“How long will it take to track him via the GPS?” asked Sean.
“Not long,” replied Edgar. “I’ll contact you when I’m done.”
They walked back to their car and drove off.
Michelle said, “I think that he thinks we offered him a job.”
“You mean he thinks you offered him a job.”
“I wasn’t being serious. And we can’t afford him.”
“I know that,” said Sean. “But we can’t just keep asking the guy to do all this stuff for us for free.” He paused and added with a tinge of hope, “Can we?”
“No, we can’t,” she said firmly.
Sean turned the radio on, and they caught the top-of-the-hour news feed. It was dominated by the growing scandal surrounding the Cole administration. The political opposition in the Congress was strenuously calling for investigative hearings; subpoenas were already being drawn up. One congressman had even mentioned impeachment as a possibility. The government of Iran was also rattling the sabers and denouncing the U.S. actions. And America’s allies were distancing themselves from the situation. Cole’s spokesperson was offering the standard spin, and all of it seemed weak and evasive.
“Pretty bleak,” commented Michelle.
“Well, what they did was pretty stupid,” said Sean. “You can’t buy a democracy, even with a billion euros.”
“Very eloquent of you,” she said.
“I have my moments.”
“So what now? Just twiddle our thumbs waiting for Edgar to do his thing?”
“No. We’re going to split up.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to babysit Wingo so he doesn’t do something stupid.”
“And me?”
“Can you go by the hospital and check on Dana for me?”
Michelle looked slightly panicked. “Me? Sean, they won’t let me see her.”
“They will if she wants them to.”
“But why not you?”
“I’m… Can you just do it for me, Michelle?”
She started to protest again but when she saw the look on his face she said, “Sure, I’ll go. Just drop me at my truck. But if something goes down you call me, okay?”
“You got it. And, Michelle, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
An hour later Michelle walked into the hospital and made her way to the ICU. She was dreading running into Curtis Brown. She discovered, however, that the general was not at the hospital. A nurse informed Michelle that he had left earlier but planned to be back soon.
The nurses’ station buzzed Dana’s room, and she agreed to see Michelle.
The nurse admonished, “You can’t stay long. She needs her rest.”
“Absolutely,” said Michelle.