Chapter Thirty Six
Erin knocked and then strolled into Karen Blakely’s office followed by Johnny. Karen was on the telephone, but she signalled for them to take a seat. Johnny looked around the room as he sat down. Just like an office anywhere, he thought. The CIA had always been some shady spy outfit from films. He had never assumed that they operated from such normal rooms in such a normal building.
“Okay Karen, time to open up,” said Erin when Blakely replaced her receiver.
“I don’t have to divulge anything.”
“Like hell you don’t,” said Erin with menace,” you almost got us killed.
“Maybe you haven’t realised, but that’s an occupational hazard for a case officer.”
“Don’t give me that bull Karen.”
“Okay, since we’ve known each other for years. What do you want to know?”
“We’ve encountered Lindsay Koenig.”
“Right, he came to me about three months ago with intelligence on Nathan Malloy–he was another telepath….”
“Yes, we know about him,” interrupted Erin.
“Well, Lindsay feared that Malloy was going to strike somewhere in the States. He reckoned it was to do with the tests that were to be carried out in the Mojave Desert. He feared an attack on Las Vegas or LA, but he wasn’t sure as he couldn’t break through the mind barrier Malloy had built around himself.”
“Were the CIA involved in the tests?” Erin asked as she stood up and strolled over to the window.
“No, Officer Rodgers they were not. Now I must get on I'm afraid. You can have that leave you requested,” said Karen as she passed a note to a puzzled Erin.
Erin looked at the note and said: “Okay, Thank you.”
“All right, what did the note say?” Johnny asked, opening the passenger’s door of Erin’s Buick.
“We’ve to meet her in Reveller’s; a bar in Georgetown at one,” answered Erin, climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Because of bugs–yeah?”
“More, prying ears I would have thought.”
They crossed the Potomac by the Chain Bridge and then headed south along Canal Road. Erin turned into a built up area. “This is Georgetown; it’s older than DC itself.”
Johnny watched as painted buildings, which stood shoulder to shoulder passed by as they cruised along M Street. The sidewalks were filled with lunchtime shoppers and browsers. People sat on wooden seats between the trees that lined the road and read newspapers.
She pulled up beside a two-storey building with deep, red walls and green windows. A yellow sign over the door said Reveller’s in red letters. There was a board on the sidewalk which told people that the establishment was open for business.
They entered the darkened bar, and Johnny followed Erin through to an area at the rear. Lunching businessmen filled some of the tables, who were either talking to other businessmen, or to their mobile phones. The worn wooden floor reminded Johnny of old shop floors from his childhood.
“How about some lunch?” Erin asked as the pair sat in a booth which had a low hung light shade, which cast bright light onto the old table.
“Yeah, I could use a little chicken or something. And I’ll have a Coke.”
“You let me drink alone last night and now Coke today; you don’t have to turn into a saint just because of what I said in the Mojave.”
A waitress in blue jeans and a red sweater appeared, and Erin ordered two chicken salads and two Cokes.
At one o’clock Karen Blakely strode into the bar. She looked very much like a woman of power dressed in her pinstripe suit over a cream open neck blouse.
Johnny caught Erin’s eye and nodded toward the approaching Karen, who slipped past a couple easing their way into either side of a booth.
“Sorry about the cloak and dagger stuff, but I thought we would be better talking here,” she said, sitting beside Erin.
The waitress came over with Johnny and Erin’s food, and Karen ordered a club sandwich and an apple juice. After the girl left Karen looked at Erin and then at Johnny. “Officially the CIA had no involvement with the tests.”
“And unofficially?” Erin asked.
“Unofficially well, I tried to find out which directorate sanctioned them, but came up against a wall of silence in the male dominated corridors.”
Erin took a sip from her Coke. “Why did you want us killed in Arizona?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh come on Karen. You gave me the orders: I was to take John to a site outside Parker where I reckon I was to be executed as well.”
“I never gave those orders. I sent Michael Catone to send back intelligence on you as you had gone quiet on me–now I see the reason why. You know these guys, Koenig and Malloy, have some strange powers. We’re really up against it; I’ve no idea who’s really who!”
Erin stared at Johnny through the spreading light beam as the full implication of what her boss had just said sank in.