Body of Lies

No, she mustn’t fall into that temptation. The decision had been made. Tomorrow that FBI man would be here and both the threat and the emotional upheaval would be over.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me.” Bart Je

“A man of judgment,” Galen murmured. “I think I like him, Eve.” She knew what he meant. From the moment Je

“I’ve no problem with that. The senator has some pretty heavy co

From now on, he’s out of the loop.”

“Really?” Joe’s gaze narrowed on Je

“Let’s say, I don’t trust him. He may be a stooge, or he may be up to his neck.

Either way, we need to be careful.”

“You believe this grand conspiracy theory?”

“I can’t dismiss it until I prove it’s not true.” Je

Eve nodded. “At first, he thought it might be a meeting of the Cabal, but there was no event taking place that would give the members an excuse to come. It had to be something else.”

“I need the name of your informant.”

Joe shook his head. “I told you, I promised to keep it confidential.”

“You’re making my job harder.” Je

When do you expect to complete the reconstruction?”

“Three, maybe four more days would finish it.” She stiffened. “But I’m not going to finish it. That’s why you’re here. You’re going to take him off my hands. I want out.”

He nodded sympathetically. “I understand perfectly. I’d feel the same way. And if I were you I’d want to throw the request I’m going to make back in my face. But I’ve got to make it anyway: Give us those four days. Finish the reconstruction.”

“The hell she will,” Joe said.

“No way,” Eve said.

“Just listen. Hebert and Melton are obviously desperate to have that skull finished, and they must have a reason. Why?”

“Bently?”

“But why do they need to know he’s dead? And what co

“Money laundering?” Galen asked.

Je

“Who was Thomas Simmons?”

“We questioned Bently’s wife and business associates and came up with a blank.

No one knew anything about Simmons.” He paused. “But another lead surfaced that guided us down a possible path. We ran a nationwide computer search on think tanks and university perso

“A con game?” Joe suggested. “Maybe you should look a little harder for the elusive Mr. Simmons. It could be that Bently found out he was being taken, and Simmons decided to get rid of him.”

“We have been looking for him, dammit,” Je

But Bently was very intelligent. It would have taken someone pretty sharp to put anything over on him.”

“Then we go back to whether Bently was a crook himself. Some people never have enough money.”

Je

“What project?”

“Something he believed in enough to stake his personal fortune on it. That was the lead that sent us scurrying to every think tank in the country to find Simmons. He was up to his eyebrows in some very interesting research.” He paused. “What do you know about fuel cells?”

“Not much. It’s supposed to be one of the alternatives to using oil and gas to fuel cars. Some of the auto companies have experimented extensively with the cells, but it’s never gotten off the ground. Too expensive.”

“Their energy potential goes far beyond the automotive field. Everything from power plants, to homes, to space stations could be operated by fuel cells. At a fraction of the present cost and no environmental side effects. There’s hardly a person on the planet that wouldn’t benefit if fuel cells became a viable alternative. Scientists are very close to making it a reality. Yet most people have never heard of the technology.

Don’t you find that curious?”

“What does this have to do with—” Eve stopped. “You think Bently was funding research to develop a workable fuel cell.”

Je

“Why keep it secret?” Eve asked. “If this fuel cell is going to be so beneficial, why not go to the government and persuade them to sink a billion or two into the research?”

“Maybe he wanted a finished product, or maybe he didn’t trust Congress to pass a bill that wouldn’t antagonize every energy lobby in the country,” Joe said.

“Or maybe there really is a Cabal,” Galen said slowly. “Maybe he knew about it and was afraid that they’d put all their power behind an effort to stop him.” Je

“Please. Four days.” Je

“It’s important for me and the people I care about to stay safe.”

“We’ll give you security.” He paused. “Only four days.”

“You don’t have to do this, Eve,” Joe said.

“I know that.” She went over to the window and stared out at the garden. “How safe are we here, Galen?”

“Pretty safe. I made damn sure we weren’t tailed. And, as I said, it will take time to locate us. And neither Qui

“Of course. I called the department and saw to it last night. There will be squad cars cruising by the condo several times a day, and I’ve asked a detail of several plain-clothesmen to keep them under constant surveillance. And I called your mother and told her about the surveillance and not to let Jane go anywhere alone.” His gaze narrowed on her face. “That being said, I don’t like where this is going.” Neither did Eve. It was difficult enough to fight her desire to finish Victor without Je