Conspiracy

138

Getting to the Paley house so early allowed Ball to seem like part of the furniture as the day went on; each arriving wave of agents and security personnel found him already en-sconced. But he couldn’t escape scrutiny entirely, and he had to leave the house with the others when the Ser vice conducted two separate sweeps for bombs and hidden weapons.

After the second sweep, the security teams were issued fresh ID tags. Ball knew from experience that the tags would be used to segregate the teams into different zones and assignments, and that in order to stay in the house at night he would have to be with the senator’s personal staff.

But when Ball got to the table, he saw that his tag was coded for access to the external areas only.

“Hey, you made a mistake here,” said Ball, pointing at the badge. “I’m with the senator.”

“You have to take that up with Lucinda.”

“I’m not moving until I get the right badge. This is my job you’re talking about. My neck.”

“Look—”

“Hey, I’m with the senator’s staff, all right? Now come on. I know you guys are in charge, but let’s be realistic.” Lucinda Silvestri, in charge of the house team, appeared in one of the doorways.

“What seems to be your problem, Mr. Stevens?”

“My problem is, you guys don’t want me to do my job.” Silvestri walked over to the table and bent close to the agent who was handling the passes. Ball leaned closer to listen.

“Excuse us, please,” snapped Silvestri.

“Maybe I should call the senator.”

“You can call the President for all I care,” said Silvestri.

Ball clamped his mouth shut, though he continued to seethe. He could accomplish what he wanted to accomplish outside, but that wasn’t the point — the senator’s security was supposed to be inside the room when the senator arrived.

Not protesting would be extremely suspicious.

But Ball didn’t want to call the campaign if he didn’t have to. He’d already checked in with the coordinator O’Rourke normally reported to, who had been in the middle of a million things and seemed to barely hear him when he asked where O’Rourke was. The person he’d have to talk to to get anything done was Jimmy Fingers — and he feared the weasel would recognize his voice.

The agent who’d been talking to him about Rockland County earlier was standing near the stove, going over a map of the exterior grounds. Ball walked over to him, reintroduced himself, and asked if he could plead his case.

“It’s my job, you know?” said Ball. “And you’ve seen for yourself, I’m not getting in the Ser vice’s way. You guys are running the show, but I’m here. I have to do my job.” The agent shrugged but then went over to Silvestri.

“At least he’s an upgrade over O’Rourke,” Ball heard him say.

“All right. We’ll give you the proper tag,” said Silvestri finally. “Stay awake, though.”

“With the coffee you guys brew, I’ll be awake for the next ten years,” answered Ball.