“Oh, yes, it’s just like the Ritz. And no one even asked me to put out.”
She grinned but couldn’t hold the pose. Her smile crumpled. She put her hands into her ragged hair and pulled it away from her eyes. She looked up at Joe. His expression was cool. But still, she could read that he felt sorry for her. That he still cared.
“I look terrible, I know. I never wanted you to see me like this. How are you, Joseph? What’s it like for you now?”
“I’d like to say it’s like nothing ever happened, but there’s been fallout, of course. Professional and personal.”
“You want to talk about it?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“I understand. But to the point of all this, Joseph,” she said, making a gesture with her hand that took in all twenty square feet of her cell. “I have to get out of here.”
“I know.”
“I’ve answered all their questions. I’ve been tortured, Joe. I’m not holding anything back. They’re not giving me anything off for my time and service in the Agency. They just keep hammering me with the same questions, and I’ve told them I don’t know anything more.”
“OK. Well, they’re not convinced, I guess.”
“But you can help me. You can speak for me. You know what I’ve done and what I’ve sacrificed.”
“I’m not considered a clean source on you, Ali.”
“Joe, please, please. I’ve got kids. I have more to give to the Agency. I’m a valuable person. You can save me, Joe. I know you can save me.”
“Is there anything you can tell me that I can pass on?”
“I’ve given up everything.”
“I was told we only had five minutes,” he said.
“Will you be back?”
“I don’t know.”
He patted her hands and left her.
CHAPTER 102
SECRET AGENT MAN was at the bars of her stone cage at what seemed to be his usual time. Alison noticed that he was dressed as was his style, in a khaki-colored jacket with a white shirt, a blue-striped tie, and a pair of dun-colored pants. His hair was neatly combed and he was clean-shaven. But he hadn’t brought her fresh paper jumpsuit and the boxed meal, her only food for the day.
He said, “Ms. Muller. My name is Anderson.”
“First or last?”
“Just Anderson,” he said. “We have to clean your cell. And I thought maybe you’d like a hot shower before we bring you back.”
“Are you kidding?”
The idea of standing under hot water was just tremendous. “Not at all. I have a Taser,” he said. “Need I say any more?”
“No. I’ll behave. Where would I go, anyway?”
“Exactly,” said Anderson.
Alison thought Joe had arranged this. At least he had done this much. Maybe this shower was incentive for her to be more cooperative. Maybe that would work.
Anderson opened the cell door and stepped away, out of Alison’s reach. He patted the waistband of his pants under his jacket so that she could see the bulge of the Taser gun.
“Straight ahead, Ms. Muller. You’ll see an opening on your left at the end of the corridor. There’s a short flight of stairs, and the staff bathroom is up there. There’s soap and shampoo and a clean towel on a hook. Your dinner is being prepared now. Pork loin and boiled new potatoes. Chocolate brownies.”
“Wow,” Alison said, giving him a big grin. “Must be my birthday.”
She had walked about ten paces down the hallway when Anderson fired a .44-caliber bullet into the back of her skull. He fired again into her back as she fell. He stooped next to her, flipped his tie over his shoulder, and felt for a pulse.
There was none.
He sighed. Then he walked around her body on his way to the office to make his report.
CHAPTER 103
I WAS HAVING a dinner party. This was the first time in maybe a year since I’d had people over, and I was up for it. Julie was in a sparkly party dress, and she had a new word.
“Mommy.”
It was the best word in every language all over the world.
Mrs. Rose had spent the day helping me cook, and my buds were all in my house: Claire and her adorable husband, Edmund. Yuki and my boss and idol, Jackson Brady. Richie and Cindy, of course, and Jacobi had come with a date.
Her name was Miranda and she played “Dora” on a daytime TV show I had never seen, but Mrs. Rose had almost fainted when Miranda walked in the door.
We were all having cocktails. Mrs. Rose had refused the invitation to be my date. She had a new grandchild and was glad to get out of my house.
I gave her a hug and a check and she patted my arm and said, “Have fun. I’ll be here in the morning.”
Brady came into the open kitchen looking for the corkscrew. He opened a bottle of wine and said, “Whatever is cooking is making me slobber.”
I laughed. “Ten more minutes. That’s all. Just ten.”
Yuki followed Brady in, put her arms around his waist, and kissed his back. God, it had been a long time coming, but these two were just made for each other.
“Do you need help with the salad dressing?” she asked me.