Split Second

"That's seven miles by water!" he exclaimed. The woman wasn't even winded.

"I do this a lot."

Her scull drifted closer. And King finally recognized her. He could barely contain his astonishment.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Agent Maxwell?"

She looked surprised for a moment and then seemed to sense that such a pretense was both unnecessary and even silly under the circumstances.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"One fallen agent to another, no trouble at all."

He helped her dock the scull. She eyed the covered boat slips and the storage sheds attached to each. King's jet boat, kayak, Sea-Doo and other vessels were sparkling clean. Tools, ropes, gear and other items were neatly stacked, hung or otherwise arranged.

"A place for everything and everything in its place?" she said.

"I like it that way," replied King.

"I'm sort of a slob in my personal life."

"I'm very sorry to hear that."

They walked up to the house.

Inside he poured the coffee, and they sat at the kitchen table. Michelle had put on a Harvard sweatshirt over her tank top and slipped on a pair of matching sweatpants.

"I thought you went to Georgetown?" said King.

"I got this sweat suit when we did some rowing on the Charles River in Boston while we were training for the Olympics."

"That's right. The Olympics. Busy woman."

"Ilike it that way."

"Not so busy now, though. I mean you have time for early morning water sports and paying visits to ex-Secret Service agents."

She smiled. "So you won't accept my being here as just a coincidence?"

"The real tip-off was the sweat suit. Sort of tells me you hoped to get out of your boat at some point before you got back to your car. On top of that, I doubt you would have rowed seven miles, Olympian or not, unless you knew I was home. I had several phone hang-ups this morning about thirty minutes apart. Let me guess, you have a cell phone in your scull."

"Once an investigator, always an investigator, I guess."

"I'm just glad I was home to greet you. I wouldn't have wanted you to wander around. I've had people doing that here lately, and I don't really care for it."

She lowered her cup. "I've been doing some wandering lately."

"Really? Good for you."

"Went down to North Carolina, a little place called Bowlington. I believe you've heard of it." He put down his cup too. "The Fairmount's still standing but it's closed up."

He said, "In my opinion they should just shoot it and put it out of its misery."

"I've always wondered about something. Maybe you can enlighten me?"

"I'll sure do what I can," King said sarcastically. "I mean I don'thave much else to occupy my time, so by all means, let me helpyouout."

She ignored his tone. "The agent configuration with Ritter. You had low manpower, which I guess I understand. But the way you guys were laid out was a disaster. You were the only agent within ten feet of the man."

King took a sip of coffee and studied his hands.

"I know this is a huge imposition," Michelle said apologetically. "I just show up and start asking questions. Just tell me to leave and I will."

Finally King shrugged. "What the hell. You're getting a taste of what it's like with the Bruno kidnapping. That sort of makes us blood brothers, in a way."

"In a way."

"Meaning what?" he said testily. "That I screwed up more than you and you don't want to be lumped with me?"

"Actually I think I messed up a lot more than you did. I was detail leader. I let a protectee out of my sight. I didn't have anyone shooting. I didn't have to kill anyone while pandemonium was breaking out all around me. You lost your focus for a few seconds. Unforgivable in a Secret Service agent, probably, but I blew it all along the way. I think you shouldn't want to be lumped with me."

King's expression softened and his voice grew calmer. "We had barely half the usual complement of agents. That was partly Ritter's choice and partly the government. He was not well liked, and everyone knew he had no chance to win."

"But wouldn't Ritter want as much security as possible?"

"He didn't trust us," said King simply. "We were representatives of the administration, insiders. Even though he was a member of Congress, he was an outsider. Way outside with a screwball platform and radical supporters. He even thought we were spying on him, I swear to God. Consequently they kept us in the dark oneverything. Changing schedules at the last minute without consulting us, it drove the detail leader, Bob Scott, crazy."

"I actually can relate. But that wasn't really reflected in the official record."

"Why would it be? They had their responsible parties. End of story."

"But that doesn't fully explain why the security layout was so poor that day."