Guilty Minds

“Are you enjoying being on TV all the time?” I said, teasing a little.

“I guess so. I don’t know. Part of me does. Part of me thinks I’m just a publicity whore.”

“You can always say no.”

She shrugged. “You say no too many times and they stop asking.”

“That’s the point.” I smiled. “You’re really good at it, Mandy. You’re a natural.”

“Thanks. You wouldn’t believe the offers I’ve been getting. I’ve been talking to a couple of literary agents-one at William Morris Endeavor, and one at ICM. They both think they can get me a really nice book deal. I mean, a lot of money. Tomorrow I’m on The View. And I’m taping 60 Minutes. Can I give them your name? 60 Minutes, I mean.”

“For what?”

“Don’t be coy, Nick. You know damn well why. The mystery man behind a whole chain of events.” She paused. “It would be great. For business, I mean. What do you think?”

I shook my head. “No, thanks.”

“But this case was such a huge win for you.”

I shrugged uneasily. With Gideon and Kayla Pitts dead and Vogel out on bail, it didn’t feel like much of a win. “The only good part of this was you,” I said.

She cocked her head, curious what I meant.

“You’re safe, you’re thriving, you’re on fire. 60 Minutes, The View…”

“Oh, and I’m in talks with TruTV-they want me to host a new true-crime investigative series they’re calling Spotlight. How cool is that?”

“Spotlight, huh?” I laughed.

“Yeah, Spotlight. I know: just what you avoid. I mean, I realize it’s not serious journalism or anything. It’s journalism lite. But it could be a way for me to get back into the business.”

“Sure.”

She studied me for a long moment. “We really don’t swim in the same waters, do we?”

I drained my beer. “How do you mean?”

“You’re, like, one of those deepwater fish. Like a dragonfish or whatever they’re called, that live a mile down, where it’s almost totally dark and the pressure’s intense and the water is freezing cold.”

“Come on, Mandy, I’m just-”

“No, really,” she said, interrupting me. “You prefer the dark. You’re all about keeping secrets.”

“Secrets are my business. I keep ’em or I find a new line of work.”

“I thought lies were your business. Isn’t that what you told me once?”

“Both, I guess.”

In the last few days I’d been thinking about her a lot. If we lived in the same town, maybe we could keep on spending time with each other. But I was going back to Boston and she was staying in Washington. Our paths were diverging in other ways, too. Mandy Seeger, the kidnapped journalist, was becoming a TV personality, an instant Internet celebrity.

She was right, though. I preferred the shadows. That was where I belonged.

“How much longer are you in town?” she asked, playing with her straw.

“I’m flying home tonight.”

“Tonight?”

I pointed to my carry-on, on the floor next to the booth. “I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on.”

“And I’ve got to fly to New York early tomorrow morning. So… yeah. Wow.”

I glanced down at the tabletop, at the gashes and wounds in the wood. I was feeling a little numb and more than a little sad. Maybe we both were.

“Next time I see you will probably be on TV.”

“Don’t let me read about you in Slander Sheet.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, right. Come see me if you’re in Boston.”

“I will.”

An empty promise, surely, but I let it lie.

Outside the bar we said good-bye beside my cab. We kissed, in a slow lingering way that I didn’t expect. It didn’t feel like a good-bye.

When we separated, she put a hand on my cheek. “Bye, Nick,” she said, and she turned around and gave me a little wave.

Then I got in the cab. A motorcycle roared by at deafening volume. As we pulled away from the curb, I turned to watch her, through the rearview window, walking away. I was hoping to exchange one last glance, but she never turned around.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Some very generous people helped me research and write this novel, and I want to thank them. They include, for much help on cell phones and computer forensics, Jeff Fischbach; on mobile phone forensics, Tom Slovenski; on computer hacking, Adam Hernandez, and especially Kevin Ripa. On perimeter security, locks, and lock picking: Marc Weber Tobias and, once again, Jeff Dingle and Kevin Murray. On hotel security: Jeffrey Saunders of the Saunders Hotel Group, Jon Estabrook of the Lenox Hotel, Jim McGlynn of Engineering PLUS, and Fred Juran of Kaba.

Jay Groob of American Investigative Services was again extremely helpful, as were Dick Rogers, Jack Hoban, Matthew Fleming; and Sean Murphy of The Boston Globe. In DC, my thanks to Kenneth Cummins of the Capitol Group, Robert “Buzz” Glover of the MPD, and especially James Trainum.