The Marching Season

position cameras outside on the lawn and shoot through the windows."
    Michael smiled and said, "You're good, Tom."
    "I did some intelligence work while I was with the rangers. You just have to make certain the curtains stay open."
    "I can't guarantee that."
    "Worst-case scenario, you'll have the audio as a backup."
    Delaroche said, "You have any guns besides that museum piece you're carrying?"
    Moore had a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver.
    "I like these museum pieces because they don't jam," Moore said, smacking his thick hand against the holster. "But I might be able to lay my hands on a couple of automatics."
    "What kind?"
    "Colt forty-fives."
    "No Glocks or Berettas?"
    "Sorry," Moore said, face perplexed.
    "A Colt or two would be fine," Carter said.
    "Yes, sir," Moore said. "Mind telling me what this is all about?"
    "Not a chance."
    Delaroche followed Michael up the stairs to the bedroom. Michael went to the closet, opened the door, and pulled down a small box from the top shelf. He opened the box and took out the Beretta.
    386 Daniel Silva
    "I believe you dropped this the last time you were here/' Michael said, handing the gun to Delaroche.
    Delaroche's scarred right hand wrapped around the grip, and his finger reflexively slipped inside the trigger guard. Something about the way Delaroche handled the weapon so effortlessly made Michael feel cold.
    "Where did you get this?" Delaroche asked.
    "I fished it out of the water off the end of the dock."
    "Who restored it?"
    "I did."
    Delaroche looked up from the gun and stared at Michael quizzically. "Why on earth would you do that?"
    "I'm not sure. I guess I wanted a reminder of what it really looked like."
    Delaroche still had a 9-millimeter clip in his pocket. He slipped it into the weapon and pulled the slider, chambering the first round.
    "If you like, I suppose you could fulfill the terms of your contract at this moment."
    Delaroche handed the Beretta back to Michael.
    At four o'clock that afternoon Michael entered Douglas's study and dialed Monica Tyler's office at Headquarters. Carter listened on another extension, his hand over the receiver. Monica's secretary said Director Tyler was in a senior staff meeting and couldn't be interrupted. Michael said it was an emergency and was passed on to Tweedledee or Tweedledum, Michael was never certain which was which. They kept him waiting the statutory ten minutes while Monica was pulled from the meeting.
    "I know everything," Michael said, when she finally came on the line. "I know about the Society, and I know about the Direc-
    The Marching Season 387
    tor. I know about Mitchell Elliott and the TransAtlantic affair. And I know you tried to have me killed."
    "Michael, are you truly delusional? What on earth are you talking about?"
    "I'm offering you a way out of this quietly."
    "Michael, I don't—"
    "Come to my father-in-law's house on Shelter Island. Come alone—no security, no staff. Be here by ten P.M. If you're not here by then, or if I see anything I don't like, I'll go to the Bureau and The New York Times and tell them everything I know."
    He hung up without waiting for her answer.
    Thirty minutes later the secure telephone rang in the study of the Director's London mansion. He was sitting in a wing chair next to the fire, feet propped on an ottoman, working his way through a stack of paperwork. Daphne slipped into the room and answered the phone.
    "It's Picasso," Daphne said. "She says it's urgent."
    The Director took the receiver and said, "Yes, Picasso?"
    Monica Tyler calmly told him about the call she had just received from Michael Osbourne.
    "I suspect October is the source of his information," the Director said. "If that's true, it would seem to me that Osbourne has a rather weak case. October knows very little about the overall structure of our organization, and he is hardly a credible witness. He is a man who kills for money—a man without morality and without loyalty."
    "I agree, Director, but I don't think we should simply dismiss the threat."
    "I'm not suggesting that."
    "Do you have the resources to eliminate them?"
    388 Daniel Silva
    "Not on such short notice."
    "And if I simply arrest October?"
    "Then he and Osbourne will tell their story to the world."
    "I'm open to suggestions."
    "Do you know how to play poker?" the Director asked.
    "Figuratively or literally?"
    "A little of both, actually."
    "I believe I understand your point."
    "Listen to what Osbourne has to say and evaluate your options. I know