At last, he reached his destination: fire trucks and other emergency vehicles surrounding a hotel on Canal Street, smoke spreading from the ground floor.
No, not one hotel, Carl realized. A further commotion led him to another hotel on Canal Street, more fire trucks and smoke. And another.
And another.
It's amateur night, he thought.
A guy with a sweat shirt labeled OUTSOURCE THE WHITE HOUSE TO INDIA on one side and KEEP AMERICAN JOBS AT HOME on the other told a buddy, "Man, if it's starting this early, tomorrow's gonna be wild."
A group chanted, "Stop burning the rain forests!"
Keeping a distance, avoiding the appearance of any association with the protestors, Carl drifted into the shadowy background. About to return to the van, he paused for a final look at the smoke coming from the hotel.
Tomorrow's going to be wild? he thought. You have no idea.
15
"Good morning, gentlemen."
The men looked up from cleaning their weapons as Carl entered the warehouse. Walking toward the podium, he rubbed his hands together enthusiastically.
"I trust you had a restful sleep."
They gathered before him.
"We've got another fine breakfast for you. Sugared beignets and chicory-flavored coffee. Eggs with Creole sauce and Cajun sausage. Hash browns. Steak. Biscuits. Gravy. Your basic Heart Association, cholesterol-friendly meal."
They chuckled.
"Eat up because you might not have a chance for another meal until tonight. No complaints? Everybody happy?"
They nodded.
"Outstanding. So are you ready to earn your pay, to do what you've been training for, to prove how skilled you've become, and show me an honest morning's work?"
"Yes," they answered.
"I can't hear you."
"Yes!"
"Damned straight. An honest morning's work. Once we get to Texas, you can let off steam. But right now and until noon, we're all business. Finish your breakfast. Roll up your sleeping bag. Fold your cot. Set it over by the door. Put the TVs, DVD players, computers, and video games over there as well. Pretty soon, a truck'll arrive, and we'll load everything. Those of you on KP duty will take the leftover food and deliver it to a homeless shelter, a different one from the one yesterday's KP team delivered to. No point in wasting food. Share and share alike. Camp without a trace. Words to live by, gentlemen. As soon as this warehouse looks the same as when we arrived, you'll put on your knapsack and double-check its number with the corresponding number on the map. You'll make sure you know how to get to the street you've been assigned. I don't want anybody wandering around asking directions from a cop."
They chuckled again.
"Control. Discipline. That's what you've been training for. Otherwise, you're just the street thug you were when I took pity on you and brought you to the training camp. Make sure you're wearing your Navy SEAL watch. They're each set to exactly the same time. After you put on your knapsack and go to your assigned street, you'll mingle with the demonstrators. The conference starts at nine. There'll be delays because the protestors will try to block the streets. Some of the trade ministers will want to make an impressive late entrance. But let's assume that by ten o'clock, all the participants will be there and the opening ceremony will be in full swing. Exactly at ten on your watch, take off the knapsack and pull the cord on it. Everybody clear on that?"
They nodded.
"When the black smoke comes out and mingles with all the other black smoke and covers your area, pull out your pistol and empty it into the air. Enjoy yourself. Stampede the protestors. But for God's sake, don't shoot any of them. We've been hired to disrupt the conference, not kill people. Clear on that?"
Again, they nodded.
"Okay, clean up this warehouse. Put on the knapsacks. Make sure you know where you're going. Don't bunch up after the event. Go your separate ways, and regroup two days from now at the campground near Galveston. Gentlemen, you want to make a bet?"
They studied him, eager to hear his next words.
"I bet you make me proud. I bet you prove that I was right to choose you, that you're worth all the training you received. You're not thugs anymore. You're operators. I can't think of a higher compliment to give anyone. Operators."
16
Cavanaugh felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked awake. It took him a moment to realize that he was in a hotel room, that sunlight struggled past the draperies, and that Jamie, who looked as tired as he felt, was leaning over him, nudging him.
"William's here," she said.
Cavanaugh squinted up toward William, who stood at the foot of the bed, holding a briefcase. Despite the long plane trip, William's expensively tailored, pinstriped suit was impeccably pressed. His pristine white shirt was perfectly starched, his striped tie dramatically authoritative. With his coiffed gray hair and projecting chest, he had never looked more like a high-powered attorney.
"He brought us beignets." Jamie bit into one.
"… coffee," Cavanaugh murmured.
"That, too." Jamie handed him a Styrofoam cup.
Groggy, Cavanaugh sipped the hot bitter liquid. "You're the best attorney anybody ever had, William."
"Maybe I should open a catering service."
"What time is it?"
"Six-thirty."
Cavanaugh turned toward Jamie. "You let me sleep this long?"
"You were dead on your feet."
"Unfortunate choice of word. You were exhausted too, but you still got up earlier than I did."
"Things on my mind. Not to mention nightmares."
"I know all about nightmares." Cavanaugh sat slowly, his head feeling as if ball bearings rolled inside it.
"On the phone last night, you told me to get here as quickly as possible," William said.
"And by God, you did. Thank you, William."
"Is there a legal emergency?"
"There's going to be," Cavanaugh told him. "And that's probably not the only emergency."
"When the Gulfstream picked me up at Teterboro airport, my escorts said that I wouldn't be needing their protection any longer."
"That's right," Jamie said. "You're not in danger now. Or perhaps I should say, you're not a specific target."
"As opposed to being part of a general target?" William frowned.
"I'm going to need your help," Cavanaugh said. "But I can't lie to you. You'll probably be risking your life to help me. Are you willing to do that?"
"As I recall, you saved my life back at your ranch-not to mention, several times you kept some of my litigation opponents from trying to strangle me."
"Then you'll do it?"
"When do we start?"
"Good man," Cavanaugh said. He stood from the bed and looked down at his rumpled slacks and shirt. "Don't have a change of clothes."
"There's no time to change them anyhow," Jamie said, peering down at her own wrinkled slacks and blouse.
"Or shave." Cavanaugh scraped a hand over his beard stubble.
"We're going to hell," Jamie said.
"Carl is." Cavanaugh went into the bathroom, shut the door, and urinated. He put his head under the cold-water facet and soaked his hair. He toweled it, ran a comb through it, then came out and took a bite from what was left of the beignet in Jamie's hand. After snapping his pistol holster to his belt, he put on his sport coat, which reeked of tear gas and smoke. "Knives. Two spare magazines. Looks like I've got everything but a winning lottery ticket."
Jamie attached her gun and knife to her belt, then hid them with her blazer. "Ready?"