Ginger snaps, p.38
Ginger Snaps, page 38
it’s despicable. I even thought about walking away from the contract,
leaving you alone or maybe even kidnapping you and taking you back
to Brazil. Could be fun, don’t you think? But Jack, if I did that, my
boss would send somebody to kill us both. Besides, a girl’s got to make
a living, and I have a reputation to maintain.” She gave me a forlorn
smile and said, “Sorry, Jack. I hope you can understand.”
She kissed me on the cheek, stood back up, and slowly began to
back away. I was beyond any reaction, oddly frozen in the moment.
“Most of the people I kill deserve to die, but you don’t. You knew
I’d be back, and you forged ahead anyway. You’ve got guts, and we
might have . . . but . . ." She paused, closing her lips and I braced
myself. She reached into the small bag. She could hardly miss.
I don’t know what happened first, hearing the explosion or seeing
Moira drop to the ground in a heap. Her blood flew everywhere. I
tried to wipe it off my hands and face, but I couldn’t escape it. I saw
Clovis, as if in slow motion, walk slowly toward her body, his gun still
held warily in both hands.
“I hoped you’d show up. I . . . well, thanks.” I hadn’t moved from
my seat against the tree. I seemed to be glued to it. My brain seemed
stuck as well. After removing the gun from her hand and checking her
pulse, or lack thereof, he sunk down beside me, handing me a hand-
kerchief. Paul was off in the distance holding off a growing number
of onlookers.
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“You okay? let’s sit here for a few minutes. The park’s a busy place
today. Martin’s holding the two guys who were supposed to keep me
out of the way until she killed you. She wanted me to die knowing
I’d failed to protect you. But I don’t get fooled twice very often. And
don’t you be fooled, Jack. All that talk of hers was just that, talk. She
was always going to kill you. You, me, then Micki and Debbie.”
“What if you had missed?”
“I don’t miss.” He wasn’t laughing. In fact, I thought he might be
a little shaky himself. “Besides, Paul had her in his sights the whole
time. She was never going to squeeze that trigger a second time. I
have to admit we didn’t plan for a second assassin—that guy was a
surprise. Guess we owe Moira for handling him so efficiently.”
“Yeah, right, you go ahead and thank her, not me. I’ve had enough
of her. How’d you know I’d want to come here?”
“You’ve told me a lot about Angie over the last year or so, how much
this park meant to the two of you. Didn’t take a law degree to know
you’d need a little time to wind down. Where else but here? Martin,
Paul, and I have spent a good portion of the last few days trying to
figure out what to do about Moira. Good thing you’re so predictable.”
Finally able to laugh, he eased up the tree to his feet and called
Sam. The adrenaline had kicked in, and I was trying hard not to
shake. He offered me a hand up, and we stood leaning against the big
oak, waiting for the police to arrive. Neither of us said another word;
we didn’t need to.
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60
D
Sam and the little Rock Police wheeled into the park, sirens blazing,
and took charge. Clovis gave him a brief version of what happened,
and Sam suggested we return to Micki’s. He put a firm hand to my
shoulder, walked me to the Tahoe, and told me to get some sleep. I
guess he could tell I was pretty much done in. Clovis called Micki to
give her a quick rundown of what had happened. I dreaded having to
retell the story a hundred times when I got to her place.
When we pulled into the drive, I was surprised to find a celebration
already in full gear. Apparently my attempted murder hadn’t put a
damper on the evening. Micki looked almost like her old self. I asked
if she felt well enough to take over Doug’s defense. The wheels of real
justice had been set in motion, and it was time to get Doug out of jail.
eyes alight, she responded, “You bet—I’m back!”
I found Walter engaged in deep conversation with liz. I was a little
surprised to see her laughing and in such good spirits, but glad to see
she’d dropped her alternate personality. I cautioned them it would be
a long tough fight before we got our hands on Doug’s research.
liz giggled a little. “oh, Jack, don’t be a wet blanket—we won! And
admit it: I bet you think I was crazy to spend any time or money on
Doug’s cars.”
“of course not. I looked at them myself. Both engines run just fine,
and the Healy’s in great shape.” liz smiled broadly and Walter gazed
at the ceiling, whistling a little tune. “Wait a minute—what?”
“I don’t really care about the cars, silly. But I do care a lot about
two zip drives—one in each basin of the windshield wiper fluid, all
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packaged to stay nice and dry.” She reached into the pocket of her
jeans and handed one to me.
Walter was beside himself. “each drive contains all the information
on Doug’s computer: all his research, his patent applications, and the
latest recipe for his special spice.”
I gave a whoop and turned to liz. “You knew all . . ."
Walter interrupted me mid-sentence. “Wait, Jack, wait till you hear
the rest. There’s also a note from Doug—the computers hold only
part of his research and the spice recipe is missing key ingredients.
The government and Akron Drug may think they can stop us, but
what they have is worthless. The foundation will pay liz for these hard
drives and give Doug all the support he needs, even if we have to do
it in another country.”
liz kissed me on the cheek. “Doug will be working with you and the
foundation just like he used to work with Angie. It won’t ever be the
same without her, but he’ll be happy and so will I.”
overjoyed by our good fortune and Doug’s good sense, I gave her a
heartfelt hug and shook Walter’s hand vigorously. But the day’s events
had finally gotten the best of me. I just wanted to curl up in my bed
and sleep. I was out before my head hit the pillow. I understand the
celebration lasted far into the night.
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tHuRSdAy
May 8, 2014
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61
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over coffee the next morning, Maggie and Walter told me they
were flying back to DC that afternoon. For a moment, I thought about
joining them. I felt sure Akron’s lawyers would file an avalanche of
motions, making it next to impossible for Judge Houston to convene
court next Wednesday. Sam would be working night and day on the
mess I’d handed him. little Rock wasn’t home, hadn’t been for years.
But I wasn’t ready for DC yet, either. I knew both Sam and the Feds
would need a complete explanation of the two dead bodies in City
Park. Clovis came up with the perfect solution. We would do our civic
duty, then spend a long weekend at his fishing camp on the White
River. The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting. Just two
friends fishing, eating, drinking, and swapping stories.
Mr. Kim sat quietly in his office with a view of the White House.
once again Patterson had gotten the better of him. Cleaning up the
mess would be expensive and time-consuming, and it would be dif-
ficult to replace his two best assassins. A weaker man would order
quick and certain retaliation, but he had decided against it. His
organization didn’t need the scrutiny that would follow if Patterson
disappeared now; better to devote his attention to the client’s rehabil-
itation. Besides, he held no personal grudge against the man. Surely
Patterson realized that he had twice come very close to death; surely
he wouldn’t cross the organization again. If not, well, Mr. Kim would
be prepared.
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EpiloguE
D
Micki quickly worked out a deal with Fitzhugh to get Doug released
and the charges dropped. Doug had violated the law but, given the
government’s actions, Fitzhugh decided that prosecuting Doug would
do more damage than good to the much bigger issues facing Peggy
and Sam. When he was released from jail, Walter’s plane was waiting
to whisk him and liz away for two weeks at a house on Pawley’s Island
in South Carolina. They’d return in plenty of time for Doug to coop-
erate in the upcoming investigations.
Akron Drug went into full damage control mode. Within a matter
of days they landed a full crisis management team on the ground,
headed by a former deputy FBI director and the recently retired
White House Director of legislative Affairs. They chose to blame
everything on “rogue low-level employees.” Several officers, including
Thompson, quietly resigned, well protected by the legal team as well
as by handsome retirement benefits. Sam and Peggy are up against
Akron’s bottomless pocketbook and an army of lawyers and former
legislative aides. I still have my money on Sam and Peggy.
Dub posted bail and pulled strings to get admitted to the Betty Ford
Clinic. Facing probable charges of conspiracy to commit murder, he
is also all lawyered up, and refuses to talk. Rumor has it that Akron is
footing his legal bills. Bullock, however, has agreed to fully cooperate
with Peggy and Sam’s investigation. The other members of the task
force have tried to bury themselves in the woodwork.
White-collar criminal defense lawyers are in big demand once again
in DC, and a large number of high-ranking individuals in the U.S.
government have resigned in order to “spend more time with their
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families.” For a change, no one in Congress has called for an investiga-
tion. lobbyists for the drug companies are counseling all concerned
not to open a “can of worms.”
Cheryl’s ratings have gone through the roof. She has a fat new con-
tract and is milking the Akron Drug scandal for all it’s worth. I have
refused to appear on her show despite her pleas that I owe her.
Micki reports that Debbie and Paul are constant companions. They
jog together, and she’s teaching him how to cook. I had dinner with
Sam and Peggy last week at othello’s, off DuPont Circle. It’s clear they
enjoy working together. For once, Peggy didn’t ask when I was going to
take her to dinner.
I stepped down as president of the foundation. No surprise. I told
Walter and Maggie we needed someone who knew the world of medical
research and could help Doug take his work to the next level and beyond.
The reality, finally faced, is that I’m a lawyer first and last and belong in
a courtroom. I’d prefer fewer attempts on my life, but I enjoy the rest.
Walter insisted I remain on the board and I have a nice advisory con-
tract with the foundation. My law office is still located in the foundation’s
headquarters. I can’t afford to lose Maggie, and she feels the same way.
Doug and I had a long talk about Angie’s involvement in his
research. He wants her to be given equal credit for their discoveries.
He told me that she was intimately involved before she got so sick,
but didn’t want me to know. She told him that I would make her quit
because of her legal exposure. Again, I wish she had asked, but then
again, she was probably right.
The foundation held a retreat at the Cloisters on Sea Island in
Georgia. Angie and I had enjoyed a couple of beach trips there when
Beth was a child; now it’s gated and very, very swanky. Too bad.
Doug and the new president of the foundation, Dr. Rohit Catlett,
gave us an overview of their plans for his research. liz didn’t attend.
The retreat conflicted with a two-week wellness session in Peru with
her “balancing guru.” only Doug missed her presence.
I asked the board to consider a project that had been rumbling
around in my brain since little Rock. To a certain extent Novak had
come out smelling like a rose, a result I couldn’t let go. on a hunch, I
asked Clovis to research Moira’s background. It turned out she came
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w e b b h u b b e l l
to the U.S. when she was just twelve years old, lured by Novak’s orga-
nization. I said it was a hunch, but it wasn’t really. Just before we left
the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas, Novak had confirmed that Moira had once
worked for him. I remembered Debbie’s words: “It takes one to know
one.” Moreover, I thought I had noticed a brand when Moira and I
were otherwise engaged.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Novak didn’t tape his conver-
sations out of some sense of altruism, or a desire to save my life. He
did it to protect his own ass. He knew I would use the tapes to stop
Dub and whoever was trying to frame him.
He also had good reason to think Moira would complete her con-
tract to eliminate Micki and me, leaving him free to lure Debbie back.
of course, I have no proof of that, but I do know that Novak is ruthless
and morally bankrupt, not some sort of good Samaritan.
UNICeF estimates that more than two million children are exploited
yearly in the sex industry. Debbie, and to some extent Moira, brought
this atrocity home to me. Debbie’s experience wasn’t the exception, it
is the norm. The recruitment of young girls, the drugs, the branding,
and the torture—it’s all real—not in some far-off place with a name you
can’t pronounce, but right here in America’s cities and towns. I wanted
our foundation to contribute towards the efforts already underway to
bring this unconscionable activity to the light of day and to help pursue
justice for its victims. The board unanimously approved my proposal.
Not surprisingly, Walter insisted that we double the funds I requested.
Maggie had encouraged Stella to join us at the retreat, thinking,
I’m sure, that we might click. She had that matchmaker look about
her. But for once Maggie misread the signals. Clovis had already fallen
for her, and she had eyes for no one but him. You could have knocked
both Maggie and me over with a feather. Then again, Clovis was the
only man I knew who could toss tires with her.
Micki and eric seem to have worked out their issues, although every
now and then Sam reports that Micki has gone on the warpath about
something. I’m beginning to believe she just enjoys the make-up sex.
Who knows with Micki?
As for me, I’m on my way to vermont to see that schoolteacher,
Marion South. Maggie’s right; I haven’t tried hard enough.
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Unknown, Ginger Snaps
