“I know.”
I said, “Something else you should know. This first meeting is, quite frankly, the most dangerous.”
She looked at me.
I said, “I think that these people are desperate and therefore dangerous. If they have any chance to squash this before it gets bigger and out of their control, then their time and place for that are tomorrow, before, during, or after the meeting. Understand?”
She nodded.
I said, “I’ve taken some precautions, but I need you to be aware that anything could happen. Stay alert, stay close to me, or to Kate, or to Dom Fanelli. Don’t even go to the ladies’ room without Kate along. Okay?”
“I understand…” She asked me, “Why don’t we call the news media?”
“After tomorrow, we won’t have to call them-they’ll call us. But for now… there’s an unspoken rule in my business about going to the media. We don’t do that. Ever.” I smiled and said, “That’s a worse crime than treason or conspiracy.”
“But-”
“Trust me. By the end of the week, you’ll have all the news media you can handle for the rest of your life.”
“All right.”
I said, “Sometime tomorrow or the next day, Kate will discuss with you the Witness Protection Program, and the new identity program, if you’re interested in that.”
She didn’t reply.
I stood and said, “I need to make a phone call. You can listen.” I turned on my cell phone, canceled the anonymous feature, and dialed. I said to Jill, “My boss, Jack Koenig.”
Koenig answered his cell phone. “Corey?”
“I’m back.”
“Well… how are you? How was Yemen?”
“It was great, Jack. I wanted to thank you for the opportunity.”
“You’re quite welcome. I heard you did a good job there.”
“Well, then, you heard wrong. No one’s allowed to do a good job there.”
He said, “I’m not used to so much honesty.”
“That’s too bad. If we all started to get honest about the problem, we could find a solution.”
“We’re all doing the best we can.”
“No, we’re not. But that’s not why I called you.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Have you heard from Ted Nash?”
“No… I… what are you talking about? He’s dead.”
“He’s not, and you know it.”
There were a few seconds of silence, then Koenig asked me, “Where are you?”
“Jack, don’t waste my five minutes of untriangulated phone time with questions that I’m not going to answer. Answer my question-have you heard from Nash?”
“I have.”
“Will you be there tomorrow?”
He didn’t answer and said, “First of all, I don’t like your tone of voice. Second, you’ve gone from career problem to career over. Third, I gave you a direct order not to-”
“Answer my question-are you in on this or not?”
“I’m not.”
“You are now.”
“Who the fuck do you think-?”
“Jack, you can get on the right side of this now, or I swear to God you’re going to wind up in jail.”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, you’re either in so deep, you can’t get out, or you’re waiting to see how this plays. If you wait past eight-thirty tomorrow, you’re going to miss this boat, and the next boat goes straight to jail.”
“Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“Look, I’m giving you a chance because I actually like you and respect you. What you need to do is to conference with your bosses in New York and Washington. Lay it all out and come to an intelligent decision. I’d like to see you at that meeting tomorrow, and I’d like you to be wearing a halo.”
He was obviously thinking fast and hard, which is difficult when you started with your mind someplace else a few minutes before. He said, “I’ll be there.”
“Good. Don’t forget the halo. And bring David Stein.”
He said to me, “You understand, John, that there’s a fifty-fifty chance you won’t make that meeting, or if you do, it’s about fifty-fifty that you won’t get to your next destination.”
“I’ll give you ten-to-one odds that my odds are a lot better than that.”
“I’m not threatening, I’m warning. You know I’ve always respected your honesty and your work… and on a personal level, I like you.”
Actually, I didn’t know any of those things, but I sensed a small change in the direction of the wind, which was the purpose of this call. I said, “I feel the same way about you, Jack. Do the right thing. It’s never too late.”
He didn’t reply.
I said, “Gotta go. But one more thing…”
“Yes?”
“Therewas a fucking videotape, and therewas a fucking rocket.”
He didn’t respond to that, but said, “Welcome home.”
“Thanks. Now it’s time for you to come home.” I hung up.
Jill said to me, “Do you always talk to your boss like that?”
“Only when I have him by the balls.”
She laughed.
It was mid-afternoon, and Jill and I were having tea in the room. Somehow, in some way that I couldn’t verbalize, the tea and finger sandwiches went with the pink shirt.
Jill checked her cell phone, and there were two messages. She listened, then replayed the messages, and handed me the phone. The first message said, “Hello, Mrs. Winslow? This is Ted Nash, who I’m sure you remember from our meetings five years ago. I understand that there have been some new developments regarding the matter we discussed at that time. It’s important for you to understand that the agreement we made then is in jeopardy as a result of your speaking to a person who is not lawfully authorized to deal with this matter. It’s extremely important that you call me as soon as possible to discuss this before you do or say anything that will compromise you, your friend, your personal life, and your legal safeguards.” He gave Mrs. Winslow his cell phone number and said, “Please call me today to discuss this urgent matter.”
I glanced at Jill, who was looking at me. I said to her, “I’m sure he sounds more polite this time than he did five years ago.”
She forced a smile.
The next message said, “Jill, this is Bud. I got a very upsetting call here at my office about what happened five years ago. You remember, Jill, that we both promised each other, and we promised other people that we’d keep that between ourselves, and that they’d do the same. Now, someone tells me that you want to talk to other people about that. You can’t do that, Jill, and you know why you can’t do that. If you don’t care about yourself, or about me, then think about your boys, and about Mark, and also about Arlene, who I know you like, and my kids, too. This would be a complete disaster for lots of innocent people, Jill. What happened, happened. It’s in the past. No matter what you say to anyone, or to the news media, I’ll have to say you’re not telling the truth. Jill, if you made a copy of that tape, you should destroy it.”
Bud went on awhile, his voice sometimes strident, sometimes panicky, then a little whiny. This guywas a complete asshole. But to be fair, his life was about to come crashing down around him and like most guys who have diddled, he didn’t think his diddling should have such a high price. Bottom line, Bud’s worst nightmare just became real.
Bud ended with, “Please, Jill, call me. Call me for your sake, and for our families’ sake.” As with Mr. Winslow, I waited for something like, “Take care of yourself” or “I still think about you,” but this was really all about Bud, and he just said, “Bye.”
I shut off the cell phone and looked at Jill. It occurred to me that two significant men in her life were real schmucks. I said to her, “Typical guy-only calls when he wants something.”
She smiled, stood, and said, “I’m going to lie down awhile.”
I stood and said, “I can promise you one thing-the pressure you’re getting from other people to stay silent will disappear as soon as you make your first public statement.”