Inside Out

110

When Winter got out of bed, his leg throbbed against the bandage, his back hurt, his head felt like his sinuses were filled with BBs, and every joint and muscle in his body ached. Sean helped him, standing firm while he leaned on her and eased into the wheelchair. He hated having to sit in the thing because the idea of having someone push him through the hospital like an exhibit was abhorrent to him. Winter was buttoning his shirt when an orderly wheeled Hank Trammel into the room. A cast held Hank's left arm out even with his shoulder, bent at the elbow.

“I wanted to say good-bye.”

“We're about ready to check out,” Sean said.

“Wish you'd join us at the hotel,” Winter said. “I think we earned a couple days off on an expense account.”

“Place would look like a convalescent ward, and truth be told, I'd like to sleep in my own bed, since last night I was damned sure I'd never see it again. Sean, can I get a couple of minutes with Winter to discuss some marshal business?”

“Sure, Hank.” Sean waited for the orderly to leave and then closed the door on her way out.

“Got a message from Shapiro.” Hank handed Winter an envelope, which he'd opened.

Hank,

Greg Nations and WITSEC are fully exonerated. Winter Massey and Sean Devlin cleared.

The item you sent was a (CIA only) GPS device that transmitted its location over satellite to a designated receiver. It went active when the laptop computer was turned on. With those coordinates, satellites could capture photo images, like the ones Winter saw in New York. The way it was set up, it could also send text messages typed into the computer's word processing program.

Special deputies will keep you, Winter, and Sean under guard until “certain” people are called off for good. Terms are for all concerned parties to develop full memory loss on this entire episode, which, all things considered, should be agreeable.

So it is all over. Destroy this.

“What's the computer deal?” Winter asked.

“The thing Eddie found in Sean's laptop when we got that bullet out. I told you yesterday.”

“You didn't.”

“I thought I did. Can you tear this note up for me?”

“Sure.” Winter ripped the note into small bits and Hank took them in his good hand, walked into the bathroom, and flushed them down the toilet.

“Some dang deal, when it takes both of us to destroy one damn piece of paper. If we had a book to get rid of, it could take us a week.”

“So that GPS thing explains how they tracked Sean and how the cutouts located us and compiled all their satellite intelligence. It explains how those women hitters found her in Richmond.”

“It doesn't explain who planted it,” Hank said. “Who could have smuggled the gizmo into the safe house and put it into that computer? You think those killers were after her computer and not her at all?”

“The cutouts were after Dylan for Sam, but they were after Sean for Russo. It was Russo who wanted her dead and got Hoffman to do it for him. Maybe those killers on Rook intended to take the computer out too, before they were interrupted.”

“Chet said Sean was fussing over Manelli at the lodge like they were old friends and Sam had to tell them to get her away from him. He says there was a picture of a kid that looked a lot like her in Sam's bedroom. She get around to telling you what the deal was with her and those guys?”

“Sam was her father.”

“No way!”

“The whole time Sam was trying to get to Sean to protect her, Russo was trying to get her killed. If she and Sam had talked things through, Russo would have been cooked, because Sam didn't know Sean was ever a target. When you and I arrived, Russo was waiting for the cutouts to show up and wipe out Sean and Sam. He was going to kill us in the boathouse because, without our word to buck the setup, Sam would have gotten the blame for us and Sean. I'm sure Archer's bunch was set to get the credit for taking out Manelli. I think the cutouts would have clued Archer as to where Sam was after they were finished. I wonder if Archer knew Sean wasn't in that car. Maybe he'd have just sat there at that service station off the interstate until he got a call from his contact telling him to go out to the lodge. As far as Fifteen knew, nobody would have been around to contradict whatever Archer and his men said about what happened out there.”

“I knew Sean was hiding something, but that would never have occurred to me. Why exactly did Russo want her dead?”

“Sean was Sam's heir. Johnny is married to Sam's next-closest living relative. Hank, I'd like to keep Sean's secret between the two of us. She doesn't deserve any more pain due to an accident of birth. Protecting her was why Sam told those guys at the lodge to get her away from him. She doesn't need the notoriety of being Manelli's daughter. Might be other people who would benefit-from her death.”

“Guess that explains the passport and five grand she had,” Hank said thoughtfully. “Who on Rook Island could have sent Herman's guys a message? Obviously Sean didn't know that thingie was in her computer, because she handed it over knowing I was going to open it up to get the bullet out. You were there-who else used it? It's obvious, even to me, that one of the deputies had to have done it.”

Winter's mind moved to put together a picture, to concentrate on the computer. “She typed poems into it. Just a minute! Dylan typed her a threatening letter Thursday.” Winter tried to visualize the text. “He said something like he was leaving and she was staying behind. And he had my name in the note, which would explain how the cutout on that boat knew my name. Christ, it told them when the crew was taking Devlin out. But he sure wouldn't commit suicide by tipping Herman's killers off.”

“You see him type that note?”

“No.”

“Gregory only told you Dylan typed it?”

“I didn't actually see Devlin with the computer, but I know Dylan typed it.”

“How?”

Winter had a clear image of the message on the screen. He could picture Greg's hands holding the computer so he could read Dylan's note. “Greg told me he did,” Winter said.

“Greg only told you Dylan Devlin typed it. Jesus, Winter.”

“Greg didn't hide that GPS in the computer,” Winter said with absolute conviction.

“How do you know that's the case though?”

“Greg was so electronically challenged he couldn't change a lightbulb without help, so I doubt he'd be able to hook anything up inside a computer even if he could have opened it up. And most important, he wouldn't have sold out a witness or put his people in danger any more than you would. The last reason is the only one that matters. It was in there before Sean came to Rook.”