now go!"
"Are you sure then that we ought to be grinding the same wheel as the FBI?"
"Are you going to drive or talk?"
"All right... all right..."
At the airport the vigil was long and fruitless until suddenly she saw Donna Thorpe in the middle of a circle of her agents. They'd come out of airport security and were now heading toward the terminals. They moved like one machine.
"Come on," she told Melody, chasing after.
"Robyn!" Melody rushed to keep up.
"Elena Hogarth," she shouted to Thorpe. "Have you gotten her into protective custody?"
The machine stopped when Thorpe did and all the eyes turned with hers. She stepped from out of the clutch of the black suits. "She had her own escape route planned for some time, it seems. As near as we can tell she is on one of several flights, but it's damned impossible to tell which. We're having the airports watched at each destination."
"She didn't have much faith in you, did she?"
"I hope it is not to her regret. Ovierto will not rest until he kills her."
"Why? What is driving Dr. Ovierto to make him so obsessive about Hogarth, Oliguerri, and the other scientists?"
"A man like Ovierto has only one reason to kill, he enjoys it, and he knows we value our scientists. In his warped brain that translates to a much higher score than if he were cutting up prostitutes or home-less people like Jack the Ripper."
"He places a higher premium on these kills because you do?"
"We, the government. Now, I must go."
"Back home, to retrench? Where was that? Nebraska?"
Thorpe took her aside. "Look here, Muro, I admit that I thought of working with Swisher the moment I knew Ovierto was heading for Chicago, but only because I knew Swisher was a tough, reliable cop. It was not my intention to see it end this way."
"You knew Swisher was reckless, and your trained boys are not. Most of you people have little families and backyard barbecues to look forward to in the evenings and on weekends. You used Joe like a wild card in a pat deck. And he got off a couple of shots, and with better luck, he might have ended your problem —but he didn't. Instead, he took two shots that should have gone into you."
"Are you through?" She had a stricken look on her face but she quickly replaced it. "I lost my closest friend and partner to this bastard Ovierto, too, in a much more cruel fashion than Joe's —ahhh, why am I trying to explain anything to you?"
"That's right. You don't owe anyone anything, least of all me, do you? You don't have to tell me why Ovierto is systematically killing off the top minds in the country, none of it. It's all classified, isn't it? Isn't it?"
Thorpe wheeled on her heels and returned to the center of her entourage, and they began to march away again. Behind them they heard Robyn Muro continue to shout, "You're all a bunch of killers, aren't you? Aren't you?"
Melody pulled her back as they watched the silent FBI machine move out onto the tarmac where Thorpe boarded her helicopter after a few perfunctory remarks to Jack Harris's replacement. She glanced up to meet Robyn's eyes, which were still on her, just before disappearing behind the black glare of the bubble.
One of the FBI men came back inside and straight up to Robyn. He extended a note. "From Inspector Thorpe," he said, leaving it with her.
"What is it?" asked Melody.
Robyn opened it as the helicopter began its ascent. The note read:
If you want to help Hogarth call me —Thorpe.
BOOK TWO
Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
... in my age, as in my youth, night brings me many a deep remorse. I realize from the cradle up I have been like the rest of the race —never quite sane in the night.
Mark Twain
CHAPTER TWELVE
Seattle, Washington
He had not been idle the days following the attack on him at the
"Are you sure then that we ought to be grinding the same wheel as the FBI?"
"Are you going to drive or talk?"
"All right... all right..."
At the airport the vigil was long and fruitless until suddenly she saw Donna Thorpe in the middle of a circle of her agents. They'd come out of airport security and were now heading toward the terminals. They moved like one machine.
"Come on," she told Melody, chasing after.
"Robyn!" Melody rushed to keep up.
"Elena Hogarth," she shouted to Thorpe. "Have you gotten her into protective custody?"
The machine stopped when Thorpe did and all the eyes turned with hers. She stepped from out of the clutch of the black suits. "She had her own escape route planned for some time, it seems. As near as we can tell she is on one of several flights, but it's damned impossible to tell which. We're having the airports watched at each destination."
"She didn't have much faith in you, did she?"
"I hope it is not to her regret. Ovierto will not rest until he kills her."
"Why? What is driving Dr. Ovierto to make him so obsessive about Hogarth, Oliguerri, and the other scientists?"
"A man like Ovierto has only one reason to kill, he enjoys it, and he knows we value our scientists. In his warped brain that translates to a much higher score than if he were cutting up prostitutes or home-less people like Jack the Ripper."
"He places a higher premium on these kills because you do?"
"We, the government. Now, I must go."
"Back home, to retrench? Where was that? Nebraska?"
Thorpe took her aside. "Look here, Muro, I admit that I thought of working with Swisher the moment I knew Ovierto was heading for Chicago, but only because I knew Swisher was a tough, reliable cop. It was not my intention to see it end this way."
"You knew Swisher was reckless, and your trained boys are not. Most of you people have little families and backyard barbecues to look forward to in the evenings and on weekends. You used Joe like a wild card in a pat deck. And he got off a couple of shots, and with better luck, he might have ended your problem —but he didn't. Instead, he took two shots that should have gone into you."
"Are you through?" She had a stricken look on her face but she quickly replaced it. "I lost my closest friend and partner to this bastard Ovierto, too, in a much more cruel fashion than Joe's —ahhh, why am I trying to explain anything to you?"
"That's right. You don't owe anyone anything, least of all me, do you? You don't have to tell me why Ovierto is systematically killing off the top minds in the country, none of it. It's all classified, isn't it? Isn't it?"
Thorpe wheeled on her heels and returned to the center of her entourage, and they began to march away again. Behind them they heard Robyn Muro continue to shout, "You're all a bunch of killers, aren't you? Aren't you?"
Melody pulled her back as they watched the silent FBI machine move out onto the tarmac where Thorpe boarded her helicopter after a few perfunctory remarks to Jack Harris's replacement. She glanced up to meet Robyn's eyes, which were still on her, just before disappearing behind the black glare of the bubble.
One of the FBI men came back inside and straight up to Robyn. He extended a note. "From Inspector Thorpe," he said, leaving it with her.
"What is it?" asked Melody.
Robyn opened it as the helicopter began its ascent. The note read:
If you want to help Hogarth call me —Thorpe.
BOOK TWO
Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
... in my age, as in my youth, night brings me many a deep remorse. I realize from the cradle up I have been like the rest of the race —never quite sane in the night.
Mark Twain
CHAPTER TWELVE
Seattle, Washington
He had not been idle the days following the attack on him at the
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