Path Of The Assassin

With the increased demands placed upon Claudia by her promotion, it had become obvious to Scot that their hopes for a workable relationship were fading. Harvath was on a special leave of absence granted by the president, but at some point he would be expected to return home and take up his new position as director of Secret Service Operations for the White House. Once that happened, it would be next to impossible for them to see each other. In both of their occupations, the demands of career came first and personal lives second. Each had worked too hard to get where they were to give it all up and move to another country simply for love.

Though Harvath refused to answer many of Claudia’s questions, not a day went by that he didn’t ask for access to Gerhard Miner. The Swiss felt they had cooperated fully and had provided unprecedented access to Miner already. Teams of interrogators from both the FBI and CIA, as well as a host of American diplomats had already paraded through the high security facility fifteen kilometers northeast of Bern where Miner was kept. One Secret Service agent, even one as bright as the Swiss realized Scot Harvath to be, was not going to make any difference, in their opinion. Miner had said everything to the Americans he was going to say. What’s more, Miner had told the Swiss that he would become extremely uncooperative if his government let Agent Harvath anywhere near him. He even threatened a lawsuit of his own. During the rescue of the president, Harvath had beaten Miner almost to death. Miner still bore much of the trauma, including not only one of the most severe cases of arthritis the Swiss prison doctors had ever seen, but also extensive nerve damage throughout his face from Harvath’s having shattered his jaw in seven places. No, the Swiss were not going to let Scot Harvath anywhere near Gerhard Miner. Even a direct appeal from the U.S. president, Jack Rutledge himself, had failed to move the Swiss.

Had Claudia wanted, she could have gotten Scot access, but since he wasn’t cooperating with her, she wasn’t going to cooperate with him. Plain and simple.

The thought was still lingering in his mind when the phone rang.

“Mueller residence,” he said as he answered Claudia’s cordless.

“Scot, it’s me,” replied Claudia.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

An awkward silence followed.

“Listen, I want to tell you I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” he asked.

“Things haven’t been good for us.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“You know I care for you very much.”

“I know.”

“It’s just…I don’t know that this is going to work out.”

Even though he knew what she was talking about, he still had to ask, “You don’t know that what is going to work out?”

“Us. A relationship. We went through something very difficult and very dangerous. It brought us together very fast, probably too fast, but our lives are very different. You have yours back in Washington, and I have mine here in Bern.” Then came the dreaded, “We can still be friends, though, right?”

Scot ignored the question and said, “Claudia, why are you telling me this now, over the phone?”

She was silent.

“Claudia? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I was distracted. Things are very busy here now.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“It’s been moved up.”

“‘Moved up’? What are you talking about?”

“Miner’s case. His attorneys made a motion to the judge that we thought we could knock down. We failed. There’s a preliminary hearing this morning and Miner will be present. With the trial moved up, I am going to have a lot of work to do. I’m going to be keeping late hours and I just think maybe we should stop things between us now.”

Harvath, usually never at a loss for words or a snappy comeback, for once in his life was silent.

“Scot, are you okay?” asked Claudia.

“How long have you known about this?”

“About the hearing? I have known for a couple of days.”

“What’s your security like? What do you have in place?”

“Don’t worry, Agent Harvath, the Americans aren’t the only ones who know how to transport a prisoner and secure a courtroom.”

“Claudia, from what you have told me about this Jamek character in Macau-”

“Scot, I don’t have time for this, and I don’t want to listen to you lie to me about what happened in Macau. I know you were there. When you couldn’t get what you wanted out of Miner, you went looking for Jamek, hoping he could tell you something.”

“Claudia, I told you. I had nothing to do with Jamek being killed.”

“Yes, you did say that, but you have not denied knowing about it, and you also haven’t denied being in Macau when it happened.”

“You know I can’t tell you where I was or what I was doing.”

“I know, but it still hurts. You are important to me. You know that.”

“Then get me in to see Miner. I need to talk to him. I promise you I won’t lay a hand on him.”

“I wish I could help you. More than that, I wish I could believe you, but I can’t, not about Macau, not about Miner, not about anything. It’s just better that we end things, okay? Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”