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same feeling of unreality that had affected him before in the yacht, at "being present" as part
of events happening miles away, seized him again. Outside was just darkness, trees rushing
through the light from the headlamps. Taki was following on the monitor but not making any
inane remarks this time.
Then Kevin felt himself thrown forward, then sideways, as the car slowed and made a
turn barely managing to jam a hand into the crack between the window glass and the sill in
time to avoid being dislodged completely. Now there was light ahead, with dark shadows of
what looked like trees on both sides. He braced himself more securely and turned toward the
glass. Where would he find himself this time? . . .
Then, as the trees opened out, he recognized his own driveway. Harriet's car was parked just
ahead, with Batcat coming out from underneath to be let inside the house. And why should he
have hoped for anything else? Had he really expected that just when he chose to tune in,
something would just happen to be taking place that would give them the great breakthrough?
You needed scriptwriters for coincidences like that.
Vanessa turned in her seat, and her arm reached over to retrieve the things from the seat
below where Kevin was clinging. He waited for her to leave the car, then returned Mr. Toad to
the mec box and deactivated it.
Well, at least the system still worked. And that, he supposed, was something.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Doug Corfe looked at Michelle across the desk in her office in the John Sloane Building in
downtown Seattle. His decision to come here midway through Friday morning had been
prompted more by desperation at the nearness of the weekend than by any clear intentions
thought carefully through. Now that he had committed himself, it was important to go for the
opportunity that the holiday presented; to pass up on it now would risk the appearance of
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fobbing Kevin off and of never having been sincere at all, which was something Corfe couldn't
permit. After yesterday's experience, he hadn't been willing to just call and risk being asked to
leave another message. This was something that he needed to put to Michelle face to face.
That was about as far as he had taken things in his own mind. The rest, he'd more-or-less
assumed, would fall into place once Michelle had the picture.
However, he could tell from her expression even before he had finished speaking that either
he was putting the case badly or had picked the wrong time or maybe the idea was just dumb.
Whatever the reason, it clearly wasn't going over well. He stopped it at that point for a
reaction.
Michelle spread her hands and looked from side to side, as if searching for words, then shook
her head. "Doug, you can't be serious. It's just not on. We can't go breaking into another
lawyer's office. I mean . . . it's justnot something you can do. We'd be the ones who'd end up on
criminal charges, with Garsten doing the filing. Then how would we ever be able to put a case of
any kind together from that position? We wouldn't. Is that what you want?"
"What kind of case do we look like putting together as things stand?" Corfe answered. "You
said there was no way to move without some kind of evidence of what these people are up to.
Well, here's a practical way we might get some if any exists to be got."
"It's not practical. It's totally impractical."
"Well, I haven't heard too many suggestions from any other direction," Corfe said hotly. He
knew as he blurted the words out that it was the wrong thing to say.
Michelle contained herself with a visible effort. "Excuse me, but I do have other clients . . ."
"And I have a close friend who stands to bekilled. You don't seem to understand. That's what
doesn't seem to get through."
"Doug." Michelle's tone was sharp. "You just show up here unannounced. I've had to
shoe-horn you in between appointments there's one waiting in reception right now. Why on
earth didn't you call?"
"It's Friday, and this is the holiday weekend. If we're going to do it, this is the time. I left
messages all day yesterday. . . ."
"I was out working on this very thing yesterday. Yes, I understand perfectly well how you feel,
Doug. Do you imagine I don't feel it too? As a matter of fact, I've put a hell of a lot of time in
on it this week, despite having a full schedule to begin with. Do you realize how complicated
this is? I'm a business attorney. I deal in contracts. We're probably going to have to call a
criminal lawyer in on this, to build a case against somebody's family lawyer. That isn't the kind
of thing that lawyers take to easily. And the client in question that we're trying to protect isn't
even being what you'd call a hundred percent cooperative."
This time it was Corfe's turn to be hit the wrong way. He heard it as if Michelle were trying to
blame Eric. "Have you shown him the tape?" he asked challengingly.
"No, not yet."
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"Why not? Tell him the whole story. Don't you think that might help make him more
cooperative?"
"And don'tyou think that maybe he's going through enough at the moment as it is? Look, I had
lunch with him on Wednesday with a view to broaching precisely this subject. But I hadn't
realized how dependent he is psychologically on Vanessa. It just didn't strike me as the
moment to go kicking that prop away too, after everything else that's been going on this
week."
Corfe shook his head stolidly. "We're not in a situation where we can afford luxuries like that.
He's got to find out eventually or not at all if we're too late."
"Of course he has," Michelle agreed. "But I'd rather it be at a time when he's in some mood
to be receptive instead of showing every sign of being ready to start a fight over it. It was you
who came to me and asked for help with this, Doug. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me handle it in
my own way."
Corfe exhaled heavily and sat back. He was still prickly and far from satisfied, but it was
equally clear that Michelle was not about to change her mind about anything just at the
moment. Clearly, his coming here on impulse had done nothing to improve matters. But it had
been something he'd needed to do at the time, as a safety valve. Michelle could very likely see
that, but she wasn't showing it. The thought crossed his mind of how satisfying it would be if he
went ahead anyway on his own, with Kevin, and they did manage to come up with something
valuable.
"Okay, if you don't want to get involved, that's fine," he said. "Then I'm only going to ask you
for one thing. Pretend I never talked to you, and just look the other way. If anything turns up
that I think you ought to know about, you'll know about it. Is that acceptable?"
Michelle looked at him uncertainly for a moment or two. "You don't mean you're still going to
do it?"
"I already told you, a very good friend of mine's looking to get killed. I'm not going to just sit
around and do nothing. Nobody else is coming up with any ideas. We'll be okay. You enjoy your
holiday." Corfe started to rise.
"We?" Michelle repeated. "You mean to include Kevin in this?"
"It was his idea, for heaven's sake his and Taki's. How can I leave him out? Anyhow, it'll
need at least two operators. Some parts will probably need a couple of mecs working together."
Michelle closed her eyes momentarily and sighed. "He's smart and a lot more mature than
average, but he's still a kid, Doug. Do I really have to tell you that you can't go involving him in
something like this?"
"He won't even need to be in the city. He can play his part from a remote coupler," Corfe
replied obstinately. "Don't worry about it. We've already agreed, this isn't anything to do with
you anymore." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]