The Zero Game

65

“You saw them?” Janos asked, holding his cell phone in one hand and gripping the steering wheel of the black sedan with the other. The morning traffic wasn’t bad, even for Washington, but at this point, even a moment’s delay was enough to get him raging. “How’d they look?” he demanded.

“They’re lost,” his associate said. “Harris could barely get a sentence out, and the girl…”

“Viv.”

“Angry little thing. You could see it in the air. She was ready to take his head off.”

“Did Harris say anything?”

“Nothing you don’t know.”

“But they were there?” Janos asked.

“Absolutely. Even went up to the boss’s office — not that it did them any good,” the man said.

“So you took care of everything?”

“Everything you asked.”

“And they believed it?”

“Even the Dinah stuff. Unlike Pasternak, I see things through to the end.”

“You’re a real hero,” Janos said wryly.

“Yeah, well… don’t forget to tell your boss that. Between the loans, the surgeries, and all my other debts…”

“I’m well aware of your financial situation. That’s why-”

“Don’t say it’s the money — screw money; it’s more than that. They asked for this. They did. The snubs… the shrug-offs… People think it goes unnoticed.”

“As I was saying, I completely sympathize. That’s why I approached you in the first place.”

“Good, because I didn’t want you to think every lobbyist is in it for the cash. That’s a hurtful stereotype.”

Janos was silent. In many ways, his colleague was no different from the shiny sedan he was driving — overhyped and barely adequate. But as he reasoned when he first picked out the car, some things are necessary to blend in in Washington. “Did they say where they were going next?” Janos asked.

“No, but I have an idea…”

“So do I,” Janos said, making a sharp right and pulling into the underground parking garage. “Nice to see you,” he called out as he waved to the security guard outside the employee lot. The guard threw a warm smile back.

“Are you where I said?” his colleague asked through the phone.

“Don’t worry where I am,” Janos shot back. “Just focus on Harris. If he calls back, we need you to keep your eyes and ears wide open.”

“Ears I can help you with,” Barry said, his scratchy voice raking through the phone. “It’s the eyes that’ve always been a bit of a problem.”