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Lukas continued. "In terms of standard investigation I've got agents ru
"You don't sound optimistic," Ke
"I'm not optimistic. There're no witnesses. No reliable ones anyway. A case like this, we need witnesses."
Ke
Now Lukas looked at Cage. He answered, "We feel that unless you pay the ransom or an informer comes forward with solid information about the Digger's whereabouts we won't be able to stop him by four P.M. We just don't have enough leads." She added, "I'm not recommending you pay. This's just our assessment of what'll happen if you don't."
"Twenty million," he mused.
Without a knock the office door opened and a tall man of about sixty, wearing a gray suit, stepped inside.
Oh, great, Ke
U.S. Representative Paul Lanier shook the mayor's hand and then introduced himself to the FBI agents. He ignored Wendell Jefferies.
"Paul," Ke
Though the District of Columbia had some autonomy Congress had recently taken over the power of the purse and doled out money to the city like a parent giving a reckless child an allowance. Especially since the recent Board of Education scandal Lanier had been to Ke
Lanier missed the disparaging tone in Ke
Lukas ran through her assessment once more. Lanier remained standing, all three buttons of his Brooks Brothers suit snugly secured.
"Why here?" Lanier asked. "Why Washington?"
Ke
Lukas answered, "We don't know."
Ke
"Yes."
The congressman asked, "Jerry, you're not seriously thinking of paying."
"I'm considering all options."
Lanier was looking dubious. "Well, aren't you concerned with what it'll look like?"
"No, I don't care how it looks," Ke
But the congressman continued in his politician's perfect baritone. "It's going to send the wrong message. Kowtowing to terrorists."
Ke
"But nobody knows about this, do they?" Ke
"Sure, they do," Cage said. "And more'll know pretty soon. You can't keep something like this under wraps for long. Notes like this have wings. You bet they do."
"Wings," Ke
Lukas again responded. "Our tech people'll rig the drop bag-with a transmitter. Twenty million will weigh a couple hundred pounds," she explained. "It's not something you can just hide under the seat of a car. We'll try to track the perp to his hideout. If we're lucky, get both him and the shooter-this Digger."
"'Lucky,'" Ke
"No. Of course you can't."
"Twenty million," mused Lanier, the controller of the purse strings.
Ke
He glanced at Wendell Jefferies, who took the cue and joined him. The aide wore aftershave; he must have had twenty different scents. The mayor whispered, "So, Wendy, the pressure's on, huh?"
The aide, never known for his restraint, responded, "You got the ball, boss. Drop it and you and me both, we're gone. And more than that too."
And more than that too…
And Ke
"And so far," Ke
So far twenty-three people dead.
So far all they knew was that this psychopath was going to try to kill more people at 4 o'clock and more after that and more after that.
Outside the window the eerily warm air stirred. Five lacy brown leaves twisted to the ground.
He turned back to his desk. Looked at the brass clock. The time was 10:25.
Lanier said, "I say we don't pay. I mean, it seems to me that when he finds out the FBI's involved he might just balk and head for the hills."
Agent Lukas offered, "Bet he had an idea the Bureau'd be involved before he started this."
Ke
The congressman continued, speaking to her, "I didn't think you were in favor of paying."
"I'm not."
"But you also think he'll keep shooting if we don't pay."
"Yes," she answered.
"Well…" Lanier lifted his hands. "Isn't that inconsistent? You don't think we should pay… but he's going to keep killing."
"That's right."
"That doesn't give us much guidance."
Lukas said, "He's a man who's prepared to kill as many people as he needs to, just to make money. You can't negotiate with somebody like that."
"Will paying make your job harder?" Ke
"No," she said. A moment later: "So," she asked, "are you going to pay or not?"
The desk lamp shone on the note. To Ke
"No, we're not paying," Lanier said. "We're taking a hard line. We're standing tough on terrorism. We're-"
"I'm paying," said Ke
"You sure?" Lukas asked him, not seeming to care one way or the other.
"I'm sure. Do your best to catch them. But the city's going to pay."
"Hold on," the congressman said, "not so fast."
"It's not fast at all," Ke
"Jerry," Lanier began, laughing sourly, "you don't have the right to make that decision."
"Actually he does," said Wendell Jefferies, who could append the letters J.D. and LL.M. after his name.
"Congress has jurisdiction," Lanier said petulantly.
Cage said to Lanier, "No, it doesn't. It's exclusively the District's call. I asked the attorney general on my way over here."
"But we've got control of the money," Lanier snapped. "And I'm not going to authorize it."
Ke