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44
Scot Harvath, having completely taken on the persona of Hans Brauner, strolled with a certain nonchalance through the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton towing his luggage on wheels. When he’d walked through the main entrance, he’d noticed the cab line was full of taxis. In his German-accented English he told the bellman he did not need any help with his bag. Having stopped at the Georgetown American Express travel office to buy a stack of traveler’s checks under his new persona, he was confident in not only the outward appearance of the disguise, but his ability to pull off the complete identity of the character.
Harvath made his way to the pay phones and, glancing at his watch, knew he would have to make this call quickly. He picked up the receiver, deposited the coins and dialed the number.
“Lawlor,” said the voice that answered.
“Gary. It’s Scot Harvath.”
“Scot, where the hell are you?”
“C’mon, Gary, you know me better than to expect an answer to that, and don’t bother tracing this call. I won’t be here long enough for you to get me.”
“What’s this all about?” asked Lawlor.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. I had nothing to do with the deaths of André Martin and Natalie Sperando. She was a good friend. I want you to believe that. For some reason, Bill Shaw is trying to set me up.”
“Bill Shaw is trying to set you up? Why would he do that?”
“I know you’re trying to stall me, but I’ll indulge you anyway,” said Scot, looking at his watch to see how long he’d been on with Lawlor. “I think he’s co
“He doesn’t need to paint you as one; you painted yourself that way.”
“I did? What are you talking about?”
“I heard a recording of your call to him this morning. It didn’t sound like the musings of a sane person. You’re really throwing around some far-fetched notions.”
“Yeah, well, if I’m so far off base with my theories, why did I get hallmarked today?”
“‘Hallmarked’? What do you mean?”
“You know, when you care enough to send the very best?”
“Are you trying to tell me somebody tried to put a hit on you?”
“Twice. Once at Union Station and then again outside my bank on Twelfth Street not long after that. They must have been tracking my credit card because I used it to pay for cabs to both locations.”
“Hit men? Tracking your cards? Scot, this is pretty serious stuff. If you come in, I promise I’ll help you.”
“No thanks, Gary. That’s the second time I’ve had that offer today, and I feel a whole heck of a lot safer on my own for the time being.”
“Scot, I swear I don’t know anything about a hit being put out on you. That’s not how we do business and you know it. Tell me where you are, and we’ll send a car for you right away. I’ll put you in protective custody while we debrief you, and then-”
“Yeah? And then what? Shaw had told me he was doing the same thing with Natalie and André Martin, and look what happened to them.”
“Scot, how well did you know André Martin?”
“He was a friend of Natalie’s. I just met him last night. Why?”
“When was the last time you checked your bank statements?”
Harvath looked at his watch. “You’re ru
“The Secret Service has discovered that you received several large deposits to your bank account in the past month, the most recent being the day after the president was kidnapped. The money came from an account in the Caribbean. A little digging revealed a series of shell corporations, which eventually led to André Martin, D.C. attorney and international finance specialist.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s not what I’m saying, Scot; it’s what everyone else is. The way it looks is that André Martin somehow used his relationship with Natalie Sperando to get to you and buy you off.”
“Buy me off? What the hell for?”
“The Secret Service and the Justice Department figure you were the inside leak and helped the kidnappers in grabbing the president.”
“Me? That’s insane.”
“Is it? Look at it from their point of view. You had the means as head of the advance team, money’s as good a motivation as any, and you had the opportunity.”
“You can’t believe that I-”
“You were the only Secret Service agent to survive the avalanche. You then interfered with three separate crime scenes resulting in the corruption of evidence in at least one of them; you were the last person seen with Sperando and Martin alive-”
“Yeah, at a bar in D.C.”
“No. A desk clerk at the Radisson in Alexandria said that Martin and Sperando were picked up by a Secret Service agent who identified himself with credentials as Scot Harvath and perfectly fit your description.”
“And my gun was found near the scene of the murders. Well, someone thought of everything, didn’t they?”
“Scot, if you are i
“Do you believe I’m i
“I need to hear your side first.”
“I’m not coming in. Not now. Somebody has gone to a lot of work to set me up, and it looks like they’re hedging their bets by trying to bump me off. I’m sorry, but I think I stand a safer chance on my own right now.”
“Scot, I can help you, but this has got to be done by the book. You have to come in.”
“Sorry, Gary. No way. You’re not going to hear from me for a bit, but I want to leave you something to think about. If someone could put this whole elaborate plan together to silence me, what could that same person do to keep the whereabouts of the president secret? You’re barking up the wrong tree with the Abu Nidal and the FRC. It’s a red herring. I’m sure of it. Widen your nets. I’ll be in touch.”
Harvath hung up the phone, went back through the lobby, and told the doorman he was going to Union Station. Once there, he found another cab and told the driver to take him to Dulles International Airport.
45
“Yah, dis is a problem ven you are a businessman, no?” said Harvath in his German-accented English.
“But it is so sweet. Your wife will be thrilled,” said the Swissair ticket agent as she checked the passport of Herr Hans Brauner.
“Yah, I hope zo. I also bought her a little zomething zpecial,” said Harvath, putting the women’s Pamper Yourself gift basket from Crabtree amp; Evelyn on the counter between himself and the agent. “Do you think she will like it?”
“I think she will love it. You are so sweet to drop everything and rush home to be with your wife when she has the baby. Some things are more important than jobs, aren’t they?”
“Unfortunately, my boss doesn’t approve, and I am forced to use my traveler’s checks to pay for zee flight. I vas supposed to be here for another three veeks, but now vis zee baby coming early, vee do vat vee can, no?” said Harvath as he counted out almost six thousand dollars in American Express traveler’s checks.
It was a risky proposition. He knew airlines were very wary of customers who paid in cash, especially for same-day reservations, but he could not use any of his Scot Harvath credit cards, even if he hadn’t broken them all into pieces and flushed them back at the Georgetown Park mall, because whoever was watching would be able to track him right away. At least disguised and paying cash, he would be harder to trail. Wi