Assumed Identity

5

Wearing sneakers, jeans, and a short-sleeved blue shirt that he’d asked Holly to buy for him to replace his bloodstained shoes and clothing, Buchanan felt trapped in the wheelchair that a nurse insisted he keep sitting in while she wheeled him from the elevator and through the hospital’s crowded lobby to the main doors.

“I told you I can walk,” Buchanan said.

“Until you trip and fall and sue the hospital. Once you’re out those doors, you’re on your own. Meanwhile, you’re my responsibility.”

Through the doors, amid the din of street noises, Buchanan was forced to raise a hand to his eyes, the bright sun making him squint painfully.

The nurse helped him out of the wheelchair. “You said somebody was going to meet you?”

“Right,” Buchanan lied. He hadn’t seen Holly for quite a while and had no idea what had happened to her. Normally, he would have felt reprieved from being pestered by her questions, but at the moment, he felt nervous. Worried. The gun and the passport. He had to get them back. “I’ll just sit over on that bench. My friend ought to be here any minute.”

“Enjoy your day, Mr. Buchanan.”

“Lang.”

The nurse looked strangely at him as she took the chair away.

He wondered why.

Then he realized.

His skin prickled.

What’s happening to me?

The moment the nurse disappeared into the hospital, he stood. The reason he hadn’t wanted to be brought down in a wheelchair was that he didn’t want to leave the hospital before he had a chance to get to a pay phone.

Managing not to waver, he reentered the lobby and crossed toward a bank of telephones. His hand shook as he put coins in a slot. Thirty seconds later, he was talking to a contact officer.

“Where have you been?” the gruff voice demanded.

Keeping his own voice low, relieved that the phones on either side of him weren’t being used, taking care that he wouldn’t be overheard, Buchanan answered, “I’ve been in a hospital.”

“What?”

“A guy tried to mug me,” he lied. “I didn’t see him coming. I got stabbed from behind.”

“Good God. When you didn’t show up at the various rendezvous points this morning, we got worried. We’ve had a team waiting in case you’re in trouble.”

“I got lucky. The wound isn’t serious. Mostly, they kept me in the hospital for observation. With so many nurses coming in and out, I didn’t want to risk phoning this number, especially since the hospital would automatically have a record of the number. This is the first chance I’ve had to call in.”

“You had us sweating, buddy.”

“The emergency’s over. If you had people at the rendezvous sites, that means you had something you wanted me to know about. What is it?”

“About the woman reporter you met on the train. . Is your phone secure?”

“Yes.”

“Then this is the message. Continue your furlough. Don’t worry about the reporter. We’re taking steps to guarantee that she’s discouraged.”

Buchanan’s grip tightened on the phone.

“Check in at the rendezvous sites on schedule. We’ll let you know if anything else develops.”

“Roger,” Buchanan said. Swallowing dryly, he set down the phone.

But he didn’t turn away. He just kept staring at the phone.

Taking steps to guarantee that she’s discouraged? What the hell did that mean?

It wasn’t considered professional for him to ask to have a deliberately vague term clarified. His superiors never said more or less than they intended to. Their use of language, even when vague, was precise. “Discouraged” could mean anything from seeing that Holly lost her job. . to attempting to bribe her. . to discrediting her research. . to trying to scare her off, or. .

Buchanan didn’t want to consider the possibility that Holly might be the target of ultimate discouragement.

No, he thought. They wouldn’t assassinate a reporter, especially one from the Washington Post. That would enflame the story rather than smother it.

But reporters have been assassinated from time to time, he thought.

And it wouldn’t look like an assassination.

As he turned from the phone, he touched the bandage on his right side, the stitches under it.

Holly-wearing a brown paisley dress that enhanced the red of her hair and the green of her eyes-was in a chair twenty feet away.

Buchanan didn’t show his surprise.

She came over. “Checking in with your superiors?”

“Calling another friend.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Listen, I want you to stay away from me,” Buchanan said.

“And end a beautiful relationship? Now you’re trying to hurt my feelings.”

“I’m serious. You don’t want to be around me. You don’t want to attract attention.”

“What are you talking about?”

Buchanan crossed the lobby, heading toward the hospital’s gift shop.

“Hey, you’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” Her high heels made muffled sounds on the lobby’s carpet.

“I’m trying to do you a favor,” Buchanan said. “Take the strong hint. Stay clear of me.”

In the gift shop, he paid for a box of superstrength Tylenol. His head wouldn’t stop aching. He’d been tempted to ask the doctor to give him a prescription for something to stop the pain, but he’d known that the doctor would have been troubled enough as a consequence to want to keep him in the hospital longer. The only consolation was that the headache distracted Buchanan from the pain in his side.

Holly followed him from the gift shop. “I’ve got a few things to show you.”

“Not interested.” He stopped at a water fountain, swallowed three Tylenol, wiped water from his mouth, and headed toward the exit. “What does interest me is getting my belongings back.”

“Not a chance.”

“Holly.” He pivoted sharply toward her. “Let’s pretend I am the kind of person you think I am. What do you suppose would happen to you if told the people I work for that you had a false passport with my picture in it? How long do you think you’d get to walk around with it?”

Her emerald eyes became more intense. “Then you didn’t tell them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wondered if you would. I doubted it. You don’t want your superiors knowing you had that passport-and lost it. What did you want it for in the first place?”

“Isn’t it obvious? So I’d be able to leave the country.”

“Is there something wrong with using your own passport?”

“Yeah.” Buchanan scanned the people near the exit. “I don’t have one. I’ve never been issued one.”

They reached the noisy street. Again the glare of the sun stabbed his eyes. “Where’s your friend? Ted. The guy on the train. It’s my guess you don’t go anywhere without him.”

“He’s nearby, looking out for my welfare.”

“Using a two-way radio? I won’t keep talking with you unless you prove to me this conversation isn’t being recorded.”

She opened her purse. “See? No radio.”

“And my belongings aren’t in there, either. Where’d you put them?”

“They’re safe.”

In front of the hospital, a man and a woman got out of a taxi. Buchanan hurried to get in after they walked toward the lobby.

Holly scrambled in after him.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Buchanan said.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Holiday Inn-Crowne Plaza.”

As the taxi pulled from the curb, Buchanan turned to Holly. “This is not the game you seem to think it is. I want my belongings returned to me. Give me the key to your room. I’ll get what’s mine, pack your things, and check you out.”

“What makes you think I want to leave the hotel?”

Buchanan leaned close. “Because you do not want to be seen near me. Don’t ask me to be more explicit. This is as plain as I can make it.”

“You’re trying to scare me again.”

“You bet, and lady, I hope I’m succeeding.”