The Washington Lawyer (33 page)

Jasper: Do you honestly believe that?

Liu: It happens to be true.

Jasper: I don't know … If I agree to this, how would I hand over the information?

Liu: You would make copies of the relevant documents. Your contact in Washington would tell you how to deliver them.

Jasper: I don't know. You're asking quite a bit.

Liu: And giving even more.

Jasper: If I'm caught, my name will be vilified. My wife and children will become hated.

Liu: You won't get caught.

Pause.

Jasper: The money's not the issue. I won't do it.

Liu: Too bad. Sorry, I wasted your time. I'll find someone else. I'm leaving now.

Pause.

Liu: Goodbye.

Jasper. No. Don't go. Tell me again. Do you really believe you can make this foolproof so I won't get caught?

Liu: Absolutely. Our interest is identical to yours on this point.

Pause.

Jasper: Okay, I'll do it.

The CD ends.

As Allison replayed the CD and listened to it for a second time, everything fell into place.

Jasper had killed Vanessa because he knew she had the CD. Unquestionably, Jasper and the Chinese would have killed anyone to get their hands on the CD. For Jasper, it would mean life in prison. For the Chinese, it would mean a serious international incident and a poisoning of relations with the United States.

As she turned off the machine after listening the second time, she was outraged at what her sister had done. Vanessa had learned that Jasper was willing to betray his country. She should have reported this to the FBI. But, no, she didn't want to turn in her lover. Indeed, she wanted to use what she had learned about his treason to her own advantage—to compel him to marry her. She wanted to join him in his treason—to become a partner.

Allison felt sick. This was worse than Vanessa sleeping around with different men. This was being a traitor.

Their father had taught them to love the United States. Vanessa was willing to betray him as well as her country.

Horrified, Allison thought about Jasper. She knew he was scum for leaving her sister's dead body in Anguilla and running away, but now she realized he was even worse than she had thought: he was a traitor who could do incalculable damage to the United States.

Jasper had to be stopped. She had to get the CD to the FBI fast. Paul might be able to help her do that.

She checked her watch. By now he should be on the ground in LA, probably in his hotel room.

She called him on his cell. “Hope I didn't wake you.”

“No, I was just revising a draft brief for Jenson that Diane, an associate, gave me. What's up?”

“The most incredible thing.”

“What happened?”

In describing the CD to Paul, she identified Jasper but referred to the other man only as an intelligence agent of another nation. She had no reason to believe anyone was listening on her phone, but instinctively she felt using Liu's name subjected her to great risk. She was relieved that Paul didn't ask her the identity of the other man. She wondered if he had the same concern for her.

When she finished, he said, “This is unbelievable. Far worse than I ever imagined.”

“Agreed. What I plan to do in the morning is go by train back to Washington. Then take the CD into FBI headquarters.”

“Wait a minute. You can't do that. First, you're wanted by the police. Second, you look funky, and third, you can't just walk into the FBI building. You have to get to the right person.”

“Can you find out who that is?”

“I can't from here, but Martin will know immediately. Maybe he'll even go with you. Jasper has to be stopped. I'll have my meeting tomorrow and take the red-eye home, but you can't wait. In the morning you should take the first train to Washington. From the train, call Martin and get on his calendar tomorrow afternoon. When you meet with him, tell him about it. He'll be able to advise you.”

“Why Martin?”

“As I said, he knows the top FBI people. He deals with high-level Washington stuff all the time. Also, he obviously likes you. He gave you all his numbers and told you to call anytime. Use his cell and call between seven and eight in the morning. That's what I do when I really have to talk to him. He's at home having breakfast. You can always get through. Don't tell him what you want. Just that you want to meet. It'll be easier in person.”

“Okay. I'll do that,” she said.

“And be real careful. Wear a hat or something to cover your face. Remember, there's a warrant out for your arrest.”

When Allison hung up the phone, she thought about her situation. It really was precarious.

There was a limited amount she could do to protect herself. But one thing she could do was ensure that the contents of the CD were published and Jasper destroyed even if she were killed.

And she knew exactly how to do that. She went to a nearby office supply shop which catered to Brown students and was open all night. There, she made a copy of the CD. She put it into an envelope addressed to the foreign editor of the
Washington Post
, added stamps, and put that into a second envelope addressed to Sara Gross in Oxford, Ohio.

She began filling out a FedEx form to send it to Sara. Then it occurred to her that was stupid because she'd be leaving a trail that would lead to Sara. The best was plain old US Mail. No express, no certified, and no record of it being sent.

She addressed it and added stamps. On her way to the mail box at the corner she called Sara on her cell. “Sorry to call so late.”

“No problem. I'm on call tonight. They've been coming about every fifteen minutes.”

“I need a favor.”

“Hey, wait before you get to that. What's happening with you? We heard all about that Metro incident. We're all scared for you.”

“Don't worry. I'm okay. But here's what I want. I'm mailing you a brown envelope to your home. Ordinary mail. Put it in a safe place. If anything happens to me …”

“Like what?”

“Like I'm killed.”

“Oh my God.”

“Then I want you to open the envelope.” Allison was cold. She was talking fast. “Inside you'll see another envelope stamped and addressed to the
Washington Post
. I want you to mail it. Got that?”

“Allison, what's this about. What's in the envelope?”

“You don't want to know. Please just do what I asked. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Thanks.”

Allison went back to her apartment, slept a couple of hours, then caught the 6:50 a.m. train to Washington.

She used Martin's cell number to call him at 7:15 a.m., just as Paul suggested. He didn't ask her what she wanted, but he simply said, “Come to my office at nine this morning.”

“I can't make nine. I'm on a train on my way back from Providence.”

“Then come as soon as your train arrives.”

Washington

D
riving from Providence to Washington was tough for Xiang. The first part of the trip was in sleet and freezing rain. The rest of the way just rain. At least the traffic was light. All the while Xiang kept his eye on the clock. He had committed the route to memory.

He planned to arrive at his Connecticut Avenue apartment at 4:15 a.m.. He pulled up in front of the building at three minutes after that. Just enough time to change clothes and set off for Rock Creek Park to meet Jasper.

Xiang decided that the rain and mud on the jogging trail would be an advantage. In all of their meetings to date, Xiang had never seen another jogger on the trail at five in the morning. For today's meeting when he expected Jasper to turn over the five-year plan, anything to ensure their privacy was an advantage.

When Xiang reached the meeting place, he found Jasper already there holding a black Chevy Chase Country Club umbrella over his head. He was wearing a wind breaker with a pocket large enough to hold a document. Hopefully, the plan.

Water was running down Xiang's head and into his eyes. He moved close enough to Jasper to get under the umbrella.

“What happened to your nose?” Jasper asked .

“I was in a boxing match with one of my colleagues. You should have seen what he looked like.”

“Now tell me about Allison Boyd,” Jasper asked anxiously. “She's all over the news. Was the man she killed at the Metro station one of yours?”

“You don't have to worry. Everything is taken care of.”

“It doesn't seem that way to me.”

“The secretary of state persuaded the Washington police to close their investigation.”

“That's good news.”

“Do you have the document for me?”

Jasper shook his head. “The secretary of defense asked for a two-day delay in the hearing. The military people couldn't complete the five year plan and be ready to testify until Wednesday morning at ten. They'll deliver the document to my house Tuesday evening. I'll bring it to a meeting with you here Wednesday morning at five.”

“Okay,” Xiang said softly.

Xiang was disappointed, and he knew Liu would be upset because of the delay, but nothing he could do about it. The important thing was that Jasper was still planning to turn the document over to Xiang.

“Now what about the CD?” Jasper asked.

Xiang realized he couldn't tell Jasper there was no CD and that he was in the clear. If he did that, Jasper might not turn over the document. He had to stall and maintain his leverage over Jasper.

“I'm getting close.”

“You told me that the last time we were together.”

Xiang had to string Jasper along until Wednesday morning when Jasper had the five-year plan. “I expect Allison to go to Vanessa's bank vault today. Chances are that's where Vanessa hid it. Once she gets it, I'll snatch it from her and deliver it to you Wednesday morning.”

That seemed to satisfy Jasper. He was smiling. But as soon as the words were out of Xiang's mouth, referring to the bank vault, he realized he had screwed up. He had left one loose end: those books in Allison's bag that he had never examined at the loading dock. Those could be earlier volumes of Vanessa's diaries Allison found in the bank vault box and might have mentioned Jasper. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now. Besides, they didn't involve the CD. They could only hurt Jasper.

But if Allison exposed Jasper's affair with Vanessa in Anguilla before Jasper delivered the plan to Xiang, Jasper might be too angry to turn it over. Damn. Xiang felt inadequate for the role Liu had thrust upon him. He was too inexperienced. Like a boy, unaccustomed to water, he was thrown into a lake. Sink or swim. He was thrashing, but he made up his mind not to go down.

“You might be right about the bank vault being the place where Vanessa hid the CD,” Jasper said thoughtfully.

The rain was letting up. Jasper paused to put down the umbrella. Then he continued, “Allison's a tough little wench, and she's used to digging. That's her job in archeology.”

“I know that. I did research on her. That's why I'm confident she'll lead me to it in the next two days.” He thought of Providence. He was angry at himself for not being able to break into the archeology building. That must have been where the CD was: in Allison's office.

“I hope you're right.”

Xiang saw a jogger approaching on the trail. “We better split,” he said and took off running away from the jogger at a much faster pace.

Over his shoulder, he watched Jasper raise his umbrella and use it to conceal his face.

As he ran, Xiang thought about his meeting with Jasper. When he got to the embassy, he had to call Liu, who wouldn't be happy that Xiang didn't have the plan. He'd curse and yell at Xiang. But at the end of it, he'd have to wait two more days for something that valuable.

* * *

Allison took a seat in front of Martin's desk.

“What have you decided about going to the press?” he asked.

“I was trying to make up my mind. Then I found a CD that puts a whole new light on the incident.”

“What CD?” Martin sounded puzzled.

“When I put together all the pieces of what happened in Anguilla, I decided Vanessa wanted Jasper to marry her. To convince him to do that, she threatened to disclose a damaging CD.”

Allison took it out of her bag and held it up.

“Where did you get that?”

“Vanessa mailed it to my office at Brown.”

“Do any other copies exist?”

She decided to lie. She had to protect her insurance policy until she needed it. With Martin. Even with Paul. With everyone except Sara. “To my knowledge, it is the only CD. There are no copies.”

“What do you mean the CD is damaging?”

“Do you have a CD player?”

He pointed to a machine on the credenza. Allison inserted the CD and hit play.

As it did, she watched Martin's face. What she saw was stunned disbelief.

Paul had told her that Jasper was a friend of Martin's. She was sure he never expected this from the senator.

At the end, he said, “This is very serious.”

“I realized that so I called Paul in LA about it last night. I told him that I wanted to take it to the FBI. He said you could help me. Tell me where to go in the FBI.”

“I don't think you want to do it yourself. You're wanted by the DC Police. That will affect your credibility.”

“Then how should I get it to the FBI?”

Martin walked over to the window overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. He appeared to be deep in thought. After a minute, he sighed, turned around, and said, “Leave it with me. FBI Director Jim Forester is a former judge and someone I've known a long time. I'll take it to him. Jasper may be my friend, but he can't get away with treason. You've done the country a great service.”

“You want me to go with you to see Forester?”

“No offense, Allison, but your presence will only complicate things with that arrest warrant for you. When I talk to Forester, I can sidestep all that stuff. Ultimately the CD speaks for itself.”