but he might be right too.
“Look, Dara,” Mac said, sitting down. “Connolly’s deeply involved and that son of a bitch is going down. But we need to have an open mind that there could be someone higher up the food chain.”
“Like who?”
Mac sat back on the couch and crossed his right leg over his left, “How about the person who never got out of the limousine?”
Wire looked at him skeptically.
“Tell me again about when the limousine arrived,” Mac asked.
Wire sighed with disgust but then stopped abruptly and sat back into her chair. She closed her eyes and thought back to when the limousine arrived. “I was on the north side of the cabin at that point.”
“So that limo was the last to arrive, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. A man came running out of the house and opened the door for him.”
“The man who came to the car, tell me about him.”
“He was part of the security detail.”
“Was he just one of the guy’s or was he in charge?”
Wire nodded, “I think he was in charge. I’d seen him giving orders earlier.”
“Okay, so the man in charge of security came out and opened the door for the limousine.”
“Yes.”
“But the man didn’t get out. His leg was out, on the ground, as if he was going to get out, but he didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Wire stood up and walked to the hallway entry way into the hotel room. She stood at the end of the hallway, against the wall and looked back into the room at Mac, just as if she was looking around the northwest corner of the cabin on Wednesday night. She got down on one knee and held her hands up as if she were holding a camera. “The door was open. Then I saw a leg and I was snapping a photo and then I heard someone yell ‘there’s someone up there.’”
“In the direction of where Stroudt and Montgomery were up in those trees, right?” Mac asked.
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“Shots were fired.”
“Right away?”
Wire closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. She was replaying Wednesday night in her head and the sequence of events. She opened her eyes and smiled at Mac, “No, the shots weren’t right away, there was a delay. Not a long one but there was a delay.”
“The delay was perhaps because someone had to give that order, right?” Mac asked, leading her.
Wire hesitated and then a look of understanding appeared on her face, “Right. The security man looked down into the car,” she closed her eyes again. “He said something to the man and then he …”
“… Gave the order,” Mac finished.
“Yes. The order came from the limo and then the man yelled: ‘Don’t let them get away.’” Wire nodded and looked at Mac, a creased smile on her face. “That could be the case. You could be right.” She stood up and walked back to the couch and sat down. “Of course, it’s too bad you won’t be in the interview to ask Connolly about it.”
Mac shrugged. “I’m not worried about it,” he answered as he opened a Diet Coke. “There is a good reason not to be in this interview.”
“What’s that?”
“Connolly’s not going to talk—not yet.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
“God help him if he is.”
“Iowa, I need you to help me bring about the kinds of changes our country needs, good schools, a fair wage and a clean environment. Only with your help and your votes can we make that happen. You’ve seen what’s happening in our country, you’ve seen what these Super PACs are doing with this negative advertising, telling these lies. You’ve seen that someone out there is conspiring to steal your vote, manipulating voting machines.” Thomson pounded the podium, “Are you going to let them?”
“Noooo!” the crowd of 17,000 in Des Moines Wells Fargo Arena roared.
“Are you going to let them!” Thomson implored again.
“Nooooooooo!” the crowd screamed louder.
“I can’t hear you,” the governor encouraged, holding his hand to his ear.
“Nooooooooooooooooo!”
“I didn’t think so,” Thomson growled back, exhorting the crowd with his right fist, the combative wrestler showing through. “If the day’s events have taught us anything, anything at all, it is we can’t take this for granted, folks. We can’t. We can’t afford it. There is simply too much riding on this, our economy, health care, education and our environment. My friends, get out and vote on Tuesday. Get your friends and family out to vote. Protect your rights and let’s take back the White House, Iowa! Thank you!”
The crowd screamed its approval as Bruce Springsteen’s