“It is and it does. André is one of Steven’s friends. He-”

André cleared his throat. “Natalie, why don’t I just jump in here and explain? Agent Harvath, are you familiar with the murder of Senator David Snyder’s aide, Mitchell Conti, that happened almost a year ago?”

“Yeah, I think so. A drive-by, wasn’t it? As I remember, the kid was pretty well liked on the Hill.”

“He was,” said André. “The papers billed it as a bad case of ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ but I never bought that.”

“Why not?” asked Scot.

“Because,” continued André, “they were never able to find the shooter or who the intended victim or victims were.”

“Mr. Martin, I hate to say it, but unfortunately the D.C. police are only human and they have their hands full. There are lots of homicides that go unsolved every year. It’s not that unusual.”

“No? Well, what if I told you that Mitchell Conti was also Senator Snyder’s lover?”

Scot couldn’t believe his ears. He looked at Natalie, who nodded her head.

“Mr. Martin, supposing this was true, how would you be in a position to come across this piece of information? And while we’re at it, what does it have to do with the drive-by, and how, in any way, does this have anything even remotely to do with me?”

“Agent Harvath, if you’ll give me a second, I’ll explain.”

Scot sat back in his chair and was quiet as the waiter brought their drinks.

Once he was gone, André began again, “I know these things because Mitchell Conti and I were lovers. We lived together. I left him because of his relationship with Senator Snyder-”

Scot interrupted, “But I know of at least five women over the last two years that the senator is reported to have been seeing. He’s known in the Beltway as quite a ladies’ man.”

“So was Mitch, but appearances can be deceiving. Besides, being bisexual doesn’t make someone any less of a man, nor any less attractive to women.”

Scot was going to have to take André’s word on that one. He sipped his beer and waited for him to continue.

After a shaky sip from his new drink and a look around to make sure they weren’t being overheard, André went on to tell Scot the details of Mitch’s involvement with Snyder and the possible blackmail.

“It’s all a very interesting story, Mr. Martin, and I’m sorry for your loss, but I still don’t see what-”

“What you don’t see, Agent Harvath, is that shortly thereafter Mitch was killed in the supposed drive-by shooting. I was convinced that Mitch’s death was no accident and the police weren’t getting anywhere, so I decided to look into matters myself.”

Wonderful. This guy is a regular Dick Tracy, thought Harvath.

“I did all the research I could on Senator Snyder, and being familiar with many of his predilections via Mitch, I arranged for the two of us to meet. Of course I made it look like it was quite by chance. But little by little, I began to win his confidence and we began seeing each other-”

“Okay, Mr. Martin…I’m going to stop you right there. I have many gay friends. I don’t want you to think for one second that this is a problem I have with someone else’s lifestyle, because it isn’t. But this is just a little too wild for my taste, and as far as you have explained, there’s no way in the world this could have anything at all to do with me.”

“But if you would let me finish.”

“André, I’m going to save you the time, and please excuse me for using your first name-”

“Not at all. It’s okay.”

“Good, listen, I like you. You seem like a nice guy. A smart guy. If you have some concrete evidence that Senator Snyder was involved directly or indirectly with Mr. Conti’s death, I suggest you take it straight to the D.C. district attorney’s office. But I warn you…What do you do for a living?”

“I am an attorney.”

“Well, then I don’t need to warn you of the downside if what you know or what you think you know gets back to Senator Snyder. He is a very powerful man and has a lot of friends. He could make a lot of trouble for you.”

“But, Agent Harvath, what I have to tell you isn’t about Mitch’s death, it’s about the president’s disappearance.”

Natalie spoke up, but he almost didn’t hear her. “See, Scot. This is the reason I called you.”

Scot’s attitude went from boredom and condescension to rapt interest in an instant. “If you have any information whatsoever about the president’s kidnapping, I suggest you spill it right now.”

36

For the hundredth time in the last hour, Scot glanced warily around the room to make sure they were not being overheard. André Martin’s story was absolutely incredible. Harvath now understood why Nat had brought André to him. Where else could the poor guy go? If what he was saying was true, no one would have believed him, and if Snyder wasn’t out looking for him already, he was going to be very soon.

The implications of what André was saying were staggering. Harvath probed for more details, needing to paint the most accurate picture possible.

“So based on all of this, you think the senator was somehow involved in the president’s kidnapping?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t know, André. There’s no question after what he did to you that the guy is one sick puppy, but do you really think he was going to kill you for what you overheard? I mean, from what you tell me, you don’t exactly have a smoking gun,” said Harvath.

“Exactly again. I didn’t see or hear anything that would ever stand up in court, but he still wanted me dead.”

“Are you positive he wanted to kill you and not just scare you?”

“Scot,” said André, having dropped the formality of calling him Agent Harvath over half an hour ago, “I’m a lawyer, and lawyers believe that what is not said is just as important as what is. Snyder had no idea what I heard or didn’t hear. All he knew was what I was saying or not saying.”

“I don’t follow you.”

“You were right, in part, that he was trying to scare me. He scared the shit out of me and he left me in that basement to do some very hard thinking. He planned to come back and when he did, he would want answers. He would want to hear what I hadn’t been saying. You follow me now?”

“Yeah, I do, but this is the part of your story that scares me the most,” said Scot. “What you are alleging is pretty serious, and from the look and the sound of it, you can back it up. If nothing else, it would be extremely embarrassing for the senator. You’re right, I don’t think you were ever meant to walk out of that house alive again.”

“So, you’re convinced?”

“Enough to know that Natalie did the right thing in calling me.”

“I knew you would help us,” said Natalie.

“Us? As in both of you? No way, Nat. You need to let me help André alone while you stay as far away as possible. This could be extremely dangerous.”

“Listen, Scot, I didn’t call you up so you could sweep in here and start giving orders. André called me because he didn’t know who else to turn to. Now that you’ve heard his story, you see why he couldn’t go to the police.”

“Yeah, but I’m here now, and we can help him, protect him.”

“Who’s ‘we’? The Secret Service? From what I hear around the White House, you guys have so many leaks Vice President Marshfield is even talking about suspending Secret Service protection and using FBI bodyguards.”

Scot’s blood pressure began to rise. “First of all, Vice President Marshfield doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. The Secret Service is charged with his protection as well as the safety and security of the White House and all those within it. We’re there to stay. You won’t be seeing any FBI protective details; that I can assure you. As far as any leaks are concerned, we’ve yet to nail that down, but there isn’t any reason the Service can’t put André into protective custody until we get to the bottom of this. It’s just going to take a little time.”