“Good luck is a poor substitute for good judgment. And eventually, good luck runs out.”
“Good judgment is no substitute for calculated risk and aggressive action.”
“You’re not in the infantry anymore, Scott.”
“It’s all the same. I survived Baghdad, and I will survive Berlin.”
“You had a gun in Baghdad.”
Good point. Brodie said, “Let’s walk through the park.”
They went to the eastern entrance and stepped over a chain, then headed down into the park.
As they walked, Taylor said, “Back to the ill-fated Harry Vance. What is hismotivefor his secrecy? I don’t see motive.”
“Let’s for a moment assume the worst of the departed. He was selling Intel or maybe something worse.”
“Do you really believe he was capable of that?”
“People surprise you. Especially when they’re under financial strain or thinking with the wrong head.”
Taylor thought about that. “Anna knows what this is about.”
“The clues you haven’t found yet always look the juiciest.”
Taylor looked at him. “Harry went to a lot of trouble to see this woman. I think they were close. And if he was keeping a secret from everyone, that didn’t include her.”
Well, Ms. Taylor did know a few things about sleeping with a guy weighed down by secrets. As if anticipating what Brodie was thinking, she added, “I wish I could forget most of the things Trent told me. It was like… he’d confide in me, to gauge my reaction. Not to shock me, but… to get some reassurance from me that he hadn’t lost his soul.”
“He was also compromising you.”
She had no reply.
Well, apparently CIA Officer Trent Chilcott’s idea of pillow talk involved Black Ops and extrajudicial assassinations. Creepy. Was he at least good in the sack? Brodie hoped not. He said, “We will find Anna tomorrow.”
“She might be the key. But I guess she could also lead nowhere. Just an innocent and ignorant woman who happened to be shtupping the murder victim.”
“Good Yiddish.”
“Thanks. I Googled it.”
They walked off the path into the grass near the central fountain and Brodie looked around. A fine mist filled the air, and a glowing half-moon bled through the thick clouds above.
Taylor said, “This is where Harry was standing.”
“More or less.”
Taylor looked around the dim park and asked, “Would you have met someone here who you didn’t know at three in the morning?”
“Not without backup.” Maybe.
“Me neither. And Harry was smart. Experienced. So,whatwas he thinking?”
Brodie thought about that. “Harry brought his piece, and he was holding it when he died, so it’s not that he wasn’t apprehensive. I think this park wasn’t part of the plan. He wanted to meet… let’s say this guy Abbas al-Hamdani, if we choose to believe Nasir. Harry wanted to meet Hamdani in public. At the hookah lounge. Then he gets a message: ‘Hey, Harry, let’s meet in this creepy park instead.’ And Harry says sure.”
“Why would he agree to that? Just insist on the original plan. Or threaten to walk.”
“He had no leverage,” said Brodie. “He needed something from Hamdani, not the other way around. Also, maybe he felt he had nothing to fear from this guy. He wasn’t meeting with an al Qaeda informant or another bad actor. Sounds like Hamdani was middle management in a defunct regime. Far from power, far from influence. But he hadsomething. Something Harry perceived as valuable—but not dangerous.”
