come down, I don’t know.”
“Why do you suppose they didn’t take down the entire building?”
“Too much time, too many materials to get. Too much risk of getting caught.” They both gazed at the candlestick and napkin rings, then Sean swept it all aside into a meaningless jumble. “The official line is that it’s the Middle East. I don’t buy it for a minute. They’re more of a smash-and-grab type. Fly a plane into the building, use a truck bomb, something like that,” he said. “This took time. They needed to get materials in and get everything set up without making people suspicious.”
“Perhaps it was a mole?”
“Someone got on the maintenance staff, I’m thinking. Set up a false identity, get inside. Who would notice? The people who work there wouldn’t pay attention. Security’s too busy with the front door. The mole pulls a disappearing act, sets the charge off remotely, and if he’s never found they’ll just say that nice Mr. Janitor was in the wrong part of the building at the wrong time and got vaporized.” He picked up a napkin ring, spun it on one finger like an oversize wedding band. “So that, as far as I can tell, is how. Now the only question is who.”
“Who indeed,” Robert said. He poured himself more coffee. “And you’re right. It’s not the Mid-East. This one’s home-grown.”
“Are you sure? Most of those groups are too mom-and-pop for something like this. Shooting abortion doctors or burning a synagogue is the worst they get. Plus, even if they do pull something off, like McVeigh, they get caught in what was it? Hours?”
“In the past, yes. But there’s been no chatter from overseas, not a bit. And there’s been new stateside groups coming together since we retired. Most, as you say, strictly amateur. But one or two are smart and stealthy. A bad combination.”
“So why aren’t the Bureau or an ops team going after them?”
“Because the only ones in greater denial than the ordinary citizens are the people at the top. It doesn’t reflect well on Homeland Security if it’s found to be fellow Americans who did this. It’s safer politically to blame the Arabs. Even if they didn’t do it.”
“Bombing Afghanistan into the Stone Age won’t hurt anyone’s re-election chances.”
“Precisely.”
Sean sighed, stared down into the black coffee as though it were a scrying mirror. Politics. That was all it was. He wondered if it had always been that way. He hadn’t thought so, back in the early days. Had the world changed or had he? “Well,” he said, “At least I don’t have to worry about a passport. Can you tell me more?”
“I’ll tell you what I know,” Robert replied.
* * *
R obert had said he was welcome to stay another night, but he declined. For all Robert’s assurances, Sean did not want to put him at risk for any trouble. But he mentioned none of this, and instead lightheartedly said, “I should hit the road. Miles to go before I sleep and all that. Thank you,” he said, shaking Robert’s hand. “And good luck.”
“Good luck to you as well. And thank you for coming by.”
He turned and was halfway down the walk when Robert said, “Sean, wait.” They stood in the late-winter early-spring gloom, a few errant snowflakes landing on their hair and shoulders.
“I have to ask, much as I don’t want to,” Robert said. “Are you sure your girl, this Jennifer ... Are you sure she wants this?”
Sean was nonplused. Barring a saint or two — and he seriously doubted saints existed, God knew he had never met one — who wouldn’t want such an opportunity for vengeance? “Yes, as sure as I can be.”
Robert looked him over, a careful scrutiny that Sean had not felt in years. “I hope so. Because all day I’ve been feeling uneasy about this.”
“What’s wrong with the plan? I can change things, it’s not carved in stone.”
Robert shook his head. “No, the plan itself is good. It’s the whole idea. Something does not
“Why do you suppose they didn’t take down the entire building?”
“Too much time, too many materials to get. Too much risk of getting caught.” They both gazed at the candlestick and napkin rings, then Sean swept it all aside into a meaningless jumble. “The official line is that it’s the Middle East. I don’t buy it for a minute. They’re more of a smash-and-grab type. Fly a plane into the building, use a truck bomb, something like that,” he said. “This took time. They needed to get materials in and get everything set up without making people suspicious.”
“Perhaps it was a mole?”
“Someone got on the maintenance staff, I’m thinking. Set up a false identity, get inside. Who would notice? The people who work there wouldn’t pay attention. Security’s too busy with the front door. The mole pulls a disappearing act, sets the charge off remotely, and if he’s never found they’ll just say that nice Mr. Janitor was in the wrong part of the building at the wrong time and got vaporized.” He picked up a napkin ring, spun it on one finger like an oversize wedding band. “So that, as far as I can tell, is how. Now the only question is who.”
“Who indeed,” Robert said. He poured himself more coffee. “And you’re right. It’s not the Mid-East. This one’s home-grown.”
“Are you sure? Most of those groups are too mom-and-pop for something like this. Shooting abortion doctors or burning a synagogue is the worst they get. Plus, even if they do pull something off, like McVeigh, they get caught in what was it? Hours?”
“In the past, yes. But there’s been no chatter from overseas, not a bit. And there’s been new stateside groups coming together since we retired. Most, as you say, strictly amateur. But one or two are smart and stealthy. A bad combination.”
“So why aren’t the Bureau or an ops team going after them?”
“Because the only ones in greater denial than the ordinary citizens are the people at the top. It doesn’t reflect well on Homeland Security if it’s found to be fellow Americans who did this. It’s safer politically to blame the Arabs. Even if they didn’t do it.”
“Bombing Afghanistan into the Stone Age won’t hurt anyone’s re-election chances.”
“Precisely.”
Sean sighed, stared down into the black coffee as though it were a scrying mirror. Politics. That was all it was. He wondered if it had always been that way. He hadn’t thought so, back in the early days. Had the world changed or had he? “Well,” he said, “At least I don’t have to worry about a passport. Can you tell me more?”
“I’ll tell you what I know,” Robert replied.
* * *
R obert had said he was welcome to stay another night, but he declined. For all Robert’s assurances, Sean did not want to put him at risk for any trouble. But he mentioned none of this, and instead lightheartedly said, “I should hit the road. Miles to go before I sleep and all that. Thank you,” he said, shaking Robert’s hand. “And good luck.”
“Good luck to you as well. And thank you for coming by.”
He turned and was halfway down the walk when Robert said, “Sean, wait.” They stood in the late-winter early-spring gloom, a few errant snowflakes landing on their hair and shoulders.
“I have to ask, much as I don’t want to,” Robert said. “Are you sure your girl, this Jennifer ... Are you sure she wants this?”
Sean was nonplused. Barring a saint or two — and he seriously doubted saints existed, God knew he had never met one — who wouldn’t want such an opportunity for vengeance? “Yes, as sure as I can be.”
Robert looked him over, a careful scrutiny that Sean had not felt in years. “I hope so. Because all day I’ve been feeling uneasy about this.”
“What’s wrong with the plan? I can change things, it’s not carved in stone.”
Robert shook his head. “No, the plan itself is good. It’s the whole idea. Something does not
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