desk. “Before I let you go, I think I’d first like to make one call.”
Oh, Christ! Who was she calling? “We’re on a tight schedule, ma’am,” he said.
“This will only take a second,” Sister Louise said, reading a number off her desk top as she punched it into the phone.
Paulie’s heart kicked into overdrive. His mouth, already dry from the cotton plugs, suddenly felt like a stretch of desert highway. This was bad. Very bad. He widened his stance to keep from wobbling as he began planning his getaway. Did he grab the kid and take her with him? Or did he simply make a fifty-yard dash for the car and head for the hills?
He took a slow, deep breath and waited, hoping to hell Mac had this covered.
13
Snake sat before his home desktop Pentium.
He was still hacked into the C&P mainframe, still sitting on Vanduyne’s line, monitoring his calls. Two so far, both for his mother—one from a bridge partner, and one from the doc himself. Since both had originated in the District, Snake had let them through. The call he was watching for would originate in Maryland.
This little exercise in caution was probably overkill, but it would be a damn shame if he let the whole gig go to hell because he couldn’t hang out an extra half hour or so and keep an eye on— There!
Snake bolted upright. A call from the 301 area. He checked the number and it matched Holy Family Elementary’s. Had Paulie fucked up?
He hit enter on his keyboard, sending in a preprogrammed command that would shift the call to his phone. He waited with his hand poised over the phone on his desk. And waited.
When it didn’t ring, he glanced at his monitor screen.
Had Holy Family hung up? No! The call was passing through to Vanduyne’s.
Shit!
Frantically Snake pounded on the keyboard, entering another command to send the call his way. Two rings already at the Vanduyne house. If the mother picked up…
He jumped as the phone next to him suddenly began to ring. He leaned back, caught his breath, then picked up in the middle of the second ring. He cleared his throat and modulated his voice to a soft, even tone.
“Hello?”
“Dr. Vanduyne, this is Sister Louise from Holy Family.”
“Yes, Sister. Didn’t the driver arrive? I told him—”
“Yes, he’s here, doctor. I just wanted to double-check with you before I released your daughter to a stranger.” Snake closed his eyes and thanked the stars he’d stayed hacked in to C&P.
“I appreciate your caution. Sister. The driver should be Jim Anderson of Reliance Limo.”
“That is correct. Very well. I’ll let Katie go with him then. Sorry to bother you.”
“Absolutely no bother at all. Sister. You can’t be too careful these days.” He hung up and slumped in his chair, staring at the monitor and relishing the furious pounding of his heart.
No, sirree… no way you can be too careful.
14
Paulie was so dazed with wonder, trying to figure out how Mac had worked that bit of magic, that he almost forgot to strap the kid into the backseat. He quickly pulled open the back door and buckled her in.
Good thing too. That Sister Louise was standing on the front steps, watching his every move.
His fingers shook a little and his knees still felt a bit wobbly. He’d thought it was all over back there in her office, but Mac had had it covered. No doubt about it: The guy was a genius.
“What’s this box?” the kid asked.
“Oh, that?” he said. “That’s candy.”
“For me?”
“For all our special customers. Help yourself.”
“My Nana doesn’t like me to eat candy before lunch.”
“This is a special day. Your daddy told me to make sure I told you to eat all you want. Go ahead. Don’t be shy. Plenty more where that came from.” He got behind the wheel and hit the ignition.
“Wave to your principal,” he said as they rolled toward the street. Paulie made sure he waved too. Good-bye, you old bat. You’re one sharp cookie, but I’m hooked up with a dude who’s even sharper.
Which reminded him… He pulled out a cellular phone and pushed two buttons to dial a preprogrammed number. A few seconds later he heard Mac say, “What?” He wanted to ask him how he’d managed that phone thing but decided to stick to the script.
“Loaded up and on my way.”
“Right,” and Mac broke the connection.
“Who are you calling?” said that little voice from the back seat: “That was the, uh, dispatcher. Just letting him know I’m heading for your house. How’s that candy?”
“Deee-licious!”
“Excellent. Keep eating.”
“Okay. What’s this blanket for?”
“That’s for in case you get cold or sleepy.”
“Oh. My daddy’s a doctor, you know.”
“Is he, now.”
“Yeah. But he doesn’t see sick people anymore.”
“Really?” Paulie had been wondering what this was about. Maybe he could get a clue from the kid. “What’s he do?”
“He works with other doctors. But they’re not sick.”
“Where does he work?”
“In a big, big building.” So much for prying information out of this one. Paulie glanced in the rearview mirror. The kid had the box of chocolates on her lap and was digging in.
Keep eating, he thought.
“You want some candy, mister? They’re real good.”
“No thanks. I’m on a diet.”
He glanced back again. Cute little thing. Happy with the chocolates and so trusting. Complete faith in him… because he said her daddy had sent him.
Jesus, he felt like a rat.
15
Before leaving the White House, John Vanduyne stopped by the press office and found Terri Londergan in her cubicle. Her desk was littered with yellow sheets, all scribbled up this way and that. She had a phone receiver crammed between her shoulder and her ear and was taking furious notes on a fresh yellow sheet.
She looked up and smiled at him, rolling her dark, dark eyes as she pointed to the phone.
“Yes, he will,” she said into the receiver. “Yes, I’m sure he will…” John watched her as she did her deputy press secretary thing, fielding questions from some far away newspaper or magazine editor. He loved the way her blunt-cut raven hair fell across her face when she tilted her head and how she’d toss her head to flip it out of the way. Her sharp nose and strong jaw were softened by her full-lipped smile. Oh, that smile. It had drawn John the length of the executive offices when he’d spotted her talking to Stephanie Harris last year. And he’d stood there like a dummy until Stephanie had introduced him.
A few minutes of conversation with Terri and he’d been completely taken by her. After that he’d made a point of running into her on his regular White House visits, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that he’d mustered the nerve to ask her out. They’d been dating ever since.
Terri was in her mid-thirties—about ten years younger than John—but had the poise and self-assurance of someone older. She and Katie had met and spent a few evenings together—in the neutral territory of restaurants—and seemed to get along fine. Katie was always asking when they were going to see Terri again. John was ready to admit to the possibility that he might find someone else, that there might be life and even love after Mamie.
“… of course,” she was saying. “He’ll answer all those questions at the press conference. That’s right. Right. Have a nice day. Goodbye.” She hung up and then cradled her head facedown in her arms on her desk. She spoke into the chaos of papers under her nose.