taking a drag off of his cigar. “That we do.”
“Has anyone actually talked to either of them?”
“I was on with Wire about ten minutes ago. She called to let me know Connolly was dead and that there were two other dead bodies, from one of which she and McRyan got some interesting information that she wasn’t yet at liberty to share, but it will be shocking when it comes to light.”
“And has Ms. Kennedy talked to McRyan?”
The Judge turned nodded towards Kennedy a hundred feet away, standing by herself in the hallway, talking on a cell phone.
“She looks rather animated,” the governor observed wryly.
Dixon guffawed, “Mac’s getting his ass chewed.”
* * *
“Jesus Christ, Mac, please, please, please tell me you weren’t in another shootout?” Sally demanded.
“Weeeelll,” Mac answered, “so we get to the Watergate to question Connolly and then there was a fire, followed by mass panic and one thing led to another and …”
“And you end up chasing a trained killer in the dark through the streets of Washington DC, streets you don’t know, I might add, and oh, let me guess, you didn’t even have a vest on?”
Mac’s head dropped. No, he didn’t have his vest on. His silence answered the question.
“Cripes, you could have gotten your head blown off.”
“Vest wouldn’t have done me much good if he hit me in the head,” Mac quipped back.
“Don’t be flip.”
“Sorry.”
“What are you, a magnet for these kinds of people?” Sally railed.
“I try not to be,” Mac answered. “But they do seem to gravitate to me.”
“Never mind,” Sally growled, equal parts angry and relieved. Mac was always going to run no holds barred into the fire, it was just his nature. Like the scorpion and the frog. “You’re okay? I mean, you’re not lying to me, you’re okay?”
“I’m fine really. Not a scratch on me, although my feet are wet from running through water leaking from fire hoses,” he quipped.
“This isn’t funny,” she cried.
Mac kicked himself for joking. “Sorry.”
“And Wire?”
“She’s fine too. We had each other’s backs.”
“That better be all you have.”
“Hey,” Mac snapped back.
“Sorry, sorry,” Sally replied immediately, wishing she could grab the words and put them back in her mouth. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.” She exhaled. “It’s just you’re tempting fate.”
Mac closed his eyes and nodded. “I know, Sally, but it’s kind of the job, you know.”
“I know.” He could hear her trying to get herself together on the other end of the line. He realized that as little sleep as he’d gotten in recent days, she was operating on less. She was exhilarated by the campaign, but the lack of rest was taking its toll and catching up to her. “I’m sorry I said that about Wire. I just … you know.”
“I know,” Mac answered. “I know you do. This is all almost over, the election, this investigation, everything. It’s almost over.” He reached the front of the Watergate and it was time to get back to work. “Listen, I gotta go.”
“Call me later again okay and please, please be careful.”
“I’ll do my best.” Mac hung up and exhaled a large breath.
“That went well,” Wire remarked with a little smile, having heard Mac’s end of the conversation on the walk back from Kristoff’s body. They’d been offered a ride but Mac needed the walk to let the adrenaline flow out of his body.
“Oh trust me, I’m not done paying for this yet,” Mac replied shaking his head. There would be another conversation, probably very heated, about this, about taking risks, about almost getting killed. Sally understood the job and knew the risks but it didn’t stop her from venting on occasion when things got hairy. But then Mac smiled and raised his eyebrows, “Of course, it’ll probably lead to some serious make-up sex so things aren’t all bad.”
“So you got that going for you,” Wire led.
“Which is nice,” Mac finished in his best Carl Spackler/Bill Murray voice.
Wire giggled.
They were now cleared to walk back into the Watergate building. Director Mitchell, Attorney General Gates and Agents Speck and Berman were waiting in the now empty lobby for the Watergate East complex. After the perfunctory “glad you’re both okays” were issued, Mac and Wire asked the director and attorney general to join them in an office in back of the Security Desk. Mac closed the door.
“What?” the attorney general asked.
“We know who the Bishop is,” Wire stated.
“Who?” the director and AG asked in unison.
“Christian Pope,” Mac replied.
“Wait a minute. Christian Pope?” Gates asked, completely gob smacked. “As