The Devil's bed

“If there is any truth at all in what you say, we have to consider how to address this situation,” Norton said. “At the moment, we feel that silence on your part is the best way.”

“And if I don’t agree?”

Lopez said, “Charges will be brought against you, and the federal government will do its best to prove, in the case of thePeople v. Bo Thorsen, that you did willfully murder Special Agent-in-Charge Diana Ishimaru.”

“No jury would convict.”

“Do you want to take that chance? And in the meantime, drag your name through the dirt?”

“And alert NOMan and contribute in no small way to that organization’s ability to cover its tracks.”

Bo stared at the pages on the table. “It says here that I believe David Moses killed Diana. That’s not true.”

“It may have to be true. For now.”

“There’s a greater good that needs to be considered, Thorsen.”

Bo read the final page of the documents. “This is a letter of resignation.”

Norton said, “We feel it’s best if you step out of the picture entirely.”

Bo studied the men. Things began to blur, not just his thinking but his vision. He felt a little faint. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a decent night’s sleep. Or a good meal. Or felt as if the weight of an enormous responsibility didn’t rest on his shoulders alone. He glanced at the mirror, wondering who would be there if he stepped through the looking glass. There seemed nothing real to hold to anymore. No one to trust. Were these men connected to NOMan? Or were they really trying to control the damage that might be wrought if the public knew that such an organization had so effectively infiltrated the entire federal government?

He looked down at the pen that Norton held out to him, and he took it. He poised to sign. Before he did, he leveled his eyes once more on the faces of the men across the table.

“You both were field agents once?” he asked.

His question seemed to puzzle them.

“We were,” Norton said.

“If you were in my place, if you’d seen Diana Ishimaru, a good agent and a good friend, murdered, would you sign this document?”

A moment passed, then Norton said, “Yes.”

But what he said didn’t matter. Because between the question and the answer, Bo had seen the truth in the eyes of both men.

Bo put down the pen. “Gentlemen, we remain at odds.”

“You’re making a mistake, Agent Thorsen,” Norton said, but it sounded more like words than belief.

“If so, it’s a mistake of my own choosing. And I’ll take my chances.”

• • •

They finally fed him. He’d grown accustomed to the pain, to the constant throb deep in his knee. He was tired, but he fought sleep. Whenever he started to drift off, he jerked his leg to the side and gave himself an eye-opening jolt of agony. Even so, his thinking was beginning to get as fuzzy as the wire mesh over the light fixture.

He had no idea how long he’d been isolated like this when the door of his room opened and Lorna Channing stepped in, alone.

“You should have called me,” she said.

“When I needed you, I didn’t have the number,” Bo replied.

“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.”

“We won the battle,” Bo pointed out.

“And we’re going to win the war, Agent Thorsen.”

Channing walked to the window and touched the heavy mesh with her hand. It was day outside, late afternoon Bo judged from the position of the sun in the sky. Channing’s shadow fell across the floor behind her, stretching all the way to where Bo lay.

“Before she was killed, Diana Ishimaru made a telephone call,” Channing said. “She called the hotel room of Secret Service Assistant Director Bill Malone who, I’m sure you’re aware, was in the Twin Cities ostensibly to oversee the investigation into your actions at Wildwood. Malone immediately placed a call to a cell phone number. The number’s been traced to one of the men shot dead last night, one of the men you claim was preparing to assassinate the First Lady. I’m guessing it wouldn’t surprise you to learn that years ago Assistant Director Malone was the Secret Service liaison to NOMan. Although he’s unaware of it at the moment, we now have him under constant surveillance.” Channing turned back to Bo.

“I’ve just come from Wildwood. I had a long visit with the First Lady and her father. I gave them a copy of your statement. Yourstatement, not that crap Norton and Lopez tried to ram down your throat. We’ve spoken with Tom Jorgenson and he’s told us quite a lot. Pretty incredible things. According to him, NOMan was established to help mitigate the influence of incompetent leadership and to nudge the world away from aggression. Kate told him she didn’t consider her assassination a milestone on the road to peace.”

Channing allowed herself a brief smile.