Bound to Die by Brian Lutterman

Author:Brian Lutterman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salvo Press
Published: 2013-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Jim Traeger risked another discreet glance at his watch. He was already five minutes late for the meeting. He willed himself not to finger the capsule in his pocket, as he had been doing for a week.

He could wait no longer. He stood up, straightened his tie, and walked out of his office, down the corridor to the Roosevelt Room. Everyone else was already there. Meetings in the Harris Administration usually started on time, mostly because of the insistence of Jim Traeger. Vice President Norman Whitelaw was already in the room, along with Amy Burke, pollster Roger Clayton, and various other speechwriters and aides. Traeger nodded to the group and took a seat near Whitelaw. Amy was chairing the meeting. “We were just talking about themes, Jim,” she said. “The millennium thing’s past and has been done to death, but it’s hard to see how we can avoid it.”

“We can work it in without making it the main theme,” Roger Clayton contended.

Norman Whitelaw listened with interest. Ideally, he wanted the theme of the President’s State of the Union address, still months away, to coincide with his own campaign theme.

The meeting went on for more than an hour until Amy called for a break. Traeger stood up but didn’t leave the room. He eyed Whitelaw’s coffee cup and glanced around. Two people remained in the room, but were preoccupied with an animated discussion. Traeger, shielding the table with his body, reached for his own coffee cup, which he would switch with the Vice President’s. He had already emptied the capsule into his own cup.

“Mr. Traeger?”

Traeger’s head jerked up. An aide stood in the doorway.

“The President would like to see you, sir.”

Traeger felt panicky. This might be his last chance. He was set to resign Monday; today was Friday. But he couldn’t switch the cups now. And there was no question of his not answering the President’s summons.

Traeger forced a smile. “Be right there.”

The aide did not leave. Traeger hesitated, grabbed his coffee cup and left for the Oval Office.

●

Outside the Starbucks coffee shop in Rockville, angry clouds had given way to white, diffused sunshine. Jaworski munched on a large muffin. “No donuts and two bucks for coffee,” he muttered. “This is no place for a cop.”

“But they’re playing Mozart,” Tori said. “Look, I’m sorry I got angry with you last time.”

Jaworski looked relieved. “I’m sorry, too. I’m glad you called.”

“So what have you been up to?”

“I took a little trip. To Texas. And then to Denver.” The detective studied her reaction. “Some interesting things happened there.” He sipped from his coffee. “I’m going to tell you everything.”

“All right.”

“No, I mean everything. Starting seven years ago. Normally cops don’t have to explain themselves. They ask the questions, and the citizen cooperates. Except in this case, you’re not cooperating.”

Tori started to protest, but Jaworski cut her off. “I know. I should know better than anybody why you don’t trust me. Your caution is justified; I’ve behaved like a jackass, not a professional. And, this case stinks to high heaven.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.