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Despite Pam’s wishes, Tim loaded the Glock after she had gone to bed, then walked through the house to make sure all the doors were locked. There was no reason to make it too easy for anyone coming in, although he did agree with Pam that it would be unlikely for Sebastian and Toby to try anything tonight. As far as Sebastian knew, Pam did not suspect that she had been double-crossed, so any planned assault on the Lovettsville Road safe house could wait until Sunday or Monday.
Satisfied that all the doors were locked, Tim sat in the library and switched on the TV. The channel was on CNN, which had apparently decided to call the President’s illness “The Crisis in the White House.” CNN must have had ten different reporters on the story, plus another six talking heads to comment. Fox News was also offering wall-to-wall coverage, but they did not seem to have to the same number of reporters and talking heads as CNN. MSNBC was doing one of their usual “the President should be in jail” shows but were suggesting that perhaps he was only pretending to be sick so he would not have to go to jail. MSNBC was making it loud and clear to their audience that they were going to make sure that the President would not get away with that. On the other hand, the four networks did not see any reason to interrupt their regularly scheduled programing in order to stand at the front gate of the Bethesda Naval Hospital and repeat the same information repeatedly.
Tim heard the outside door to the kitchen open and figured that it must be Darrel, but he picked up his gun from the coffee table and put it in his pocket anyway. He headed to the kitchen, where Darrel was making a pot of coffee.
“Hi, Darrel. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Mr. Hall. Everything is fine.”
“How is the President doing?” Tim asked, figuring that Darrel must have some inside information.
Darrel laughed. “My understanding is that he has a tummy ache. That’s why everyone is so excited.”
Oh, I bet he has one hell of a tummy ache, Tim thought to himself. The real problem for the doctors would be determining which poisons were used. Different poisons had different antidotes and treating the President for one but not the other could have deadly consequences.
“Is that why we’re locked down, Mr. Hall? Is that why you have a Glock 19 9 in your pocket?”
“Right now, Darrel, no one is sure about anything or anyone, and that includes Mr. Oak. I get that you don’t know anything about me, Darrel, but Mrs. Hall is calling the shots, and I think you know that above all else, you can trust Mrs. Hall.”
Darrel nodded to indicate that he understood. “You can tell Mrs. Hall that no one will penetrate the perimeter tonight or any night that I am here.”
“I will, Darrel, and thank you.”
Darrel poured his thermos full of black coffee and headed back outside as Tim watched.
“I just wish I could trust Mrs. Hall,” Tim said to himself.
Tim walked back to the library and opened his iPhone. There was a text message from Mary Ann, but all Tim saw when he opened the message were three question marks. Tim decided to call her, but, at that moment, his cell phone rang.
“Tim?” It was Mary Ann’s voice.
“Mary Ann, where are you?”
“I’m back at your condo. Toby brought me back here just now.”
“Are you okay?” Tim wanted to know.
“I’m fine, Tim, but I’m confused. What’s going on?”
Tim was at a loss about what to tell Mary Ann. He was happy that she was away from Toby and Sebastian...but for how long?
“Mary Ann, in the freezer of my refrigerator, I have some money hidden. Take it and get out of town.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” she protested. “I know you are in trouble, but you need to tell me what’s going on.”
“Where is Sebastian? Is he in the room with you now?”
“No, Sebastian and Toby have both gone off. I don’t know where, but Toby told me that when he comes back, we are going to go back to Las Vegas. He said that Sebastian told him that our work is just about finished here. But I’m not leaving without you, Tim.”
“Can you get your hands on a car?”
“I already have a car, Tim.”
It hadn’t occurred to Tim to wonder if Mary Ann had a car or not. He’d never thought to ask.
“Really? What kind of car do you have?”
“It’s a red 2012 Toyota Camry, and neither Toby nor Sebastian knows that I have it. I keep it in a garage over by the hospital.”
“That’s fantastic. Anyway, if you look in my freezer, you will find about ten thousand dollars in cash and some gold coins. Take that and head for Leesburg, Virginia. There is a Red Roof Inn right off US Route 15. Check in under the name Mary Ann Sky Horse.”
“Mary Ann Sky Horse?” she repeated doubtfully.
“Yes, that’s your new Native American name.”
“Well, okay, Tim.” Mary Ann still sounded unsure.
“And Mary Ann, ask for a room around back and off the road.”
“Okay, Tim,” she agreed again. “Anything else?”
“Yes. When you leave my condo, leave the lights on and go out by the loading dock area. We must assume you’re being watched. Do you know how to get from Baltimore to Leesburg?”
“No, not really, but isn’t it close to Dulles Airport?”
“Yeah, about fifteen or so miles. Stay on the interstates and toll roads. When you get here, send me a text.”
“Okay, Tim, I got it.”
“Wonderful. Now, please be careful.”
“I will, Tim.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“I love you too, Tim.”
Tim put down the iPhone and turned his attention back to CNN. Although the sound was turned down, he could tell what the four talking heads were discussing. What happens if the President were to die? For Christ’s sake, Tim thought, some of these assholes just can’t wait. He recalled the day that John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, and how some of his second-grade classmates were happy about it and said as much. As Tim became older, he understood that these children were just repeating their parents’ opinions of the man; but it still gave him a creepy feeling that any American would celebrate the death of their President, no matter what their political persuasion.
Tim’s phone beeped, letting him know that he’d received a text. It was from Mary Ann. “On my way,” it said, followed the three hearts.
Tim figured that he would get Pam to drive him to Leesburg to find Lockwood and Justice. After that, he would ditch Pam and hook up with Mary Ann and take off to Canada or Mexico. Of course, that all depended on whether Mary Ann was indeed by herself and it wasn’t a trap.
“Tim?” Pam was calling to him from upstairs. “Are you coming to bed?”
“Do you care?” Tim responded.
“Yes, I want to speak with you.”
Tim turned off the TV, grabbed his phone and Glock, and headed upstairs.
Pam was waiting for him on the landing. “Is that a loaded gun?” she demanded.
“Yes, Pam, I have loaded my firearm, and I hope you’ve done the same.”
Pam seemed to let the no-loaded-guns-in-her-house issue go. Tim continued to his room, knelt by his bed, and placed the gun between the top and bottom mattresses.
“Well, I just hope the safety is on,” Pam said as she stood in the door.
Tim turned around to face her. “So, what do you want to talk about, Pam?”
“Us. I would like to talk about you and me.”
Tim wanted to tell Pam that, as far as he was concerned, there was no “us”—but that sounded too much like a line in some movie. “Okay, Pam, let’s talk about us,” he agreed.
Pam pulled up a chair and sat down. “Tim, I believe that our marriage was over a long time ago, and that you and I were just going through the motions of being married. So, I was planning on asking, or suggesting, I should say, that you and I call it quits when we returned from China.”
“Yes, China,” Tim repeated. “It funny to me how China keeps coming up.”
“I guess it was the tipping point. Do you remember anything about that operation now?”
“No, Pam. All I know is what you and Sebastian have told me.”
“You and I were meeting Lilly Lin at her house. She was going to tell us who in the United States was passing on the source codes to a number of computer programs, but you also thought that perhaps I should come on to Lilly in a sexual way.”
“If you say so, Pam, but I remember none of this.”
“Well, you did, and that’s not the first time you’ve suggested that I start lesbian affair with a woman we needed as an asset. I think it turned you on.”
“Pam, I’m sorry if any of this made you uncomfortable, but we were there to do a job, not to party. You’ve been playing this game for too long now to all of a sudden decide that the Agency has exploited you sexually but please finish your story.”
“You are missing the point, Tim. I have laid my body and soul out for this company, and all I get is a nice house to live in rent-free as long as I’m willing to babysit a bunch of creeps.”
Tim wondered for a second if Pam also considered him a creep but thought that he’d better not ask. He now had a clue what was bothering his wife. “So, this is all about you not getting a station assignment at an embassy?”
Most US embassies had a CIA station that was known to everyone, and the station chief was a known member of the Agency. No more covert or undercover work, everything right out in the open. To many, it was a plum assignment, provided you were in a relatively safe country. On the other hand, Tim knew a Chief of Station who was assigned to a country that was so unsafe he was forced to sleep in a cage.
“It’s just not fucking fair, Tim. I shot and killed Lilly Lin to save us, and management is holding that against me.”
Pam was becoming visibly upset, and Tim knew he had to calm her down. “Pam, look at me,” he said, and Pam looked up. “Tell me how it all happened.”
“I took Lilly’s hand and told her that I would like to get to know her better. She stood up and walked to the door. Next thing I know, she’s holding a gun on you, Tim, and demanding that you get down on your knees. She then says that we are under arrest for spying and starts to make a phone call, but she is looking at you, not at me. I had a Glock 19 strapped to my ankle, which I pulled and shot Lilly. The bullet hit her in her neck, and blood was everywhere. Sebastian then came running in from outside. You were still on your knees, but you should have seen your face.”
“Pam, you say that Sebastian came running into the apartment. Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. He took us downstairs and put me in a car with one of our Chinese contacts. You and Sebastian jumped in the other car, which is the one you had the accident in.”
“But was I driving?”
Pam had to think for a second.
“I’m pretty sure that Sebastian was driving.”
“And you said Sebastian came into the room after you shot Lilly?”
“Yes, but why are you asking?”
“Because Sebastian told me that you and I came running out of the building and jumped in the car. He said that I shoved him over and demanded to drive. Maybe it’s a small detail, but then again, maybe not.”
“What are you getting at, Tim?”
“What if there was no accident, Pam? What if the China trip had all been for something other than to determine who was leaking intellectual property? Perhaps I was drugged in China and remained drugged.”
“Well, that’s an awful long time to stay drugged, Tim.”
“Yes, it is, and Sebastian would need a lot of help and cooperation to make that happen.”
“Which is why you think I was in on it.”
“Yes, Pam. I don’t want to believe that about you, but...” He trailed off.
“But you wouldn’t put it past me,” Pam finished. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Tim?”
“I don’t want to think that you dislike me enough to do something like that to me, Pam.”
Pam paused for a second, then began to speak. “I don’t dislike you, Tim, and the last two days reminded me how much I enjoy having you around. You are very good company, and I always liked having sex with you because you really care about me getting off, and a lot of guys don’t even try.”
“So why do I feel like I’m about to get a big ‘but’?” Tim joked.
“Because you are, Tim. When you and I were both assigned to Langley, everyone used to refer to me as your mother. The other women would say things like, ‘What has your boy Timmy done now?’ Or ‘Go home and take care of Timmy.’ And then there were the ‘Your husband is just wonderful’ comments. I mean, I was living in your shadow, but what really pissed me off about you is how easy you made everything look.”
Tim had been semi-aware of how competitive Pam could be, but he never thought that she was jealous of his career. What was really stupid was Tim’s beliefs that Pam had been proud of some of his accomplishments. He supposed he’d been wrong.
“So why the hell did you marry me, Pam?”
“Because I wanted a guy, and I wanted to be married. Just about all women want to be married to somebody, Tim, but in this job, it’s hard to find someone to be married to. I dated a lot of guys before I ran into you again at Langley, but they all wanted me to quit the Agency.”
“Until I came along.”
“You’re a real good guy, Tim.”
Somehow, being a real good guy did not sound the same as being the love of someone’s life, but Tim let it go.
“Look, Pam, I’m sorry. I truly am. I had no idea I was doing any of this to you. I was just trying to get along in my career the best way I knew how. I had no intention of trying to make you look bad or, maybe more importantly, feel bad.”
Pam walked across the room and kissed Tim on the forehead. “I guess that’s all I really wanted to hear,” she answered. “An apology. Would you like to lie down with me here on your bed?”
“Sure, Pam,” Tim replied as he kicked off his shoes and lay down. Pam climbed onto the bed next to him and placed her head on his shoulder.
What a bunch of bullshit, Tim thought to himself. Why should he be expected to shoulder Pam’s career as well as his own? But his apology had seemed to satisfy her for the time being.
Tim found himself drifting off to sleep and thought about waking Pam so she could return to her own room but decided against that. If someone broke in intending to kill them, they would at least be easy to find.