make out two figures in the front seat, but they were too far away for him to make any sort of identification. But he knew damned well they were Admin muscle.
“They’re back there, in the dark blue Ford,” he said. “You can drive normal now.”
“You’re going to kill them,” Louise said, glancing nervously at him again.
“Not unless I have to,” McGarvey said. “I need answers not bodies.” He’d seen enough bodies lately to last three lifetimes. And yet it wasn’t over, and possibly would never be over. Plato had said that only the dead had seen the end of war. Maybe his turn was coming.
Traffic on the Airport Access Road all the way down to where it crossed beneath the Beltway and finally the off ramp to I-66 was busy as usual, but the blue Taurus managed to keep up even though Louise drove erratically, always searching for the fastest lane.
At one point she glanced nervously in the rearview mirror. “They’re still back there.”
“Otto was right, you drive too fast.”
“Makes him crazy,” she said smiling. “Should I slow down?”
“No, you’re doing just fine. Those guys probably think you’re trying to shake them, which is what I want them to think.”
She took the ramp to the Key Bridge, and as they crossed the river directly into Georgetown, McGarvey pocketed the three spare magazines of ammunition and screwed the silencer on the end of the Wilson’s barrel.
Louise was glancing at him, clearly frightened now. “I don’t know if I can lose them long enough for you to get out.”
“I want them to see you dropping me off,” McGarvey said. “That’s the whole point.”
“They’d be stupid to try to come after you. Why not grab me?”
“They’re Admin shooters and they want to take me out,” McGarvey said. It was the next step after Baghdad. He’d definitely got their attention, and now they were going to make the next series of mistakes that would lead him directly to the Friday Club. He just had to stay alive and out of custody until he could find out what was going on. What had been going on since the operations involving Chinese intelligence in Mexico City and Pyongyang. Those had been difficult and very expensive operations, neither of which had produced any visible results, other than having him branded as a traitor.
It made no sense. And situations that made no sense bothered McGarvey to no end.
Across the river, Louise turned east on M Street NW until the off ramp into Rock Creek Park, just at the beginning of Pennsylvania Avenue. Suddenly they were on the winding road that led north nearly two miles all the way up to Connecticut Avenue, crossing and recrossing the creek twice as it meandered through the sometimes densely forested park.
This morning traffic on the road was light, and only a few joggers and bicyclists were out and about, and none of the benches or picnic areas was occupied. On the weekends the park was always busy, but on weekdays most people were either at work by now or on the way.
Which was perfect as far as McGarvey was concerned, because he definitely did not want any collateral damage if shots were fired.
“Where do you want this to happen?” Louise demanded, her voice shrill now.
They had already reached the first bridge across the creek and for the next stretch the park area was very narrow, not enough room to maneuver.
“We’re going to cross under Massachusetts Avenue. A little past that there’s another bridge. I’ll get out there.”
“Jesus Christ,” Louise said, her hands tight on the steering wheel.
Two minutes later they crossed under Massachusetts Avenue and almost immediately the second bridge was just ahead.
“Now,” McGarvey said.
Louise jammed on the brakes and McGarvey popped open the door and jumped out even before the Toyota came to a full stop.
“Go,” he shouted over his shoulder, and darted off the road about ten yards into the woods, where he stopped and looked back.
Louise was gone, and the blue Taurus had pulled over to the side of the road and two men were getting out. The same two from outside his hotel at Baghdad. It was perfect.
FIFTY-FIVE
Kangas and Mustapha stood at the edge of the road looking down the hill into the denser woods. The rising sun was in their eyes, but they knew that McGarvey had to be somewhere close, they’d seen him jumping out of the Toyota.
“There,” Mustapha said suddenly, and Kangas looked where his partner was pointing in time to see McGarvey disappearing farther