Kathleen stirred as he got out of bed. “What is it, Kirk?” “One of our people was in an accident.” She sat bolt upright. “Was it Elizabeth?” she demanded. “I don’t think so,” McGarvey said. He was going to take the phone into the bathroom so he wouldn’t wake her, but it was too late. “Who was it?” he asked the OD.
“Mr. Rencke, sir. His emergency locator was activated at one-seventeen on the Parkway a couple of miles this side of Arlington.
We tried to call him, but there was no response, and by the time Security got down there the Virginia Highway Patrol had already responded.” McGarvey put his hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “It was Otto,” he told his wife. “Where did they take him?” “Bethesda.
He’s listed in good but guarded condition. Mr. Yemm is on his way to you right now.” “Right. I’m going to the hospital. Have a unit sent out here to keep a watch on Mrs. McGarvey.” “Mr. Yemm is bringing someone with him.” Kathleen got up, threw on a robe and started picking out clothes for Mac to wear, a pinched expression on her face.
This was the old days all over again. Nothing had changed. “What about the security problem?” “Mr. Rencke was carrying his laptop along with a number of classified floppies.” “Who gave you the heads-up?” “No one, sir. I know Mr. Rencke personally. He never leaves his shop without a bagful of work. Anyway, Security arrived on scene the same time the EMTs got there, and they tidied up.” “But there was a gap between the accident and the time our people got there?” “Yes, sir. An inventory is being taken right now, but it’ll be slow; he’s probably got everything bugged.” “You can bet on it.
HowM the accident happen, do we know?” “Apparently he lost control, left the roadway and flipped over. There were no other vehicles involved, according to the VHP. Stand by one, sir ” Kathleen was looking at him. “He’ll be okay,” McGarvey told her. “He worked late and was on his way home when it looks like he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed.” “He never wears a seat belt.” “He got lucky.” Marks was back. “Sir, are we authorizing visitors?” “Only Agency people.”
“How about Major Horn?” “Her too,” McGarvey said. Otto and Louise Horn lived together. She worked for the NRO. “Mr. Yemm is pulling into your driveway now, sir.”
“Tell him I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Since he was probably going directly from the hospital to his office, and from there to the Senate subcommittee hearing chambers, Kathleen laid out a dark blue suit, white shirt, and tie. “Why do you want bodyguards out here?” she asked. “Standard procedures,” McGarvey said, getting dressed. “It might not have been an accident, is that what you’re saying?” He nodded. “We don’t know yet, and until we do we’re taking no chances.” She turned away but then looked back. “Give Otto my best. Tell him that I’ll come up to see him later today if it’s allowed.”
“I’ll tell him.” McGarvey gave his wife a peck on the cheek, went downstairs, got his coat and went out to the waiting limo.
A dark gray van was parked across the street. It was still snowing heavily, and it was very cold and blustery. Yemm had the door open.
McGarvey nodded to him. “Did you get any sleep?” “A couple of hours.”
McGarvey got in, and Yemm headed out, his driving precise in the difficult conditions. “Hammerhead en route Star Seven. ETA twenty,”
Yemm radioed. “Copy.”
“What do we have?” McGarvey demanded.
“The wheel bearing on the front right wheel fell apart, somehow pulled the cotter pin out and sheared the king nut so that the wheel fell off.”
“Doesn’t sound like a simple mechanical failure.”
“We’re checking to see if he had any brake work, or anything like that done in the past few days or weeks. But if it was an accident, whoever did the work was a piss poor mechanic.”
“It’s been known to happen.”
With all the snow and ice on the roads, the emergency room at the hospital was busy.
McGarvey and Yemm went up to the seventh floor, where a pair of CIA Office of Security people were stationed at Otto’s door. The police had already left, and the ward was quiet for the night, though breakfast would be served in a couple of hours. McGarvey went inside the darkened room alone. Otto was propped up in bed, asleep, his head swathed in bandages, his left arm in a sling that held it against his chest. Louise Horn, tall, skinny, her angular features making her look more gaunt than usual, sat in the chair next to the bed. She held Otto’s right hand in both of hers. Her cheeks glistened with tears.
She looked up. “He finally got to sleep, please don’t wake him.”
McGarvey squeezed her shoulder. “I won’t. How is he?”
“Couple of broken ribs. He’ll be okay. His left shoulder was dislocated, that’s why they immobilized his arm. And he banged up his left knee on the bottom of the steering wheel or something.”
McGarvey touched his own head. “What about the bandages?”
Louise Horn looked back at Otto. “The side of his face got cut up with flying glass. Looks worse than it is. But he was lucky. He was wearing his seat belt. Saved his life.” She looked up again, more tears welling from her eyes. “He really could have been killed out there.”
“When did he start wearing a seat belt?”
Louise Horn had a blank expression on her face. She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
McGarvey smiled. “He sure picked a good time to start,” he said. “Give me a call as soon as he’s awake, I want to talk to him. And tell him that Mrs. McGarvey will be up later today to see him.”
“Thanks. That’ll mean a lot to him.”
“Try to get some sleep yourself.” McGarvey gave Otto a last look, then started to go. He stopped at the door. “He’s been pretty intense lately.”
She nodded. “Tell me about it.”
“He’s been pulling some long hours. Working on something that’s bothering him. Has he said anything to you?”
“Nothing,” she said. “And I don’t pry.” She gave McGarvey a faint smile. “We have that rule in our house.”
McGarvey nodded. “Good rule.” he said, and he left.
Before they went back to the Agency, they had a word with Otto’s doctor. Heshi Daishong, a slight, dark, high-strung man. “We’re waiting to see signs of concussion. For now he looks okay. His biggest problems are a slight malnutrition and exhaustion.” “He’s been working hard.” The doctor pushed his glasses up. “We all do. But for Pete’s sake, tell the man to slow down.” He looked very tired himself.
“If all is well, I’ll release him at noon.”
Back at his office McGarvey had the executive kitchen send up coffee and a basket of muffins. He hadn’t had time for breakfast, and he was hungry. He managed to get in a couple of hours of uninterrupted reading before his secretary showed up. She was followed a few minutes later by a strung-out Dick Adkins.
“Well, Ruth was right and the rest of us were wrong,” Adkins said. “They found lumps in both of her breasts. How they missed them for so long is anybody’s guess. But no one’s talking.”
“Is she still at the hospital?” McGarvey asked, concerned. “Yeah. They want to do a bunch of tests, and then, depending on what they find, they’ll want to talk to us about our options.”
“I’ll ask Katy to stop over. In the meantime I want you to get out of here and get some sleep.”
Adkins shook his head.
“If I go home I’ll just sit around and worry myself into drinking. If I go back to the hospital there’s nothing I can do until the tests are done. They won’t let me in the room with her, and they all but kicked me out of the hospital.”