The Zero Game

Neither of them said another word until they turned the corner and stepped into an empty elevator.

“Thanks again for helping me out with this,” Barry began.

“If it’s important to you…”

“It was actually important to Matthew. That’s the only reason I’m involved.”

“Either way – if it’s important to you, it’s important to me,” Dinah insisted as the elevator doors slid shut.

With a single sweep of his cane, Barry looked around, listening. “We’re alone, aren’t we?”

“That we are,” she said, stepping closer.

Barry once again reached out for her shoulder, this time lightly brushing his fingers against the edge of her bra strap. “Then let me say a proper thank-you,” he added as the elevator bucked slightly, descending toward the basement. Sliding his hand up the back of her neck and through her short blond hair, he leaned forward and gave her a long, deep kiss.

58

“FINAL BOARDING CALL for Northwest Airlines flight 1168 to Minneapolis-St. Paul,” a female voice announced through the Rapid City airport terminal. “All ticketed passengers should now be on board.”

Shutting the switch for the PA system, the gate attendant turned to Janos, checking his boarding pass and driver’s license. Robert Franklin. “You have a good day now, Mr. Franklin.”

Janos looked up, but only because his cell phone started vibrating in his jacket pocket. As he pulled the phone out, the gate attendant smiled and said, “Hope it’s a quick call – we’re about to push back…”

Shooting the attendant a dark glare, he headed up the jetway. As he turned his attention to the phone, he didn’t need to check caller ID to know who it was.

“Do you have any conception how much money your sloppiness just cost me?” Sauls asked through the phone. His voice was as calm as Janos had ever heard it, which meant it was even worse than Janos thought.

“Not now,” Janos warned.

“He threw our technician into the sphere. Sixty-four photomultiplier tubes completely shattered. You know how much each of those costs? The components alone came from England, France, and Japan – then had to be assembled, tested, shipped, and reassembled under clean-room conditions. Now we have to redo it sixty-four damn times.”

“You done yet?”

“I don’t think you heard me. You blew it, Janos.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Sauls went silent. “That’s the third time you’ve said that,” he finally growled. “But let me promise you right now, Janos – if you don’t take care of it soon, we’ll be hiring someone to take care of you.”

With a soft click, the phone went dead.

“Nice to see you tonight,” a flight attendant said as Janos boarded the plane.

Ignoring the attendant, he went straight for his seat in first class and stared out the oval window at the concrete runway. Sauls was still right about one thing: He had been getting sloppy lately. From getting stranded on the first flight, to the second elevator – he should’ve seen those coming. It was the most basic rule of tracking: cover every exit. Sure, he’d underestimated Harris – even with Viv slowing him down, and despite the panic that had to be swirling through his brain, he still somehow managed to plot a few moves ahead. No doubt, all those years in the Senate served him well. But as Janos knew, this was far more serious than politics. Leaning back against the headrest and losing himself in the roar of the jet engines, Janos closed his eyes and took another mental look at the pieces on the board. Time to get back to basics. No question, Harris was playing great chess – but even the best grandmasters know there’s no such thing as a perfect game.

59

“DADDY’S GOING TO work now,” Lowell Nash called out to his four-year-old daughter early the following morning.

Staring at the TV, she didn’t respond.

As Deputy Attorney General, Lowell wasn’t used to being ignored, but when it came to family… family was a whole different story. He couldn’t help but laugh.

“Say good-bye to Daddy,” Lowell’s wife added from the living room of their Bethesda, Maryland, home.

Never taking her eyes off the videotaped glow of Sesame Street, Cassie Nash sucked the tip of one of her braided pigtails and waved her hand through the air at her dad. “Bye, Elmo…”

Lowell smiled and waved good-bye to his wife. At formal events, his colleagues at the Justice Department called him Deputy General Nash – he worked twenty-five years to earn that title – but ever since his daughter learned that the voice of Elmo was done by a tall black man who resembled her dad (Elmo’s best friend, according to Cassie), Lowell’s name was changed. Elmo beat Deputy General any day.