Call to Treason

FIFTY-TWO

The news of the abduction shocked Kat Lockley. It also concerned her. Senator Orr would never have organized that, and she could not imagine who would. Someone from the outside, perhaps. Maybe Rodgers?

That was not important right now. What mattered was the senator and his safety. After talking with Stone, Kat jabbed the elevator call button. While she waited to take the carriage to the penthouse, she phoned the senator and told him what had happened. She asked him to stay in his room and said she would be there in a minute or two. Senator Orr agreed, at least until security could be organized for him to go downstairs. He felt it was important to talk to his people as soon as possible, to let them know that he was all right and the convention would go on. Kat said she would see to that. Her second call was to Pat Simcox, head of security. She wanted to make sure he stayed at his post outside the senator’s room and did not join the detail searching for Admiral Link. Simcox said he had no intention of leaving. He told her not to worry. If this were a plot against the USF, no one would get through to the senator.

She believed him. The truck driver turned security man was tough.

The elevator arrived, and guests streamed out. There were concerned looks and questions for Kat. She told them the senator was all right, then excused herself and entered. On the way up, she was joined by Kendra Peterson.

“Eric called to tell me what happened,” Kendra said. “I just spoke with the senator. He said you suggested he stay put.”

“I did. Is there a problem with that?”

“No,” Kendra insisted. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“Good.”

Kat was glad. She did not feel like having it out with Kendra over this issue. The elevator opened, and Kat went to the senator’s suite. She knocked on the door, and it opened. She stepped through.

Into something she did not expect.

Pat Simcox was standing in the entrance of the suite. He was pointing a 9 mm Glock model 19 handgun at Kat Lockley. A Gemtech SOS silencer was fixed to the barrel.

Kat stopped. Her eyes snapped from the gun to Simcox’s brown eyes. “Pat, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Welcoming you,” he replied.

“Why the gun?” she asked.

“Just go in!” Kendra snapped.

Kat turned angrily. “What the hell are you doing?”

“We’ll discuss that when Eric gets here,” Kendra said.

Kat walked into the living room. Senator Orr was sitting on a divan near the terrace. He was staring ahead, his breathing shallow. His arms were hanging limp, his hands lying palm-up in his lap. There was a glass-topped coffee table in front of him. An open bottle of ginger ale sat beside a half-empty glass. The senator’s bodyguard was standing nearby.

“Senator?” Kat said. “Is he all right?” she asked the bodyguard.

He did not answer. Kat ran to the senator’s side and squatted in front of him. She took one of his hands in hers. It was cool. “Senator Orr, are you all right?”

“He can’t answer,” Kendra said. “Mr. Simcox put several drops of sodium thiopental in his drink.”

“What is that?” Kat asked.

“A mild anesthesia,” Kendra replied. “It should keep him still for about ninety minutes.”

“Why?” Kat demanded.

There was a knock at the door. Kendra waited. The knock was followed by two others. Kendra opened the door to admit Eric Stone. The young man walked in. His expression was serious but unworried.

“How is everything?” he asked.

“Perfect,” Kendra said. “What is it like downstairs?”

“Mild disorder and growing,” Stone replied. He walked over to Simcox and took the gun. “Get him dressed please, Thomas.”

“Yes, sir,” the bodyguard replied.

“Thomas?” Kat said.

“Thomas Mandor,” Stone replied. “A longtime acquaintance of Admiral Link.”

“What is he, an assassin?”

“No, Kat. We do not want to kill the senator,” Stone assured her. “We want to get him away from here and have a long talk about William Wilson and about the future. We want to make sure we all have an understanding.”

Kat rose and approached Stone. He held up his free hand for her to stop.

“Eric, what is this?” Kat asked. “What are you doing?”

“We are helping to save the country,” he replied.

“What are you talking about? The senator is a patriot. And what about Admiral Link? You know him—”

“The admiral is not the issue. What concerns me right now is Donald Orr,” Stone said. “He is a killer, a belligerent nationalist who appeals to the basest fears of the electorate. He nurtures the kind of suspicion that will one day make us turn on ourselves, on anyone who is different than he is.”

Mandor returned with a hat, sunglasses, and windbreaker. He began putting them on the senator.

“Please,” Kat said. “Stop this. Stop before it’s too late.”

“We are.” Stone moved closer to Kat. “My question to you is this. Will you come with us, or do we leave you here?”

“Come with you where?”

“That is not important,” Kendra interjected.

“Away from here, ostensibly to keep the senator safe,” Stone said. “Yes or no, Kat? Are you coming or staying?”

Kat looked at the gun. “You wouldn’t shoot me. Not here, not now.”

“No one will hear,” Stone assured her. “Your answer, please.”

The woman did not know what to say. The silent barrel of a pistol was more persuasive than Stone’s arguments. The sight had a way of short-circuiting the brain and weakening the legs. It was one thing to believe in an ideal. It was quite another to perish for it. But there was a stubborn part of her soul that did not want to be bullied. Especially when she and the senator had worked so hard to get here.

The brief, internal debate was resolved a moment later when a third option presented itself.

One that no one had anticipated.