On the Fifth Day by A. J. Hartley Page B
Authors: A. J. Hartley
Tags: Fiction, thriller, Thrillers, Fiction - Espionage, American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +
Ads: Link
is going on over there--in Manila, I mean, though I guess I mean in Washing
ton too--but I'll find out and you'll hear from me. In the meantime, do nothing that would arouse anyone's suspicion. Leave the detective work to the authorities. And to me."
"Thank you, Senator," said Thomas, tasting his drink. "Do you mind my asking how the two of you met up in the first place? My brother and you, I mean."
Devlin seemed to hesitate for a moment as if trying to re
member, but Thomas thought Hayes shot him a quick look, and he wondered if something passed between them. A warn
ing? A caution? Something. Whatever it was, it reminded him that for all the senator's bluff camaraderie, the man was a ca
reer politician. Such men didn't get where they were by al
ways speaking their mind, even if he had mastered the illusion of doing exactly that.
"He approached me about a year ago," he said, his head cocked thoughtfully on one side. "He had ideas for a kind of faith-based organization: interdenominational, you under
stand. Local community leaders working together to address the causes of social problems in the city at the grassroots level. I liked the idea. I liked him, the way he thought. Smart, you know, but not too smart: concrete, not abstract. I can't be doing with a bunch of theory and high-concept nonsense that never puts bread on anyone's table . . ."
"Or lets them work for that bread themselves," said Thomas, arch again.
Devlin nodded emphatically, shrugging off the irony.
"God helps those who help themselves," he said.
"And you stayed in touch?" said Thomas, avoiding the ar
gument. "He saw you again after he got back from Italy."
There it was again: that momentary hesitation on Devlin's 47
O n t h e F i f t h D a y
part and the watchful tension that seemed to bind Hayes for a moment.
"Yes," said the senator. "I wanted him involved on a local school board. He had the experience. Would have been good for the job. But he was committed to parish work and the book he was writing. Couldn't spare the time. I was disappointed, of course, but I respected his position."
"And afterward? Did you speak again before he went to the Philippines?"
"Is there something you are driving at, Mr. Knight?" said the senator with that same wolfish grin. "I'm starting to feel like I'm being interrogated."
"I'm just curious," said Thomas, pulling back. "Trying to fill in the blanks. We weren't close, as I said, and . . . Well, I guess I'm just trying to find out what he was doing out there in the first place."
The senator perched on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, looming over Thomas, and giving him a cool and studying gaze.
"You're afraid that there might be something to this terror
ist talk," he said. "You are feeling guilty for losing touch with your brother and you are anxious that he really might have strayed from the path, become a traitor to his country."
Thomas said nothing, not absolutely sure what he thought of this pronouncement, but wilting a little under the senator's level stare. Devlin spoke the next words with slow precision.
"Put. It. Out. Of. Your. Mind."
Thomas nodded.
"Your brother was no terrorist. This will all blow over. Re
member Ed for what he was, not for what a few misguided bu
reaucrats think he might have been. Everyone is afraid these days: scared of their own shadows. They see terrorists and their sympathizers everywhere. Ed wasn't one of them. You know that."
Thomas nodded, wondering if he shared the senator's con
viction. They shared so little else.
CHAPTER 11
Thomas missed the city. As a younger man he had spent a lot of time there, but with home and work keeping him to the tamer environs of Evanston he came downtown rarely now. He liked Chicago's erratic, gray vastness, its bare trees and the wind rippling in over the lake. He headed down to the shore, thinking about Ed and wondering what he would do with his life when all this blew over. He was at Lincoln Park Zoo before he realized
ton too--but I'll find out and you'll hear from me. In the meantime, do nothing that would arouse anyone's suspicion. Leave the detective work to the authorities. And to me."
"Thank you, Senator," said Thomas, tasting his drink. "Do you mind my asking how the two of you met up in the first place? My brother and you, I mean."
Devlin seemed to hesitate for a moment as if trying to re
member, but Thomas thought Hayes shot him a quick look, and he wondered if something passed between them. A warn
ing? A caution? Something. Whatever it was, it reminded him that for all the senator's bluff camaraderie, the man was a ca
reer politician. Such men didn't get where they were by al
ways speaking their mind, even if he had mastered the illusion of doing exactly that.
"He approached me about a year ago," he said, his head cocked thoughtfully on one side. "He had ideas for a kind of faith-based organization: interdenominational, you under
stand. Local community leaders working together to address the causes of social problems in the city at the grassroots level. I liked the idea. I liked him, the way he thought. Smart, you know, but not too smart: concrete, not abstract. I can't be doing with a bunch of theory and high-concept nonsense that never puts bread on anyone's table . . ."
"Or lets them work for that bread themselves," said Thomas, arch again.
Devlin nodded emphatically, shrugging off the irony.
"God helps those who help themselves," he said.
"And you stayed in touch?" said Thomas, avoiding the ar
gument. "He saw you again after he got back from Italy."
There it was again: that momentary hesitation on Devlin's 47
O n t h e F i f t h D a y
part and the watchful tension that seemed to bind Hayes for a moment.
"Yes," said the senator. "I wanted him involved on a local school board. He had the experience. Would have been good for the job. But he was committed to parish work and the book he was writing. Couldn't spare the time. I was disappointed, of course, but I respected his position."
"And afterward? Did you speak again before he went to the Philippines?"
"Is there something you are driving at, Mr. Knight?" said the senator with that same wolfish grin. "I'm starting to feel like I'm being interrogated."
"I'm just curious," said Thomas, pulling back. "Trying to fill in the blanks. We weren't close, as I said, and . . . Well, I guess I'm just trying to find out what he was doing out there in the first place."
The senator perched on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, looming over Thomas, and giving him a cool and studying gaze.
"You're afraid that there might be something to this terror
ist talk," he said. "You are feeling guilty for losing touch with your brother and you are anxious that he really might have strayed from the path, become a traitor to his country."
Thomas said nothing, not absolutely sure what he thought of this pronouncement, but wilting a little under the senator's level stare. Devlin spoke the next words with slow precision.
"Put. It. Out. Of. Your. Mind."
Thomas nodded.
"Your brother was no terrorist. This will all blow over. Re
member Ed for what he was, not for what a few misguided bu
reaucrats think he might have been. Everyone is afraid these days: scared of their own shadows. They see terrorists and their sympathizers everywhere. Ed wasn't one of them. You know that."
Thomas nodded, wondering if he shared the senator's con
viction. They shared so little else.
CHAPTER 11
Thomas missed the city. As a younger man he had spent a lot of time there, but with home and work keeping him to the tamer environs of Evanston he came downtown rarely now. He liked Chicago's erratic, gray vastness, its bare trees and the wind rippling in over the lake. He headed down to the shore, thinking about Ed and wondering what he would do with his life when all this blew over. He was at Lincoln Park Zoo before he realized
Similar Books
