Shadowfires

director's boldness in trying to reshape Peake's perception of what
had actually happened in Sarah's room. Then again, maybe Sharp was beginning to believe that he had not backed down and had cleverly manipulated The Stone, getting the best of him. He was fruitcake enough to buy his own lies.
    Once, Sharp put a hand on Peake s shoulder, not in a comradely
manner but to be sure of his
subordinate's attention. “Listen, Peake, don't you get the wrong idea
about the way I came on with that little whore. The foul language I
used, the threats, the little bit of hurt I caused her when I
squeezed her hand… the way I touched her…
didn't mean a thing. Just a technique, you know. A good method for getting quick answers. If this wasn't
a national security crisis, I'd never have tried that stuff. But sometimes, in special situations like this, we have to do things for our country that maybe neither we nor our country would ordinarily approve of. We understand each other?”
    “Yes, sir. Of course.” Surprised by his own ability to fake
naiveté and admiration, and to do it convincingly, Peake said,
“I'm amazed you'd worry that I'd misunderstand. I'd never have
thought of such an approach myself. But the moment you went to work
on her… well, I knew what you were doing, and I admired your
interrogation skills. I see this case as an opportunity, sir. I mean,
the chance to work with you, which I figured would be a very valuable
learning experience, which it has been-even more valuable than I'd hoped.”
    For a moment
Sharp's marble-hard green eyes fixed on Peake with evident suspicion. Then the deputy director decided to take him at his word, for he relaxed a bit and said, ''Good. I'm
glad you feel that way, Peake. This is a nasty business sometimes. It
can even make you feel dirty now and then, what you have to do, but
it's for the country, and that's what we always have to keep in
mind.”
    “Yes, sir. I always keep that in mind.”
    Sharp nodded and began to pace and grumble again.
    But Peake knew that Sharp had enjoyed intimidating and hurting
Sarah Kiel and had immensely enjoyed touching her. He knew
that Sharp was a sadist and a pedophile, for he had seen those dark
aspects of his boss surge clearly to the surface in that hospital
room. No matter what lies Sharp told him, Jerry Peake was never going
to forget what he had seen. Knowing these things about the deputy
director gave Peake an enormous advantage-though, as yet, he had
absolutely no idea how to benefit from what he had learned.
    He had also learned that Sharp was, at heart, a coward. In spite
of his bullying ways and impressive physical appearance, the deputy
director would back down in a crunch, even against a smaller man like
The Stone, as long as the smaller man stood up to him with
conviction. Sharp had no compunctions about violence and would resort
to it when he thought he was fully protected by his government
position or when his adversary was sufficiently weak and
unthreatening, but he would back off if he believed he faced the
slightest chance of being hurt himself. Possessing that knowledge,
Peake had another big advantage, but he did not yet see a way to use
that one, either.
    Nevertheless, he was confident he would eventually know how to
apply the things he had learned. Making well-considered, fair, and
effective use of such insights was precisely what a legend did
best.
    Unaware of having given Peake two good knives, Sharp paced back
and forth with the impatience of a Caesar.
    The Stone had demanded half an hour alone with his daughter. When
thirty minutes had passed, Sharp began to look at his wristwatch more
frequently.
    After thirty-five minutes, he walked heavily to the door, put a
hand against it, started to push inside, hesitated, and turned away.
“Hell, give him another few minutes. Can't be easy getting anything coherent out of that spaced-out little whore.”
    Peake murmured agreement.
    The looks that Sharp cast at the closed door became increasingly
murderous. Finally, forty minutes after they had left the room at The
Stone's insistence, Sharp tried to cover his fear of confrontation with the farmer by saying, “I have to make a few important calls. I'll
be at the public phones in the lobby.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Sharp started away, then looked back. “When the shit-kicker comes
out of there,
he's just going to have to wait for me no matter how long I take, and I don't
give a damn how much that