ECLIPSE by Richard North Patterson

Author:Richard North Patterson [Patterson, Richard]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Richard North Patterson
ISBN: 9780805087727
Publisher: 1/2009.
Published: 2009-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

6

THAT NIGHT, PIERCE AND RACHEL RAHV SAT ON THE PATIO OF THE hotel bar, sipping brandy and gazing at the empty pool. They had spent several hours preparing for Van Daan; now it was eleven o’clock and, except for the palm trees, humid air, and desperate lack of sleep, they could have been two lawyers in America.

“Sounds like you did pretty well with Gladstone,” Rachel said. “Van Daan wasn’t his hire but Ajukwa’s. Together, Okimbo and Van Daan cut Hill out of the loop. From there on—assuming you believe Gladstone—Van Daan controlled the relationship with Okimbo. He paid Okimbo, helped Okimbo bribe Okari’s lieutenants, and bought Okimbo’s soldiers the weapons used to wipe out Goro.” She took a quick hit of brandy. “PGL’s in trouble. By Gladstone’s own account, he knew zip about what was going on. He ignored Hill’s warning about Lana. He doesn’t even know if Van Daan was at Goro. Now Van Daan is ‘monitoring’ Okari’s prosecution. Pathetic.”

Pierce contemplated the yellow half-moon. “Unless Gladstone is lying. He’s surely guessed more than he’s saying; I’d say he’s pretty sure about what happened in Goro. But he doesn’t want to know, and probably couldn’t. From PGL’s standpoint, that’s not good, but it’s a hell of a lot better than knowing about the massacre.” Pierce put down his brandy. “Here’s the problem, Rache—according to Gladstone, Van Daan is maybe the only man who does know. Think he’s going to help us?”

“Nope. Right now, Hamilton’s got him in a room, going over exactly what Gladstone said. Without expressly saying so, Hamilton is telling him what we know, what we don’t know, and what it’s safe to lie about.” Rachel paused, flicking back her raven hair. “About Hill, seems like Hamilton is jerking us around.”

“Of course. My guess is that he’d be just as happy if Hill’s plane crashed on the way back from Saudi Arabia. Though it’s not clear how much Hill could know.”

“What about the payments to Okimbo? It’s funny to me that Van Daan ships Okimbo weapons before Asari Day but doesn’t make his monthly payment. Seems like Okimbo would double-bill for a massacre.”

Briefly, Pierce laughed. “That’s why I love you, Rachel—you’ve got a lawyer’s view of human nature. Of course, your kids are screwed.”

“Warped for life. What do you make of Ajukwa’s role as Van Daan’s godfather?”

Pierce shrugged. “Maybe it’s nothing, another piece of Luandian weird-ness. But it’s interesting that Ajukwa may own freighters used to transport bunkered oil, and then tells Hill that bunkering is hard to get at. Kind of makes you wonder about Van Daan. But we’ll probably never know how that relates to Bobby.”

Rachel finished her drink. “Oh, well,” she said. “Bedtime in Luandia.”

“How are you liking it?”

“The drive from the airport was memorable,” she answered dryly. “Other than that, all I’ve seen is this fucking hotel.”

Once again, Pierce thought of Marissa. “Safer that way,” he answered.

BEFORE GOING TO bed, Pierce checked his e-mail. He opened the one from Bara, expecting to find an account of his and Marissa’s efforts to turn up leads for Bobby’s defense.

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