keep this as a federal crime scene. No locals.”
“Very well. They will have my complete cooperation.”
“Ask him why I’m here,” McGarvey said.
“The man is wearing a wire, though I’m not quite sure who is monitoring it,” Foster said.
“In my left ear,” McGarvey said, and Mellinger yanked it out, pulling the wires from the control pack behind his ear.
“He came here to assassinate me, because for some reason he got the notion that the unfortunate terrorist attack at Arlington Cemetery in which his wife and daughter were killed was ordered by me personally.” Foster shook his head. “The man is obviously deranged.”
“Yeah,” Mellinger said. He holstered his weapon and cuffed McGarvey. “I told you before that I didn’t like traitors,” he said. “I like them even less now. Especially guys like you who had it all.”
“And you might search the grounds for a second gunman. I think he indicated that he had help.”
“Who came with you?” Mellinger asked.
“Aren’t you going to read me my rights?” McGarvey said. “You’re just doing your job. And if it’s any consolation, I’m sorry about your leg, but I wasn’t thinking very straight just then.” He turned and looked at Foster. “It’s almost over for you and your Friday Club. We have most of the names and we know what you’re trying to do.” He smiled. “It won’t work.”
“I don’t like traitors who hate their country either,” Foster said. “Kindly remove this piece of garbage from my house.”
Ansel took him from beneath the elbow and they walked out of the house, and across the lawn to the helicopter pad where two machines—one the FBI’s the other the U.S. Marshals’—were idling. He only hoped that Pete was able to get clear and that she and Adkins would make it to Otto’s. Everything was riding on them now.
SEVENTY-SIX
It was late when Pete finally showed up at the brownstone, and Otto buzzed her in after she parked the Toyota in the back, out of sight from the street. Adkins had already arrived and was hunched over Otto’s shoulder studying something on the monitor, and Louise was seated at one of the other monitors.
They all looked up when she walked in.
“Is he okay?” she asked. She was dead tired, and her hip and leg were on fire.
“The Marshals took him, presumably to a holding cell somewhere in D.C., but he’s not showing up on any of my search engines,” Otto said. “He sounded good before they took his comms unit and found the cell phone in his pocket.”
“Did he actually get to talk to Foster?”
Otto nodded. “Yeah, and the guy comes across as a wacko, but he has so many friends that no one has been willing to challenge him.”
“He’s sending the message that people want to hear,” Adkins said. “No one trusts their government any longer, and that’s not just the president’s approval rating, it especially includes Congress. Most people think they’re a bunch of crooks.”
“And in a lot of instances, that’s true,” Louise said. “You read about it in the newspapers and see it on television practically every day.”
Pete was havng trouble keeping on track. “So he’s got the message. What are we doing to find Mac?”
“He’s okay for now,” Otto said. “He’s in federal custody, no one is going to hurt him.”
“Come on, you said yourself you can’t find him. If Foster is as crazy as you say he is, why wouldn’t he order his people to shoot Mac in the back of the head while trying to escape? Problem solved.”
“Too many witnesses who are not in the Friday Club,” Otto said. “There’s only about three dozen of them and they’re spread out. So take it easy.”
“Who were the arresting officers?”
“As far as I can tell Douglas Mellinger and Steven Ansel. Mellinger’s on the list we got from David’s computer and Remington’s flash drive.”
“They’ll kill him,” Pete said.
“No,” Otto said. “Ansel’s clean, and he’s just doing his job because so far as he knows Mac will be indicted for treason, and there was a warrant for his arrest. Same with the FBI guys who made the bust.”
“Shit,” Pete said, turning away for a moment. She felt overwhelmed. It had become a nightmare at Arlington when her partner had been killed in the blast and McGarvey had gone on the run. Bodies had piled up all over the place, and now with a possible shooting war between China and Taiwan, which made absolutely no sense, the numbers could rise astronomically.
“He knew that he was going to get arrested,”