Agent X, стр. 53
Tears started down Kate’s face. She buried herself against his chest. “Who are you?”
“Haven’t you been listening? For better or worse, I’m a bricklayer.” Vail took out a handkerchief and handed it to her. “If it’s any consolation, since then—for the first time ever—I’ve kept the things I’ve made, all of them. I think I’m actually starting to like what I make.”
Kate gave him his handkerchief back and took his arm again. “And will I get to see them?”
“You’ll have to come to Chicago.”
“Uh-oh.”
“That’s right, Katie, there is an admission price.”
They started walking again. “I’m hungry.”
“I hope you’re speaking biblically.”
“I’m talking seafood, Vail, and as much of it as you can afford.”
“Well, aren’t you the demanding little fugitive?”
“If I were, I wouldn’t be dating a bricklayer pretending to be an FBI agent pretending to be a sculptor.”
“If I remember my time in the Bureau correctly, everybody was pretending to be an agent.”
“That’s the problem, no one pretends anymore.”
Kate put the key in the lock and turned around to face him, flattening her back against the door. “I had a very nice time tonight, Steven,” she said, her voice feigning a this-is-our-first-and-last-date rejection.
She had been relatively quiet during dinner. His flirting usually elicited playful banter from her, but tonight she’d been largely unresponsive, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. He even threw her a couple of lines she could have used to unload on him, but they didn’t seem to register. Vail guessed that it was the arrest and the charges pending against her. He knew she was grounded enough to understand that with the evidence they’d uncovered so far, she would never be formally charged and that complete freedom was not far away. But maybe being put in such a precarious position and having to be so dependent on him was causing her to finally understand why he had such disdain for the Bureau. The organization she’d given so much to had been unwilling to risk anything to help her.
But now maybe she was trying to tell him that she’d made some sort of decision. He hoped so.
“I’d like to see you again,” he said.
“The truth is, Steven, the last few days I’ve been spending all my time with women. If you know what I mean.”
“If that’s supposed to turn me off, you may want to take it in a different direction.”
“Let me put it another way—no, we can’t see each other again.”
“I think I should at least get a good-night handshake.”
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
“Come on, Katherine. How about I come in for a cup of coffee?”
“I don’t know, my roommate is a bit of a psychopath.” She whispered, “He’s in the building trades.”
Vail put his hands against the door on either side of her. “Have you two got something going on?” He leaned in and put his cheek against hers.
She nuzzled against the heat of his neck. “It’s complicated.”
“That sounds like a yes. Is he here now?”
“He’s very close by.”
He kissed her gently on the mouth. “How close?”
“Very, very close.”
“I say we chance it.”
“Well, that was an expensive dinner,” she said.
“I won’t stay any more than four or five hours.”
“You promise?”
“Certainly no later than spring.”
She turned around and opened the door. “Just coffee, right?”
They were inside and quickly dropped their coats where they stood. She threw herself against him and kissed him almost angrily.
He said, “For some reason I have a sudden taste for Girl Scout cookies, too.” He unzipped her dress, and she stepped out of it, then unbuttoned his shirt. “You’re sure there’s no chance of a handshake.”
She pulled at the end of his belt. “Absolutely not.”
25
The first gray light of morning seeped into the bedroom, but Vail had been awake for almost a half hour, sitting up, watching Kate sleep. Even the darkness couldn’t mask the remarkable balance of her features, which seemed to pulse in the low light. Her hair, though messed by Vail and sleep, had a provocative quality to it. A few strands streaked past her ear, a sheaf above it against the part, rising up and then tracing the contour of her head. More of it fell across her pillow, haloing her perfectly round cheekbones. In a flash he saw his next sculpture: a prone figure, vague, its sex barely discernible until the eye found the hair, displayed exactly like Kate’s was now.
As quietly as possible, he got up, taking his pillow. As he reached the bedroom door, he heard her pick up the telephone and, after pretending to dial, say, “Is this 911? Yes, I’d like to report a hit-and-run.”
“Luke could be here anytime.” He smiled.
She got up and pulled him back into bed. “I don’t care if he knows. I don’t care if anyone knows.”
He threw his pillow next to her. “Actually, I was worried about my reputation.”
Vail heard the door opening quietly and sat up on the couch. He had moved there just minutes before. The sound of keys jingling against one another on a ring told him it was Bursaw.
Bursaw walked into the living room and looked at Vail’s pillow and blanket on the sofa. He shook his head, smiling. “Don’t blame me. That restaurant has always worked for me. It’ll probably take Kate a while to adjust, what with being locked up with all those good-looking women and you not exactly leading-man material.”
“If you think the women in jail are good-looking, it’s no wonder that restaurant always works for you.”
Bursaw held up a paper bag. “See, that’s why I brought you fresh bagels, I know how cranky you get when you haven’t eaten in thirty or forty minutes.”
Kate came out of the bedroom tying her robe. “Hey, Luke.”
“Mmm, mmm, mmm. Now I see why you’re the most wanted woman in D.C.—even before you went over the wall.”
Kate laughed musically. “Somebody needs coffee awfully bad.” She held out her hand for the bag.
“Have you heard anything?” Vail asked him.
“Not a word. I drove by the off-site, and the marshals are still sitting on it.”
“Hopefully Kalix is making some progress—otherwise your sister’ll have to find a new place to live,” Vail said. “I’m going to get cleaned up.”
When Vail stepped out of the shower, he could smell the coffee. And he could hear Kate and Bursaw talking. Occasionally a short burst of her laughter reached him in the bedroom. Unable to make out what they were saying, he sat down on the bed for a while to listen to her laugh.
When he walked into the kitchen, he poured himself a cup of coffee. “You want me to toast a bagel for you, Steve?” she asked.
He tore one in half and said, “Thanks, this is fine.”
“So what do you think John’s chances are today?”
“I think they’re good, but you can’t go by me. I’m frequently wrong because of my overly optimistic attitude.”
“Actually, you’re rarely wrong, precisely because of your cynicism,” Bursaw said. “But I got a feeling this is turning around.”
Kate said, “Is there something else we should be doing? You know, in case John strikes out?”
“I guess I can start going through everything again,” Vail said.
She studied his face for a minute. “I don’t need you sitting around here reassuring me that everything is all right. If you want something reviewed, I’ll do it. You and Luke can make better use of your time looking for Sundra. Besides, watching you sit around here all day will drive me crazy.”
“You up for that, Luke?” Vail asked.
“Thanks, Kate. Now I’ll have to put up with him all day.”
Vail took a last swallow of coffee and said to Kate, “Don’t answer the door for anyone. If the phone rings, don’t answer it. If you need anything, call Luke’s cell.”
“Anything specific you want me to look for in the files?”
“Why don’t you take a look at all the moles they gave up that lead to you. There’s something rattling around in one of the subbasements of my brain telling me we’ve missed something. There’s got to be at least one mistake they made. Maybe something else that’ll expose Rellick.”