Chapter 62

Kate found a hiding place. In a vacant office, a block from the Maxwell Building, she caught up on good news and bad. An email from the head of railroad operations told her maintenance on the park’s main steam locomotive was a little behind schedule. She made a note to have one of her people check on it. She tried Kevin’s line again. This time a clerk in accounting answered. Kevin had not come in yet, but was expected. She left another message.

She called Drenda who sounded enthusiastic. Positively bubbly. She said the new theme area and shops were nearly complete and the speaker’s platform was under construction. Drenda said she had been talking up the project for two weeks. She was eager to get Kate’s opinion on various final details.

“I’ll stop by your office later this afternoon,” Kate said, “after I talk with Max.”

“All of a sudden, he’s developed an interest in our project.”

“Max? I thought he was ignoring it. He hasn’t mentioned it since he approved our plans.”

“He drops by to look at construction,” Drenda said. “But he rarely makes comments.”

Kate’s secretary was her next call. She told Joann only that she had a stressful time in Boston and that she wanted to hide out to avoid interruptions while she did last-minute work on press day. This was her first and only priority, she said, until it was history, so to speak. Joanne--who was proving to be a valuable, circumspect assistant--didn’t ask questions but brought Kate up to date on the grand opening and said she would relay phone calls.

“Several of the reporters who made reservations asked about Lyle Deming,” Joann said. “They wanted to know if there was any connection between him and the accidents at the park.”

What irony, Kate thought.

Next, it was time to call Max again.

“If we can get Engine 43 steamed up,” she said, “we’ll be ready for the grand opening. The press response is higher than I expected. We’ll get tons of TV coverage.”

“Good. ’Bout time. The attorneys from Reese, Reese, and Genet will be here at two-thirty.”

“I’ll come over ahead of time with the evidence. We can talk strategy. Are they civil and criminal?”

“Just business. I contacted Slade Foster for the criminal side, but he may not get here until tomorrow.”

“I wish we could tie it up all at the same time. It’ll be complicated.”

“What about Lyle?”

“He’ll be there. Wait until you hear everything he did to expose Bedrosian.”

“Do you think he’s, you know, sane?”

“Max, c’mon. You said you were smart to hire him.”

“Just checking, that’s all. Did you read the story about him in the paper?”

“I explained to you before about Lyle and the Phoenix police.”

“I know.”

Kate paused. If it was going to be this difficult to explain things to Max, what would it be like to outsiders? “Max, Kevin Waterman is involved in a lot of this stuff.”

“That weasel from FedPat? I told Clyde to check him out, but he didn’t come up with much. Thinks he’s harmless.”

Kate knew otherwise, but was it really time to let Max know about the tap on Kevin’s phone? Kevin’s phone! She’d forgotten. She would retrieve the memory card and drop by Kevin’s office.

She told Max she’d meet him after lunch then headed out to track down Kevin. Walking across the street toward the Maxwell Building, she really hoped she didn’t run into anyone. She made it up the elevator to Waterman’s floor. The door to his office was ajar. She walked in hoping to catch him off guard. The office was empty.

“Mr. Waterman’s not here,” a clerk said from outside the office. She told Kate that Kevin had just left. He’d gone out without saying anything.

She’d missed him again.

She thanked the clerk, who went back to her work, then Kate strolled casually back into Waterman’s office. The desk was clear save for a telephone, an accordion file holder, and his computer monitor. She bumped the mouse on his desk and his monitor sprang to life. She sat down and started exploring his desktop with the mouse. Let’s see what he’s been up to while we were gone, she thought as she opened his calendar. He had nothing down for June 28, the day before, which was Tuesday. Monday contained a notation, “Mr. Maxwell, 10 a.m.” Other notes for the week were routine. Funny that Max hadn’t mentioned talking with Kevin. Maybe the meeting hadn’t taken place. Before she left the building, she ducked into the electrical closet and retrieved the memory card. Back in her temporary office, Kate plugged the memory card in and started playback on Kevin’s last few calls. The first two were unimportant business, the last one, a call to Kevin’s girlfriend.

“They’re after me, Nicole.” He sounded scared. “My cell phone battery is dead. I’m calling from the office. I can’t talk. I have to get out of here. I’m going down to Phoenix to stay with Toby. I’ll call you soon. I’ve got to get away.”