Avery was still there, alive. As Bunting continued to watch, men came in and unstrapped the lines from Avery and then freed the restraints on the gurney. He sat up, rubbed his wrists, and looked around in both bewilderment and relief.
Bunting tilted his head upward to look at Harkes, who relaxed his grip.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Get out,” said Harkes. As Bunting slowly rose Harkes ripped the pictures out of his grasp. “But keep in mind that anytime I want they’re dead. So if you’re thinking about talking to King again, or maybe the FBI, I would think real hard before you do.”
‘So this is a warning?” Bunting said shakily.
“It’s more than a warning. It’s inevitable.”
Ten minutes later Bunting was in a car heading back to his house. His face hurt, his heart ached, tears soaked the collar of his shirt. He made six calls, all to people high up in the government. These numbers were for his use only, so there would be no doubt as to who was calling. They were monitored 24/7. Bunting rarely called them, but when he did they were always answered.
Six calls. And not one of them picked up.
CHAPTER 60
SEAN AND MICHELLE FINALLY REACHED Portsmouth, where they stopped at a pancake house and ate a quick breakfast, paying in cash. Then, exhausted, they slept in the truck in the parking lot for one hour. When Michelle’s cell phone alarm went off they awoke and looked groggily at each other.
Sean checked his watch. “Six more hours to go. Be there by lunchtime.”
Michelle said, “After this is over I am never, ever, driving to Maine again.”
“I never even want to get in a car again.”
“We can’t go back to the inn.”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling Kelly Paul right now.”
“What if they can trace your phone?”
“I swapped out the SIM card for another one I got while we were in New York. I texted her with the new info.”
“How’d you leave it with Bunting?”
“He said he’d think about it. I left him my new contact info too.”
“Think we’ll hear from him?”
“I hope to God we do.”
“And what about the guys in the park? They were definitely set on killing us. If Bunting was involved with them?”
“I looked the guy in the eye, Michelle. He’s scared. And not just for himself. He’s terrified for his family. My gut tells me he had nothing to do with the attack against us.”
“You think he might be dead?”
“What do you mean?”
“They obviously knew you two met. They might have taken it out on him.”
“I don’t know. If he is dead we’ll know soon enough.”
They reached Machias by one thirty. After receiving Sean’s call, Kelly Paul had arranged another place for them to stay. She’d moved their things there and given them directions to it.
When they pulled up in front of the rustic cottage that was set near an isolated stretch of coast about five miles from Martha’s Inn, Kelly Paul came outside to greet them.
“Thanks for the help down south,” said Michelle, as she stretched and did a couple of deep knee bends to work the road kinks out.
“I never send people on a mission without backup. It’s an essential part of the equation.”
Sean said, “Well, it would have been nice to know about it. I almost shot one of your guys.”
“I tend to keep things close to the vest. Maybe too close,” she admitted.
“But you did save our lives.”
“After risking them by having you make contact with Bunting.”
“Well, without risk there is no reward,” said Michelle.
“Where’s Megan?” asked Sean.
“Still at Martha’s Inn.”
“By herself?”
“No, she’s got police protection there.”
“How did that happen?”
“I made a few phone calls and the people I called made a few phone calls. It’s the best we can do right now. You two are obviously marked. How did it go with Bunting?”
“He’s stuck right in the middle and growing desperate. He said he had nothing to do with the murders, and I believe him. We’re afraid he might be dead.”
Michelle said, “Did you know all along Bunting wasn’t behind this?”
“Not for certain, no. But the picture is getting clearer by the minute. And your meeting with him served one important purpose.”
“What was that?” asked Sean.
“James Harkes will now be turned loose to clip his wings.”
“So you do think he might already be dead?” said Michelle.
“No, at least not yet. When they went after you, I’m sure they also sent a very direct message to Bunting: ‘Talk about this again to anyone and you will suffer.’ They probably threatened his family too.”
“And that’s good for us why?” asked Michelle.
“Because now Bunting can be convinced to work with us.”
“But according to you they just told him if he tried anything he was dead,” said Sean.
“One thing you have to understand about Peter Bunting is that he is very smart and very resourceful. He is no doubt feeling cornered now. Maybe even beaten. But then he will start to think about it. He hates to lose. That’s why he makes such a brilliant watchdog for this country. And on top of it, he’s truly patriotic. His father was in the military. He bleeds red, white, and blue. He will defend his country to the last.”
“You seem to know a lot about him,” said Michelle.
“I almost went to work for him. I make a point of knowing as much as I can about such people.”
“How do we get to him?” asked Sean.
“Actually, I believe he’ll get to us,” replied Paul.
CHAPTER 61
BUNTING’S WIFE WAS WEARING the new sexy lingerie when he got home at three a.m. She had long since fallen asleep, and he had chosen not to wake her. With Harkes’s permission he had earlier texted her so she wouldn’t be worried and call the police. He passed through the bedroom where she slept and into the bathroom, where he cleaned up his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and saw the reflection of a man who had fallen a long way in a short time.
He took some ice from the minibar and held it against the nasty bruise on his head while he sat fully dressed in his walk-in closet. His phone would ring from time to time. He would glance at the screen. Three times it was Avery. He never answered it.
What would he say?
Sorry, Avery, I chickened out and sacrificed you and it’s only by the grace of God and the unfathomable tactics of the assholes I’m involved with that you’re not dead.
He had stood in the doorways of each of his kids’ bedrooms. They were lavish spaces, far beyond what any child, no matter how affluent, needed or probably even cared for. He was thrilled his kids were in New Jersey. But realistically they wouldn’t be any safer there. Harkes could reach them anywhere.
He walked back to his closet, sat in the chair there, and thought about it. Foster and Quantrell had him cornered right now. But what was the endgame here? Edgar Roy was still sitting in that prison; the E-Program was still operating, albeit at a slower pace. If Edgar were proved innocent, all would be right with Bunting’s world. But Foster and certainly Quantrell didn’t want that. They wanted to scrap the E-Program. Bunting understood now that there was only one way to guarantee that would happen.
He slipped off his tie and his jacket, kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks. He trudged into the bedroom and stood next to the sleigh bed. It had been imported from France and was made of some kind of unique leather and antique wood. He couldn’t remember the names. It had such a huge footprint that he and his wife almost needed a GPS to find one another within its confines. He watched the rise and fall of her chest. No trophy wife was she. His kids were her kids. They had so much. They had it good. No, they had it great.