Night Fall

I asked her, “Did you tell him where I went yesterday?”

“I told him you went out east and that’s all I knew. I explained, quite frankly, that you weren’t sharing much with me, so that I wouldn’t be in a position to have to lie. He appreciated that strategy on a professional level, but he was very pissed off.”

“The mere mention of my name pisses him off.”

Kate’s tea came at the same time the crockery crashed, and she was startled. I could tell she was a little jumpy after an hour with Koenig. I said, “That was a recording. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” She sipped her tea, then leaned across the table and said to me, “I told him in no uncertain terms that I asked you to look into this case and that you were reluctant to do so, but out of loyalty to me, you agreed to check out a few things. I told him I take full responsibility for any breach of rules, regulations, standing orders, and so forth.”

“Was his face red? I like it when his face gets red. You ever see him snap a pencil between his fingers?”

“This is not a joke. But, yes, he was in a state of controlled freak-out.”

“Well, that tells you something right there-doesn’t it? Somebody-the government, the FBI, the CIA-has something to hide.”

“Not necessarily. He was pissed because this was the second time I was told that this case was none of my business. They don’t like to have to tell you twice about something, even if it’s something minor. There is no room for renegades and hotshots on the team. Jack’s a

“Why didn’t we think of that?”

“Because it’s bullshit.”

“I hope you told him that.”

“I did not. I told him I understood completely.”

I wasn’t exactly certain where Ms. Mayfield now stood on this subject, so I asked, “What’s the bottom line?”

“He gave me a direct order not to involve myself in this matter, and if I gave him my word on that, then nothing negative would be entered in my service record.”

“So, there you go. No big deal. Where do you want to meet for lunch?”

She ignored the question and asked me, “What did Captain Stein say to you?”

“Oh, right. Stein. Koenig didn’t tell him much except that one of Stein’s problem cops-me-needed to get smacked into line about something. I actually had to tell Stein what I thought this was about so he could chew me out about it. It was a little bizarre.”

“That’s it?”

“Sort of.” I decided not to mention the Yemen thing now, if ever.

She asked me, “Then why does Jack want to see you?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“No… probably he wants to reprimand you in person.”

“Not a chance. He loves me.”

“He actually doesn’t. But he respects you.”

“And I respect him.”

“But… he thinks you’re not a team player. He said that. He’s afraid you might bring discredit to the task force.”

“Yeah? Fuck him. Basically, he doesn’t like all these cops in his office. They make him nervous.”

She didn’t comment.

I informed Kate, “I don’t have to see Jack Koenig. I’ve resigned.”

She looked up at me. “What?”

“Stein gave me a choice of keeping my nose out of TWA 800 or resigning. I chose to resign.”

“Why? Just drop this thing, John. It’s not worth our careers.”

“Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I resigned out of principle. In other words, I’m tired of this job.” Also, I didn’t want any job where someone could send me to Yemen and fuck with my life. But I didn’t tell that to Kate.

She said, “We’ll talk about that later…” She stayed quiet for a while, then said, “Jack gave me a few choices, too.”

I knew we weren’t getting off that easy.

She said, “First choice was a permanent transfer to someplace in the continental U.S., to be discussed. Second choice was a temporary assignment to assist the FBI legal attache in the investigation of the U.S. embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.”

I let that sink in awhile, avoiding Kate’s eyes. Finally, I said, “You understand, of course, that this is a punishment and not a reward for good initiative.”

She replied, “That’s not the way it was presented.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What would you like me to do?”

“Well… you don’t like New York, so take the transfer to Dubuque or someplace.”

“Actually, I do like New York.”

“Since when?”

“Since I was given the opportunity to leave. Look, John, if I take the temporary assignment to Tanzania, I’ll be guaranteed at least two more years in New York. On the other hand, the transfer in the continental U.S. is permanent. You’d have to apply for a transfer to wherever I wind up, and it could be years before we’re in the same city. If ever.”

“I told you-I’m going to resign.”

“No, you’re not. And even if you do, would you leave New York and come with me to Dallas, or Cleveland, or Wichita?”

“I’d follow you anywhere. I’ve never been west of Eleventh Avenue. It could be fun.”

She looked at me to see if I was being serious, which I was not. I said, “I’ll get a security job in a department store. Or, here’s another choice-tell Koenig to go fuck himself.”

“That is not a good career choice. Look, I could file a grievance, or plead hardship, but the easier thing to do would be to take the temporary overseas assignment. It won’t be more than three months. Then, I come back, the slate is clean, and we go on with our lives and our jobs here.” She added, “I made Jack Koenig promise that you’d get a two-year contract renewal here in New York.”

“Please don’t negotiate my contract for me. I have a lawyer for that.”

“I’m your lawyer.”

“Then I’ll tellyou what to do. Not vice versa.”

She took my hand and said, “John, let me take the overseas assignment. Please. That’s the only way this is going to work for us.”

I squeezed her hand and said, “What am I supposed to do all alone in New York?”

She forced a smile and said, “Do whatever you want. But keep in mind I’ll have ten agents watching you twenty-four/seven.”

I returned the smile, and thought about these interesting developments. Basically, Kate Mayfield and John Corey-two mere mortals-had offended the gods, who had now decided that we should be banished from the Acropolis restaurant to the nether regions of Africa and the Middle East. Or, we could lie down in front of a steamroller. I said to Kate, “Why don’tyou resign?”

“I’m not resigning. And neither are you.”

“Well, then, I’ll volunteer to go to Tanzania with you.”

“Forget it. I already asked. That’s not happening.” She looked at me and said, “John. Please. Let me go and please don’t resign. At least wait until I get back.”

I made a snap and stupid decision and said, “I wouldn’t feel very good about you being in Africa while I was living here in the lap of luxury. So, I’m going to volunteer to go to Aden. That’s in Yemen.”

She looked at me a long time, then said, “That’s very sweet… very…” She was getting upset, and she let go of my hand and dabbed at her eyes with a paper napkin. She said, “I can’t let you do that. There’s no reason for you to… I mean, this was all my fault.”

“This is true. But, I knew what I was getting into. I just didn’t think they’d shut us down so soon. They should be so thorough with terrorists.”

She didn’t reply.

“So, we’ll take separate assignments, come home fit and tan, and pick up where we left off.”

She nodded slowly, then asked me, “How do you know they’ll accept your offer to go to Yemen?”

“They need to staff up there, and they’re having trouble finding people to volunteer.”

“How do you know this?”

“Stein mentioned it to me.”

“He… why…? Did heask you to go…?”

“He suggested it. Which is a hell of a coincidence.”