Edge

supposed it could have had whiskey in it. I couldn’t smell any, though. He walked past his sister-in-law and his wife and took a straight-back chair in the corner of the room. He ignored the women and kept his attention on me.
    I called Lyle Ahmad and Tony Barr in as well and told the assembly, “We’ve got the primary and Loving’s on his way out of town. We confirmed it was Zagaev. Not a terrorist issue, not directly.” I looked toward Joanne. “He was trying to extract information from you and then sell it.”
    Ryan Kessler said nothing, didn’t even look at his wife.
    “So it’s over with,” Maree said. Then she added, “I’d like to go home—go back to their house—and get my things.”
    I said to her, “I’m sorry, not quite yet. We don’t have Loving or the partner in custody yet. I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s okay but I want to keep you here, until we do.”
    I expected to receive a taste of the testy attitude Maree was serving up to her sister, or at least another Tour Guide comment, but she looked me over with a softening face. “Whatever you think best.”
    I didn’t know what to make of her agreeable nature.
    Or the coy smile.
    Ryan asked, “And my daughter?”
    I noted the singular possessive. Joanne must have too.
    “She can join us. Bill Carter too. I’ve already called him, and one of the guards I know there is driving them to a pickup location. I’ll go get them myself and bring them here.”
    Joanne’s eyes grew still and I guessed she was thinking that either she or her husband would have to have some serious discussions with the girl about Stepmom’s former career.
    I went into the den and sat in the office chair, which gave a comforting squeak. I learned from Freddy that the chopper had landed at the Philadelphia airport with the Bureau tactical team and that they were deploying in the garage and inside and around the terminal to begin surveillance. Assuming Loving was driving at legal speeds to the airport in Philadelphia, which I was sure he would be, he’d arrive within about ninety minutes.
    I then called Aaron Ellis, to whom I gave the final details of the case.
    He said, “Guess congratulations are in order.”
    The word seemed to jar. I heard gravity in my boss’s voice when he asked, “Corte?”
    “Go ahead.”
    “Senator Stevenson.”
    “Yes?”
    “He called me.”
    I asked, “Directly? Not Sandy Alberts?”
    “That’s right. He called about you.”
    “Hold on.” I rose, shut the door to the den and sat down again. Took a deep breath. Another. Then: “Go ahead, Aaron.”
    “He was asking me questions I didn’t know theanswers to.” Ellis paused. “I need the truth, Corte. Are you in Stevenson’s sights?”
    I couldn’t forestall it any longer. “I’m in his sights.”
    “Go on,” Ellis said grimly.
    I organized my response. Finally, I said, “After Abe was killed, I wanted to get Loving really bad. But he operates off the grid better than anybody I’ve ever seen. So I managed to get Loving’s name on some lists.”
    “So?”
    “It wasn’t just watchlists. I added him to some wiretap warrant databases.”
    “ You added him.” Ellis was nearly whispering. “You mean, there was no judge involved?”
    “No. I got into the integrated system myself. If I’d waited to go to a judge until we found him, it would have been too late. Look, it wasn’t to collect evidence, Aaron. It wasn’t for trial. It was just to find him.”
    “Jesus . . . In the meeting on Saturday with Westerfield? He said they picked up the go-ahead order on a warranted tap. That was one of yours?”
    My illegally warranted tap.
    “That’s right.”
    “So when Alberts came in to my office to talk to you, what? He was fishing?”
    “I would guess so.” I’d covered my tracks pretty well but in my zeal to get Loving I would have left behind trails about what I’d done. “He or Stevenson are probably tracking down instances of dicey warrants and some of them must’ve pointed to me. Alberts called Freddy too. About me specifically.”
    I heard a creak. I pictured my boss rocking inhis office chair. His shoulders were exactly as wide as the leather back.
    I said, “It’s not going to matter to Stevenson that the Kesslers’d be dead now if I hadn’t had the wiretap orders in place. I’ve been reading up on him. He’s ideological. He’s not holding the hearings because of reelection and he’s not doing it to boost his party or for the press.