He was stopped by both men. They held his arms tightly behind him, pressed against the small of his back. Cole gripped his shoulders and spoke rapidly, with great intensity.
«Please! We know what you’ve been through! We can’t change that, but we can tell you it’s over! It’s over, Mr. Tanner. Omega’s cracked!»
«Don’t you tell me anything! You bastards! You filthy bastards! You don’t exist! They never heard of Fassett! Your phones are disconnected! Your …»
«We had to get out fast!» interrupted the agent. «We had to abandon both posts. It was mandatory. It will all be explained to you.»
«I don’t believe a thing you say!»
«Just listen! Make up your mind later, but listen. Fassett’s not two miles from here putting the last pieces together. He and Washington are closing in. We’ll have Omega by morning.»
«What Omega? What Fassett? I called Washington! I talked to McLean, Virginia!»
«You spoke with a man named Dwight. In title, he’s Andrews’ superior, but not in fact. Dwight was never cleared for Omega. He checked with Clandestine Services, and the call came to the Director. There was no alternative but to deny, Mr. Tanner. In these cases we always deny. We have to.»
«Where are the guards outside? What happened to all your Goddamned taps? Your shock troops who wouldn’t let us be touched?»
«It will all be explained to you… I won’t lie. Mistakes are made. One massive error, if you like. We can never make up for them, we know that. But we’ve never been faced with an Omega before. The main point is—the objective is right in front of us. We’re on target now!»
«That’s horseshit! The main point is my wife and children were almost killed!»
«Look. Look at this.» Cole took a small metal disk from his pocket. His colleague let go of Tanner’s arms. «Go on, take it. Look at it closely.»
Tanner took the object in his hand, and turned it to catch the light. He saw that the tiny object was corroded, pock-marked.
«So?»
«That’s one of the miniaturized pick-ups. The corrosion is acid. Acid dropped on it, to ruin it. The pick-ups have been messed up in every room. We’re not getting any transmissions.»
«How could anyone find them?»
«It’s easy enough with the proper equipment. There’s no evidence on any of these, no fingerprints. That’s Omega, Mr. Tanner.»
«Who is it?»
«Even I don’t know that. Only Fassett does. He’s got everything under control. He’s the best man in three continents. If you won’t take my word ask the Secretary of State. The President, if you like. Nothing more will happen in this house.»
John Tanner took several deep breaths and looked at the agent. «You realize you haven’t explained anything.»
«I told you. Later.»
«That’s not good enough!»
Cole returned Tanner’s questioning look. «What choice have you got?»
«Call that policeman in here and start yelling.»
«What good would that do you? Buy you a couple of hours of peace. How long would it last?»
Tanner would ask him one further question. Whatever the answer, it would make no difference. The plan in John Tanner’s mind was crystallizing. But Cole would never know it.
«What’s left for me to do?»
«Do nothing. Absolutely nothing.»
«Whenever you people say that, the mortars start pounding the beach.»
«No mortars now. That’s over with.»
«I see. It’s over with… All right. I … do … nothing. May I go back to my wife now?»
«Of course.»
«Incidentally, is the telephone really fixed?»
«Yes, it is.»
The news editor turned, his arms aching, and walked slowly into the hallway.
No one could be trusted any longer.
He would force Omega’s hand himself.
27
Ali sat on the edge of the bed and listened to her husband’s story. There were moments when she wondered if he were sane. She knew that men like her husband, men who functioned a great deal of the time under pressure, were subject to breakdowns. She could understand maniacs in the night, lawyers and stockbrokers in the panic of impending destruction, even John’s compelling drive to reform the unreformable. Yet what he was telling her now was beyond her comprehension.
«Why did you agree?» she asked him.
«It sounds crazy, but I was trapped. I didn’t have a choice. I had to go through with it.»
«You volunteered!» said Ali.
«Not really. Once I agreed to let Fassett reveal the names, I signed an affidavit which made me indictable under the National Security Act. Once I knew who they were I was hung. Fassett knew I would be. It was impossible to continue normal relationships with them. And if I didn’t, I might step over the line and be prosecuted.»
«How awful,» said Ali softly.
«Filthy is more to the point.»
He told her about the succeeding episodes with Ginny and Leila outside by the pool. And how Dick Tremayne had followed him into the garage. Finally how Bernie had started to tell him something just before Janet’s screams had wakened the household.
«He never told you what it was?»
«He said he was only offering me money for investments. I accused them both of being part of Omega… Then he saved my life.»
«No. Wait a minute.» Ali sat forward. «When you went out for the umbrellas and we all watched you in the rain … and then the shots started and we all panicked… I tried to go out and Leila and Bernie stopped me. So I screamed and tried to break away. Leila—not Bernie—held me against the wall. Suddenly she looked at Bernie and said, ‘You can go, Bernie! It’s all right, Bernie!’ … I didn’t understand, but she ordered him.»
«A woman doesn’t send her husband in front of a firing squad.»
«That’s what I wondered about. I wondered if I’d have the courage to send you out … for Bernie.»
And so Tanner told his wife about the brooch; and the wall with no bullet marks.
«But they were in the basement, darling. They weren’t outside. They weren’t the ones who shot at us.» Ali stopped. The memory of the horror was too much. She couldn’t bring herself to speak further of it. Instead, she told him about Joe’s hysterics in the living room and the fact that Betty Cardone had watched them through the window.
«So here we are,» he said when she had finished. «And I’m not sure where that is.»
«But the man downstairs said it would be over. He told you that.»
«They’ve told me a lot of things… But which one is it? Or is it all three?»
«Who?» she asked.
«Omega. It has to be in couples. They have to operate in couples… But the Tremaynes and the Cardones were gassed in the car. They were left out on Lassiter… Or were they?»
Tanner put his hands in his pockets and paced the floor. He went to the window and leaned against the sill, looking out on the front lawn.
«There are a lot of cops outside. They’re bored to death. I bet they haven’t seen the basement. I wonder—»
The glass shattered. Tanner spun around and blood spurted out of his shirt. Ali screamed, running to her husband as he fell to the floor.
More shots were fired but none came through the window. They were outside.
The patrolman in the hallway crashed through the door and raced to the fallen Tanner. No more than three seconds later the downstairs guard rushed into the room, his pistol drawn. Voices were heard yelling outside on the grounds. Leila entered, gasped, and ran to Ali and her fallen husband.
«Bernie! For God’s sake, Bernie!»
But Osterman did not appear.
«Get him on the bed!» roared the patrolman from the upstairs hallway. «Please, ma’am, let go! Let me get him on the bed!»