The Inner Sanctum (33 page)

"It's the conservative machine flexing its muscles." Sometimes there was no way to fight the system. It was frustrating as hell, but you just had to learn to accept it.

"You think the local stations are being paid to play it, don't you?"

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if there was something going on." Her voice was a monotone murmur. She wanted to tell him what she had done. She owed it to him. But there was no way to pull the trigger. And what would it accomplish, anyway? She had already handed over the Cowen note. Malcolm would know that she was a turncoat, and her body would be splashed all over every sleazy magazine, wrapped around an equally sleazy blond. "They'll do anything to destroy you, Malcolm. You surprised them last time and won before they could do anything. They're out to get you this time."

Walker gazed at Monique strangely. She had never been so forthright. "Morty Andrews over at CNN called me first thing this morning. They conducted a poll last night, after the tape had started playing on all the newscasts."

"And?"

"Coleman's lead is twelve points now. I've solidified my position within the black community, but the white vote is abandoning me." It was over, he knew. There would be no coming back from this.

"As if you needed to solidify your position with the African-American population. Great. Because you showed unity with LFA yesterday your approval rating in the black community went from ninety-five to ninety-six percent. Big deal."

"That's what I don't get." Walker put his head in his hands. "Elijah Pitts must have known this would happen. Why would he want me to lose?"

David pulled the extra set of keys he had made out of his pocket as he climbed the steps to Jesse's apartment. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He glanced around to make certain no one was watching, then guided the key into the lock, turned the knob, and pushed.

For a moment he could not comprehend the full extent of the damage, and then it hit him. It was as if a tornado had ripped directly through the middle of the living room. Chairs and sofas were overturned and shredded, their insides spilled all over the carpet. Pictures had been torn from the walls and lay shattered on the floor. In places the carpet had been slashed and pulled from the plywood. And in the corner, Jesse's cat lay dead, gutted and disemboweled.

David stepped back against the outside railing, suddenly shaking. There was no reason to search inside. They had certainly found anything of interest. Without shutting the door, he headed back down the stairs and ran to his BMW.

Gordon Roth bent over, rolled up his pant leg, and replaced the hunting knife in the leather sheath affixed to his calf. He pulled the living-room curtain back slightly and checked the parking lot one more time but saw no one. Too late, as he hid behind the bedroom door poised to kill whoever had entered the apartment, he had realized that the person had run at the sight of the mess without closing the door.

** Chapter 28

"I call the meeting to order," Webb growled, glancing down the table at the other members. "It's so nice to see you, Ms. Gilman," he said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for not being here last time," she said apolegetically. "I had Sagamore business."

"Don't make it a--"

"I think congratulations are in order," Finnerty spoke up.

The others looked up, surprised by the interruption.

"I trust you all either saw or heard about our friend Mr. Walker's press conference yesterday," Finnerty continued. "I believe we owe a rather large debt of gratitude to Senator Webb for his incredible foresight in setting up LFA. We fortuitously destroyed a career yesterday, and we have the senator to thank."

The other members snapped their fingers in agreement.

"Thank you." Webb acknowledged the praise quickly. "But we have serious business to attend to, and we need to get started." He nodded subtly to Finnerty as a gesture of thanks. "I must report to you that we have received several pieces of bad news in the past twenty-four hours."

The room fell still as the mood turned suddenly apprehensive.

"I told you at the last meeting we were going to take care of our security leak." Webb's voice was dead calm. "Gordon Roth disposed of a young woman named Sara Adams. She was a revenue agent in the Baltimore IRS office. Gordon believed, based on strong evidence, that Ms. Adams was the individual who had stolen the file from Neil Robinson's house on the Severn River. Ms. Adams, as it turns out, was not the individual responsible for that act." It didn't bother him that the wrong person was dead. The tragedy lay in the fact that the real target, the one who could potentially damage them, was still running around out there.

"Oh, God!" Cowen brought his hands to his face.

"These things happen, Admiral Cowen." Webb was clearly annoyed at Cowen's show of emotion. "We just have to accept that and move on. It's all part of war, as you ought to know."

Cowen's mouth set into a grim straight line.

"It seems the person we were looking for," Webb continued, "is really a woman named Jesse Hayes."

Art Mohler turned instantly toward Elizabeth, but she ignored his glare.

Webb noted Mohler's look but said nothing. "Ms. Hayes is also a revenue agent in the Baltimore branch of the IRS. In fact, she and Ms. Adams were friends, which may account for Gordon Roth's regrettable error."

"Are you sure this time?" Cowen blurted out. "Are you absolutely certain this Hayes woman is the right person? Christ, are we going to kill this one too? When does it all stop?"

"I'm positive this time," Webb snarled. "Listen, Admiral, I don't need you questioning my orders. You certainly don't mind the benefits of being included in this circle. Just as with any other endeavor, if you are willing to enjoy the spoils, you have to bear the losses as well."

"Maybe we should take things slower, Senator Webb," Cowen said forcefully. "Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to pull the trigger. That's one thing you learn in the military. To take your time."

"Maybe you'd like to tell us how you were taking your time near Fort Myer last Saturday night at three in the morning."

Cowen's face turned instantly to stone. He picked a spot on the far wall and concentrated on it. How could Webb possibly know about the young man he had met in the woods near the Iwo Jima Memorial?

"I didn't think so," Webb snarled.

The others shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They had never seen an exchange like that in this room. And they had never seen Webb so visibly agitated.

"How did you find out the perpetrator was Jesse Hayes?" Finnerty asked. "How do you know she's the one and not Sara Adams?"

"Last night there was a breakin at LFA. Two files were stolen." Webb slammed his palm on the table in disgust. "One contained a copy of a check to LFA written out of a Doub Steel account. One of the checks Art had cut using Mitchell's signature."

"What?" Art Mohler leaned over the table. "You've got to be kidding me. That could lead somebody right back to Sagamore. Right back to me."

"Precisely." Webb was angry now. "Why the hell Pitts had his people make copies of that stuff and keep it in such a vulnerable place I'll never know. The other piece of information taken was a personnel file concerning one Gordon Smith."

"Gordon Smith?" Mohler was perplexed. "Is that another name for Gordon Roth?"

"Very good, genius." Webb held up his hands and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Art. I don't mean to snap at you. Incompetence just irritates the hell out of me. I thought Pitts was at least a little savvy. I didn't think he'd leave sensitive information just lying around like that."

"I don't understand," Cowen interjected.

"We were using LFA to fund some of Roth's activities," Finnerty cut in. He had helped Webb arrange the details with LFA. "It seemed better to do it from there than from Sagamore or GEA."

"Why not out of Doub?" Admiral Cowen asked.

"We were already using that company to fund LFA and frame David Mitchell," Finnerty explained. "We didn't want to do too many things with it."

"So what does Jesse Hayes have to do with the breakin at LFA?" Mohler wanted to know.

"Jesse Hayes was the one who got into LFA last night and took the files," Webb answered. "We had an eyewitness. A security guard who matched her face to a picture. Jesse Hayes had to be the one who was at the Severn River house. The coincidence is too great."

"Why couldn't she and the Adams woman have been working together?" Mohler asked.

Webb glanced at Finnerty quickly.

Finnerty took his time explaining this one. "Gordon Roth is an expert at, shall we say, drawing information out of people."

"You mean he's an expert at torturing people," Elizabeth said disgustedly.

"Enough, Elizabeth," Webb reprimanded.

"Sara Adams wasn't involved," Finnerty confirmed. "She didn't know anything. If she had, she would have told Roth. Believe me."

Elizabeth turned away.

"We have to find Jesse Hayes," Mohler said. "Immediately."

"Exactly." Webb glanced at Finnerty. "Gordon Roth is already working to that end. Unfortunately, the woman hasn't been easy to track down. She hasn't been at her apartment since this morning and did not report to work today. Apparently she took a vacation day."

"We'll get her tonight," Finnerty assured the rest of the members. "When she comes back to her apartment."

"If she comes back," Mohler said, turning toward Elizabeth. "Can't you help us, Elizabeth? You've been all over that woman for some time."

Webb's eyes flashed to Elizabeth's.

Elizabeth saw Webb's curiosity turn to suspicion instantly. She swallowed hard and nodded at the senator respectfully. "Carter, quite coincidentally I have been recruiting Jesse Hayes for employment at Sagamore."

Webb raised an eyebrow.

"I can leave her a message at her office. She's supposed to be coming out to Sagamore for interviews, so she wouldn't think it suspicious to receive my call. She's extremely responsible. I'm sure even though she's taken a vacation day she'll be calling in for messages. I'll have her call me and try to arrange a meeting."

Webb stared at Elizabeth for thirty seconds without speaking. Finally he nodded. "Call her."

"As soon as we're done here," Elizabeth assured him.

Webb watched her a moment longer, then finally moved on to the next topic. "Elbridge isn't here because he's out at some event. His campaign against Malcolm Walker is progressing better than we could ever have expected. He will win in a landslide. GEA's stock is rising and will bring us incredible wealth as production of the A-100 begins. Everything is progressing as planned or better." He paused. "We just have to find Jesse Hayes." He ground his teeth for a moment. "That's all I have. Meeting adjourned." He glanced down the table. "Can I see you for a second, Art?"

As Elizabeth began to walk from the room she saw Mohler sit down next to Webb. The two men began whispering in tones too low for her to hear. She hesitated at the door, then turned back and moved toward them. Webb touched Mohler on the arm as he noticed Elizabeth nearing them, and they cut off their discussion.

"Yes?" Webb looked up at Elizabeth from his seat.

"I just thought of another way you might find Jesse Hayes."

** Chapter 29

"Hello."

"Helga?"

"Yes."

"Helga, it's Jesse."

"Hello, dear." Helga's heavy accent crackled through the static of the mall pay phone. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling in to get my messages before you go home for the evening." Jesse pressed her ear to the phone. The mall was crowded with noisy teenagers buying jeans or a CD on their way home from school.

"There's only been one more message since you called last. It's from a woman named Elizabeth Gilman. Something about interviews and a job offer. She wanted you to call her whenever you got this message. She said it was urgent and it didn't matter what time you called. Honestly, she seemed agitated. She gave me three numbers. Office, home, and car."

Why would Elizabeth be agitated? What could possibly be so urgent? David had warned her that Elizabeth's ultimate loyalty would always be to Sagamore. But how could Elizabeth's phone call be related to the file? How could she possibly know Jesse had it? Unless David had told her. A shiver tore through her. She had decided to trust him. Now once again she wasn't sure that was such a good decision.

Then another thought raced through Jesse's mind. There was clearly a connection between LFA and Sagamore through Doub Steel. The senior people at Sagamore would know there had been a breakin at LFA by now, and perhaps they had figured out that Jesse was the perpetrator. The security guards at LFA could easily identify her. They had pointed the flashlight directly into her face. Perhaps Elizabeth was luring her in so they could reclaim the evidence Jesse had taken from the files at LFA. David wouldn't have been involved at all in that scenario--as long as he had been telling the truth about his signature on the Doub Steel check being a forgery.

"Jesse." Helga was becoming impatient. "Do you want those numbers for Elizabeth Gilman?"