The Inner Sanctum (41 page)

"What?" She was nervous as hell.

"You said something about the assassin not having his gun when you were getting away from the farm store. What did you mean?"

"When I was driving away, the guy ran out of the orchard and tried to stop me. He actually reached inside the car and grabbed my hair. I gunned the car and he fell away. Fortunately, he didn't have his gun."

David nodded. "He must have gotten hurt. That's what this blood is." David pointed at the trunk. "I guess he went through my car after you got away."

"Then why didn't he get the other information?" she asked warily. "What's in the bag you're carrying on your shouler?"

"Because when I took it out of the back of your rental car I didn't have time to get to my car and keep track of you. Things were happening pretty fast if you'll remember." He was irritated. She was still questioning him. "So I threw it over the fence into the field and came back for it when I was certain Roth was gone."

Jesse glanced around. "Maybe he took the Edgewood file just now." She nodded at the trunk.

"Not a chance. I made certain I wasn't followed here."

They were silent for a few seconds.

Finally Jesse shook her head. "So after all this, Webb and Mohler still have the information about my abortion and my mother is going to find out about it anyway."

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"Get in. I have an idea."

** Chapter 35

Johnny Antolini handed Jesse the glass of water. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She was thirsty and drank the entire glass quickly.

"Do you want more?"

"No thanks."

"Johnny, can you call your people and see if the money is in yet?" David asked impatiently. "The other party is supposed to be sending the money right away."

"Relax." Johnny was starting to get annoyed. He'd done everything David had requested--set up an account at First Maryland Trust for Jesse Hayes without her having to come to the bank to present identification; instructed his people in funds transfer to check the account every five minutes for incoming wires; then left work, met them at his apartment and allowed them to use it as a place to hole up--without asking any questions. He'd done all of that and David was still giving orders. "They'll call when it comes in."

"We need to know the minute it comes in," David urged.

"Easy." Jesse reached over and put a hand on his knee. "Johnny's already done so much." She inhaled deeply. "I still don't understand why we had to get them to send the money."

"Because--" But David didn't finish.

"I don't want to hear anymore," Johnny interrupted. He stood up and headed toward the kitchen of the small apartment.

When Johnny had disappeared around the corner, David took Jesse's hands in his. "Because money is what they understand. You agreed to lifetime employment at Sagamore for two million dollars and the Edgewood file. They agreed to give you those things in exchange for the information you have on them. Adhere strictly to the terms of what's been negotiated. If you showed up before the money had cleared, they'd be suspicious."

As David finished speaking, the phone rang. They heard Johnny answer the call but could not discern specific words.

Moments later he appeared from the kitchen. "The money's in," he said softly.

Todd opened his eyes as the anesthesia finally began to wear away. They had surgically repaired the lung and though he would be months in convalescence, in time he would fully recover. He groaned as he became aware of the nausea and pain.

"Stop your fussing, you big baby." The nurse smiled down at him.

He managed a thin smile. "Hey, that's easy for you to say. You aren't the one with a hole in your lung."

"Yes, I suppose that's true." The nurse glanced over at the old man on the bed adjacent to Todd's. He had just come from throat cancer surgery and would be unconscious for hours.

Quickly she bent down, removed the small .22 caliber pistol from the black bag she had surreptitiously carried into the room, screwed the silencer on the barrel, wrapped a thick towel around the silencer, rose up, aimed carefully at Todd's head and fired three shots into him at point-blank range.

He was dead instantly.

"That's for Harry the Horse," she murmured, dropping the gun back into the bag, zipping it closed, and walking calmly from the room.

** Chapter 36

"I'm frightened." Jesse gripped David's right hand tightly as the BMW rolled up the long driveway of Jack Finnerty's Middleburg farm.

"You have every right to be." David slowed the car down as he guided it around the circle in front of the house. "We both do."

"Don't say that," Jesse implored. She glanced at the huge house and the stables. "God, this place is incredible."

"This is what having money is all about," David sighed. "If you can believe it, this mansion is just a guest house for that place over there." He pointed to a sprawling estate set on a ridge a half mile away. "Finnerty told me his place is over two hundred years old. And that the main house up there on the hill is almost three hundred." During the drive from Washington, David had explained Finnerty's role in the conspiracy. "Here we are." David pulled the BMW to a stop in front of the brick path leading to the home's front entrance.

For several moments they sat in the car, staring at the huge house in silence. Finally, Jesse reached for the door handle. "Time to go," she said with determination. "I want my Edgewood file back."

"Right." David opened his door and slid out from behind the steering wheel. "Remember, Jesse," he whispered over the roof of the car as she stepped out of the passenger side. "As soon as you have that Edgewood stuff, get down."

"Don't worry. I'll be so flat against the floor they'll have to pry me off with a spatula when it's over."

"Good." As David came around the back of the BMW, he motioned subtly at the trunk now tied shut with a piece of twine. Gordon Roth had broken the latch yesterday at the farm store when he'd popped the trunk to find the Edgewood file, hence the twine.

Jesse hadn't noticed David gesture at the trunk. She hadn't seen Gordon Roth standing behind a corner of the stable either.

"Ready?" David asked as he reached her.

"No," she answered honestly. "But I guess that doesn't matter."

"I guess not." He smiled at her reassuringly. "It'll be all right."

Cautiously they walked up the brick path toward the white double doors.

When they had moved inside the house, Roth broke from his hiding place and sprinted toward the BMW. Mitchell had indicated he would leave the information Jesse Hayes had put together in the trunk, convincing her that they shouldn't take it into the house until she had the Edgewood file. Roth smiled as he ran across the neatly manicured lawn. Once he had the information, he was to come directly into the house, per Webb's orders. There he would kill Jesse Hayes and dispose of her body deep in the Shenandoah Mountains. And life at Sagamore would return to normal.

"Hello, Miss Hayes," Senator Webb said calmly as she and David moved into the large living room. Webb stood directly before the huge stone fireplace which dominated the north wall of the room. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet the woman who's caused me so much aggravation over the last few weeks," he said sarcastically.

Jesse said nothing.

Art Mohler stood to Webb's left and a crisp looking man with red hair Jesse guessed was Finnerty took his place at Webb's right.

Webb turned to Mohler. "Where is Elizabeth?"

"I don't know. She was just here a minute ago."

"Find her. Now."

"Okay." Mohler walked from the living room obediently.

Webb glanced at David. "Do you have the information?"

"It's out in the trunk of my car." He hesitated for a moment. "As we discussed."

Jesse's eyes flashed to David's. "What!"

Roth whipped the knife from his belt and slashed the twine holding down the trunk. Just a few more seconds and they would be home free. He yanked the trunk up.

The FBI agent rose to his knees as the trunk came up. Swiftly he brought the Glock 17 pistol straight up into Roth's face. "Don't move a fucking muscle, my friend."

For a second Roth froze, unable to believe. The agent's face blurred as Roth's blood pressure skyrocketed and his brain locked. But almost instantly his head cleared and he remembered the deal he had made with himself at the beginning of all this. Never be taken alive. He lunged for the agent.

But the agent had his own deal. Never hesitate. And he unloaded the gun's cartridge into Roth's chest.

Roth staggered to the side of the BMW, keeled over and fell to the driveway, dead.

"Can I have my file from the hospital?" Jesse asked for the second time.

"It's right there on the mantel." Webb motioned over his shoulder. "You can have it--"

"I can't find Elizabeth," Mohler interrupted as he trotted back into the living room. "I've looked everywhere."

Webb's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. He glanced out the window on the far side of the room and caught a fleeting glimpse of someone in a navy blue windbreaker darting behind a tree. "Jack! Red!" It was a code word Webb and Finnerty had hoped they would never be forced to use.

Instantly, Finnerty pulled a .38 from beneath his suit jacket, leveled it at Mohler and fired. Mohler dropped like a stone, blood pouring from the bullet hole in his temple.

Next Finnerty turned the gun on David and fired. The bullet ripped through David's left shoulder, sending him cartwheeling back over a couch. He struggled quickly to his feet and staggered into the large formal dining room.

Webb heard screams from outside as FBI agents burst from their hiding places and ran toward the house, reacting instantly to the sound of shots fired. "Forget Mitchell," Webb yelled at Finnerty who was heading toward the dining room to finish off David. "Get the Hayes woman and let's get out of here!"

Finnerty turned and grabbed Jesse roughly by the back of the neck. "Come on!" he snarled, pushing her ahead of them toward the kitchen, then to the large walk-in pantry. When they were all three inside the pantry, Finnerty slammed the door shut, turned to a row of shelves on one wall and pushed.

To Jesse's amazement, the shelves gave way, opening onto a stairway.

Finnerty motioned with the .38 for her to go down the steps. "Don't worry. It's very safe. It's part of the old Underground Railroad used during the Civil War to smuggle slaves out of the South." Finnerty smiled. "And I've maintained it very well." As he kept the .38 pointed at Jesse, he grabbed a flashlight from one of the pantry shelves and handed it to Webb.

Webb flicked on the light, illuminating the steps and the tunnel at the bottom which was easily big enough for them to stand up in. "Go!" Webb yelled at Jesse.

She stumbled down the stairs and into the tunnel, followed by Webb and then Finnerty who closed the false wall behind them. "They'll never find us, Carter."

"I hope to God not."

The three of them moved quickly ahead, guided by the flashlight.

"Where does this come out, Jack?" Webb asked.

"Near an old logging road in the middle of the woods about a half mile from here," Finnerty answered. "I've got a jeep waiting."

Webb laughed to himself. For a moment he had actually felt panic. But how could he have doubted Finnerty? The man was more reliable than Old Faithful. Webb glanced at Jesse as they hurried ahead. "You just had to go to the authorities, didn't you?" he sneered. "Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"

She said nothing, her mind focused on when she would make her break. They weren't going to just let her go. That was obvious. They were going to kill her. She swallowed. They might shoot her down here or take her with them for protection until they were miles away. Then shoot her. But she wasn't going down without a fight.

"Did you really think you could beat us?" Webb laughed.

"I--"

"Stop where you are! Put the gun down, Jack!" Elizabeth Gilman stood before them in the tunnel holding a small revolver. The barrel shook wildly even as she clasped the handle tightly with both palms. "Put the gun down!" she screamed again. "I'll shoot you where you stand. I swear to God." Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Easy, Elizabeth," Webb said gently. "Put the gun down, Jack."

Finnerty allowed the .38 to fall to the dirt floor.

"How did you get in here?" Webb asked icily.

"I overheard you and Jack talking about it one night when we were all here. I saw you go to the pantry and I followed. When you weren't in there, I suspected one of the walls was false. I tried it later that night after you two had come back." She glanced around the tunnel. "I was right."

"You're the one who went to Neil Robinson." Webb's gaze turned steely. "You're the one who had Robinson start looking into the Elbridge Coleman campaign. Aren't you, Elizabeth?"

She nodded. "I couldn't take it anymore, Carter," she whispered hoarsely. "I couldn't take what we were doing. The lies. The deceit. What that Gordon Roth did for us. It was sick." She paused. "And I couldn't take being beholden to you any longer either."