Part 13 (1/2)
”Ah, may I remind you that we just went through this in Telford?”
”Well, with any luck, these guys will do a better job than the Telford police did with Al Unger.”
”Though the officers who came out to Landry's in response to his call seemed genuinely fond of him,” Miranda noted. ”Guess he's somewhat of a local celebrity. I think they'll keep tabs on him. Plus, he has that mega security system. Hopefully, he should be all right until we find Lowell.”
”Well, I'll feel better if Regan is successful in getting her father to agree to hiring someone to watch his back. She seemed concerned about leaving him when she goes back to Philly tomorrow. She doesn't look like she'd be much of a bodyguard.”
”I don't know about that. I read an article about her last year. She's pretty accomplished. She's supposed to be quite the marksman. She's a black belt in tae kwon do and competes in triathlons.”
”Maybe so, but I don't think watching out for Landry is a job for his daughter.”
”I think I'd have more faith in her than in the local police.”
”Speaking of whom, you didn't hear back from Fleming yet, did you?”
”No,” she said, shaking her head. ”Maybe I should pull over and make a call.”
”Why don't we stop for dinner at one of those restaurants out there on Route One? I noticed there were quite a few when we came in.”
”Good idea. I'll never make it back to Virginia on an empty stomach.”
”Me either.”
They rode in silence for a mile or two, down the winding country road.
”This is Grovers Mill,” Will noted as the car rounded a curve that wrapped around a large lake. ”See the sign back there?”
”Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
”Sure. Orson Welles. War of the Worlds. War of the Worlds.”
”You're talking about the novel?”
”I'm talking about the radio show, back in the late thirties. The night before Halloween, 1938. The novel was adapted as a radio play and rewritten as a live news broadcast. Actors described the landing of a force of invaders from Mars. It was supposed to have happened on a farm right back there in Grovers Mill.”
”I think I might have heard about that but don't recall the details.”
”It was really famous. As a matter of fact, you can buy the entire broadcast on tape. I'll see if I can find it for you; you can listen to it yourself. People tuned in, not realizing it was a play, and there was all kinds of panic. People hid in cellars, locked themselves in their houses, boarded up the windows, and loaded up their shotguns, ready to take on the Martians. The broadcast was so convincing, people really believed the United States was being invaded by a force from outer s.p.a.ce.”
”Didn't they tell the public it wasn't real?” She frowned. ”That's not very responsible.”
”They did make it very clear at the beginning, and occasionally reminded the listeners that it was just a play. But you know how it is, if you turn on the radio or the TV in the middle of something, you often have no idea what's going on. If it looks like a real broadcast, sounds like real news coverage, you think it's real.”
”So if you tuned in at the wrong time, you thought we were under attack?”
”Apparently, a lot of people really believed it.”
”And they broadcast from back there?”
”No, they just said they were there.”
”Why'd they pick that place? It's in the middle of nowhere.”
”That's probably why they picked it. I guess if they'd said they were broadcasting from someplace like Times Square, everyone would know it wasn't real.”
She stopped at a stop sign, tried to get her bearings and remember which way they had come.
”Take a right here,” Will said.
”You sure?” she asked, then, rather than wait for an answer, said, ”Oh, of course, you're sure. You're always sure of yourself, aren't you, William James Fletcher, special agent for the FBI?” She slanted him a look from the corner of her eye and hit the gas.
”Right now the only thing I'm sure of is that I'm likely to die in this car with you behind the wheel,” he muttered, and she laughed.
Minutes later the Spyder was pulling into a parking spot in front of a busy diner, and Miranda was digging into her purse for her cell phone. Will got out of the car while she made the call to Fleming, and wondered if there was any real possibility that Miranda's could be the third name on the list. He didn't have a good feeling about it. The thought of it caused his insides to twist.
”I had to leave a message for Carson to call me back,” she said as she stepped out of the car and locked it. ”Ready?”
Will nodded and they walked up the steps of the diner.
”You're awfully quiet,” Miranda said after they'd been seated.
Before he could reply, a waitress in a black dress appeared with menus in one hand and flatware in the other.
”Specials are inside,” she told them as she set their places for them. ”I'll be back with your water in a sec.”
”Efficient, isn't she?” Will noted as he opened the menu.
Miranda looked at him over the top of hers. She knew the look on his face, the set of his jaw. Something was working below the surface, and she was going to find out what it was.
”I think I'll have the turkey sandwich,” Miranda told him. ”How about you?”
”I'm going to have the pork chops,” he said.
The waitress returned with their water, and they placed their orders.
”So,” Miranda said when the waitress disappeared. ”Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?”
”You have to ask?”
”You're wondering how we let Lowell get to Unger and how we can make sure Landry is protected.”
”Bring it a little closer to home.”
”You're thinking about Landry's suggestion that I'm the third?” She frowned.
”I think we need to discuss it with John. I don't think we can take this lightly.”
”I'm not taking it lightly,” she said softly. She hadn't. But she'd pushed it aside to think about later.
”Tell me about the interview you had with Channing six years ago. Tell me everything you remember. What he said, how he said it. How he looked when he said it. Let's go over it, bit by bit.”