“The FBI thinks he’s the sniper?”

“I don’t think they have anything concrete, but Cordova wants to talk to you about Gary to see if there’s a reason he might be in Oregon looking for you. What do you want me to tell him?”

“Oh, man. This is all I need, Tuazama and Hass after me.”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Nathan Tuazama just called. He wants an answer by this afternoon.”

“If I talk to the FBI, will they protect me?”

“I don’t know, Charlie. I don’t think they can do anything while you’re facing a murder charge unless you have some amazing evidence about some huge case the feds need help with. I get the impression Cordova just wants to find out if there’s a reason Hass might be in Oregon. Do you want to talk to him? I’ll make sure he doesn’t ask you anything that will hurt your case. If the FBI arrests Hass, that’s one less thing you have to worry about.”

“Okay, bring him over. It’ll give me something to do.”

“I’ll be right there. By the way, the problem with Mickey Keys is settled. He signed a waiver to any rights he may have had as your agent.”

“How much did it cost me?”

“Seventy-five.”

“Damn, I’m bleeding money.”

“Think of it as one less problem you have.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Do you know what you want me to tell Tuazama?”

“No, not yet. I still want to think about what I’m going to do and this stuff about Gary isn’t making that any easier.”

“MR. MARSH, DO you know why Gary Hass would have newspaper articles about you in his hotel room?” Agent Cordova asked as soon as the introductions were completed.

“Gary and me go way back and he was there when the congressman was killed, so it’s natural he’d be interested in reading about me and the case.”

“Other than curiosity, why would he be interested in you? Does he have a reason to want to hurt you?”

Charlie thought about that. “He might. The day Pope died, Gary came to one of my book signings and threatened me.”

“About what?” Cordova asked.

Charlie suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“Don’t answer that if you were talking about something criminal,” Amanda cautioned.

“Miss Jaffe and Mr. Marsh, I’m not taking notes on this and I promise you I will not use anything Mr. Marsh tells me to get him in trouble. The Bureau wants Hass badly. This is strictly background.”

Charlie looked at Amanda. She nodded.

“Gary said there were incidents in the book from his life and he wanted to get paid.”

“What kind of incidents?” Cordova asked.

“There was a chapter about a bank robbery. That’s the one I remember.”

“What about a bank robbery?”

“I wrote about one where I was robbing a bank and everything got messed up and some people were killed. He said I wasn’t there and he wanted to get paid because he said I was taking credit for something he did.”

“What did you do when he asked for the money?” Cordova asked.

“I told him that I wasn’t going to give him any.”

“How did he react to that?”

“Gary was pissed off. He doesn’t deal well with rejection. He said he was going to give me time to think and we’d discuss the money later at the country club. He showed up but we never got the chance to talk because of the murder.”

“Did you see him after that?”

“No. I was in Africa until a few days ago. I never even thought about Gary.”

“Do you think Hass would hold a grudge all these years?” Cordova asked.

“Gary’s brain doesn’t work like a normal person’s brain,” Charlie explained to the agent. “He doesn’t believe in forgive and forget. So he might.”

“Would he be angry enough to try and shoot you?”

“You mean the sniper?” Charlie shook his head. “I can’t see him doing that. Gary likes to hear his victims scream. Also, I never heard of him being a great shot. A knife is more his style. Or a handgun. He’d use one of those but he’d be close when he used it.”

“WHAT DO YOU really think about the possibility of Hass being the sniper?” Amanda asked when Cordova was gone.

“I meant what I said. I just don’t see it. Gary is a psycho. He wants to see suffering up close. A long-range shot doesn’t sound right.”

“What about Tuazama?”

“Oh, he’d do it all right. He doesn’t kill for pleasure. I don’t think he knows what pleasure is. He’s a technician. If a person needs to be dead, Nathan kills them. It’s like fixing a flat tire for him.”

“If he’s that dangerous, what do I tell him about the diamonds?”

“I can’t do it. It would dishonor Bernadette’s memory.”

“If that’s your decision, I think we should use some of the money I have in trust to hire a bodyguard.”

“That’s not going to help. If Tuazama wants me dead, nothing’s going to stop him. That’s another reason why I can’t give him the diamonds. Once he has them, he won’t have any reason to let me live. Those stones are the only thing keeping me alive.”

CHAPTER 37

Charlie was going stir crazy but he didn’t dare leave his hotel room with Tuazama on the loose. He called room service for dinner, watched an in-room movie, then tried to get to sleep. The moment he closed his eyes, he thought about Tuazama, and his pulse rate accelerated. He finally fell asleep from exhaustion at 1:30, after downing several small bottles of booze he found in the minibar. At 2:17, the jarring ring of the bedside phone cut into Charlie’s brain like a razor.

“Who the fuck is this?” he asked after fumbling in the dark for the receiver.

“Charlie?” a woman asked. It was a voice he would never forget. Charlie sat up and turned on the lamp on his end table.

“Sally? What’s going on? It’s two in the morning.”

“I have to see you.”

“When?” Charlie asked, still groggy from the shock of being jarred out of a deep sleep.

“Now, tonight.”

Charlie thought Sally sounded desperate but he had no intention of leaving the safety of his hotel room in the dead of night.

“Didn’t you hear me? It’s two in the morning. I was sound asleep.”

“It has to be now.”

Sally’s voice trembled and that made Charlie pause. The Sally he knew was never out of control.

“What’s so important that it can’t wait a few hours?”

“It’s about your case. There’s something I have to show you. It can’t wait until morning.”

“I don’t even know where you live. I don’t have a car.”

“Get a taxi. I’ll drive you back.”

Sally gave him directions to her house.

“That’s in the middle of nowhere,” Charlie said. “I’m not going to hell and gone tonight. Besides, if this is about my case, I want my lawyer along.”

“No! This can’t wait until morning. It has to be now,” she repeated. “And you have to come alone. I know something that will help you get your case dismissed.”

“What do you know?”

“I can’t tell you over the phone. I have to show you. Please.”

Charlie was wide awake and wise enough to know that there was no way he would be able to get back to sleep. If he didn’t go, he’d be up all night imagining what Sally wanted to show him.

“All right, I’m coming, but this better be good.”

“Thank you, Charlie. Thank you.”

Sally hung up and Charlie sat on the edge of the bed reviewing what had just happened. She’d said she could show him something that would get his case dismissed. It sounded too good to be true. What could she possibly know now that she didn’t know twelve years ago?

Sally hadn’t sounded happy or confident. She’d sounded desperate and panicky, emotions he would never have associated with her. What was she afraid of and why couldn’t she wait until morning to show her evidence to him? It was very confusing, but he was too tired to work out the problem and too revved up to fall asleep. He called the front desk, asked them to get a taxi for him, and got dressed.