Conspiracy (35 page)

Back on the road, Terasawa saw a flicker of movement in the darkness. Cursing, he grabbed his gun and ran after them.

Taylor and Cady sprinted through the park, which was thick with trees and covered with leaves on the ground. Glancing over her shoulder, Taylor saw Terasawa coming after them. Shots flew over their heads. She was on the verge of panic. Then she cautioned herself,
Don't be stupid.
She knew her way around Rock Creek because she often ran in the park. They had an advantage here. She had to decide how to use it.

She jumped over a small stream. Cady followed her.

"I hope you know where we're going," he blurted out between short breaths.

"Just follow me," she called over her shoulder.

Another round of shots rang out. One narrowly missed Cady, blasting the bark of a tree.

Taylor looked back to make sure Cady was okay. That was a mistake. She stumbled over a log, crashing down into some branches and scratching her knees, arms, and face. She was stuck in a mess of branches on the ground. Another shot flew over her head.

Cady grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. The delay permitted Terasawa to close the gap.

In a renewed burst of energy, with Cady right behind, Taylor practically flew over a tiny stream and hurdled a tree trunk on the opposite side.

She heard Cady gasping for breath. "Not far to go," she called, encouraging him. "Fifty more yards or so. You can do it."

That energized Cady. "I'll make it," he said, "but hurry."

A shot ricocheted off a boulder, but neither of them broke stride.

Ten yards ahead, across the road, Taylor saw a gray stone building. It was the Beach Drive Station of the U.S. government's park police. Half a dozen patrol cars were parked in front. Emerging from the woods, Taylor dashed across the road. She burst into the open door of the park police station, with Cady right behind.

"We're being chased by a killer," she cried out.

Alerted, two officers pulled out their guns and ran to the door.

Before they could see Terasawa, he took off back into the trees. Cautiously the two officers crossed the road, their pistols drawn. With no one in view, they returned to the station.

"You want to tell us what happened?" one of the other policemen asked Cady. Producing his DOJ identification, he explained that they were being chased by the man who had been involved in the shoot-out at the Capitol City Motel. "It involves one of my cases," he said, not telling them any more about it.

As he spoke, Cady was considering his options. Going back to his own house was out of the question. Terasawa would attack there. But if the assassin couldn't find them, they would be safe. They had to get out of the area before Terasawa could get to his car and return to follow them.

"Will you drive us to the Willard Hotel?"

* * *

When Harrison arrived at Yahiro Sato's country house in the mountains west of Tokyo, Sato was waiting for him near a small pond with carp in the back. "Let's walk," Sato said.

Despite his age, the Japanese leader was in excellent physical shape. With long, purposeful strides he walked swiftly. Harrison, a full foot taller than Sato, struggled to keep up the pace. For several minutes they went on in silence, with Harrison waiting patiently for Sato to begin talking.

They stopped in a clearing, where Sato motioned for Harrison to sit down on a tree stump. The American took a cigarette, a real one, from a pack in his pocket and tried to light it, but the wind made it impossible. He cursed under his breath, crumpled the tobacco into his hand, then tossed it on the ground.

Grim-faced, Harrison said, "It's all turning to shit on us."

Sato stared at the American in dismay. "That's ridiculous. Boyd's no longer a candidate. Everyone believes he took his own life. Regardless of who wins the election in the United States, I'll get what I want: support in the White House for my program."

Harrison frowned. "When I agreed to help you, I didn't think anyone would be killed. You didn't tell me that."

Sato tossed the blame back to Harrison. "And you told me that Boyd would drop out of the race once he saw the evidence."

Harrison's face tensed. "I was wrong, but that didn't justify two murders."

Sato picked up a twig on the ground and snapped it in two. He had to be patient with this naive American fool. He couldn't afford to have Harrison turning on him. "Sometimes unforeseen things occur. We do what we have to do in order to prevail."

Distraught, Harrison threw his arms in the air. "You don't understand. Now we have two murders that could be investigated. It can get back to both of us. You should never have sent Terasawa to the United States in the first place."

Harrison's words infuriated Sato. The American had assisted Terasawa with everything he had done. Now Harrison was trying to disassociate himself. Struggling not to lose his temper, which would be counterproductive, Sato gestured for calm. "We can ride this out if we don't panic. Unless Terasawa is arrested and talks to the American authorities, which will never happen, no one will be able to prove a thing against either of us."

Harrison disagreed. "You underestimate Taylor. I know her well. When she grabs onto something, she's like a dog with a bone. She'll find the truth with or without Terasawa. She's even tied Alex Glass's death into this whole business."

Sato looked worried. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that Ozawa had spilled his guts to Glass at dinner. The walls were closing in. "I'll do whatever it takes to avoid having this destroy us."

His words were spoken with such vehemence that Harrison's despair lifted. He thought about the cryptic conversation he'd had a couple of hours ago with Bruce, the guard on the desk at the law firm. Initially Harrison had developed the elaborate plan with the judge in Mississippi to have Taylor arrested and taken out of circulation—in jail, where she wouldn't be harmed until the election was over. It was only when she foiled that effort that he had reluctantly concluded that he had to give Terasawa the support he needed to kill her. The assassin should have done that tonight. Yet he had never received the telephone verification that she was dead. "The steps I've taken to eliminate Taylor," Harrison added glumly, "haven't succeeded."

"So what? If the police don't capture Terasawa, Taylor has nothing."

Harrison thought about Sato's words. He had to assume the worst. That meant Taylor had searched his office. But everything that was incriminating he had carefully locked up. And even if she did find it, at most it was circumstantial. There wasn't enough for her to build a case against him. Besides, she had nowhere to go with it. If she tried to get to President Webster, McDermott would block her. If Harrison were back in Washington, she would confront him and kick up a fuss. Until he received some confirmation from Terasawa that she was dead, he had to remain in Japan.

"Terasawa will take care of Taylor," Sato said.

Harrison nodded in abject resignation. God, he hated what he was doing. What this had come down to. In Buenos Aires everything had seemed simple enough. All he had to do was get Cady launched on the investigation. Aided by his relationship with Taylor and his ability to control McDermott because of the woman in Sarasota, Harrison was confident he would be able to force Boyd into withdrawing from the presidential race. And certainly nobody would be hurt or killed. Webster would be reelected, or possibly Crane. It didn't matter. Sato would become the Japanese prime minister. With support from the White House, a remilitarized Japan would offset China's military might. At long last he would be avenging the death of his father. It would have all played out that way if it weren't for that fool Boyd refusing to drop out in return for immunity from prosecution, even though the evidence against him was overwhelming.

Now Harrison was cornered. He kicked at the muddy ground in anger and frustration.

Reading his mind, Sato said, "This battle's not over." His eyes were blazing with fury and determination. "You don't have to worry. We'll find a way to destroy Taylor before she destroys us."

* * *

"We're safe now," Taylor said as Cady threw the dead bolt and put the chain on the door of their room at the Willard Hotel. "We're finally safe from that awful man."

While she went into the bathroom to clean her cuts and bruises, Cady got on the phone to call John Frazier and tell him what had happened.

"I'm sending two men to the Willard," Frazier said. "One to stand out in front of your room and the other at the entrance to the hotel. They'll stick with you tomorrow. This guy's not going to quit."

As Taylor came out of the bathroom, the full enormity of what had happened to them tonight struck her. Her body began convulsing wildly, and Cady put his arms around her. "He'll never be able to find us here," he said as he held her tight. He led her over to the bed and hugged her. "We're going to get even with Harrison. Before this is all over, he'll pay for what he did to both of us."

Hearing Harrison's name, and remembering his betrayal, Taylor leaned forward, threw her arms around Cady, and began to cry. For several minutes she trembled against him. Rivulets of tears flowed down her cheeks.

Cady held her close. "It's going to be all right. We're going to get even with him. We'll find a way."

All we have to do, he thought grimly, is stay alive that long.

 

 

 

Chapter 27

 

Two FBI agents escorted Taylor and Cady out of the Willard, looking in every direction as they walked down the front steps. Terasawa was nowhere in sight. "We must have lost him," Taylor said, hoping she was right.

Another agent was in the car, behind the steering wheel. As they began moving, Cady muttered, "I loved that XK8. I'll kill the bastard if I ever find him."

Once they arrived in Chief Justice Hall's office, Taylor opened up the red folder from the law firm and spread out the Harrison documents on Hall's desk. The Chief took his time examining each piece of paper carefully. He tapped his fingers on the desk as he looked at the documents. Taylor didn't like the frown that was growing on his face.

Finally he lifted his head. "I'd say that these documents build a good case against Philip, but it's all circumstantial. It's not as strong as I'd like to prove a conspiracy that's responsible for two murders."

"But his work on the speech itself is enough," Taylor responded. "The handwriting in the margin is Philip's. All of the changes he proposed were picked up in the final."

"He's a Washington lawyer. They provide advice to foreign leaders all the time." The Chief's tone was thoughtful.

"Even on actions contrary to the interests of the United States. That's not a crime. You know that, Taylor."

"How do you dismiss the fax? It's obviously a coded message."

"I agree, but it will be hard to prove that Philip sent it."

Frustrated, Taylor said, "Then look at the diary entries. He had a meeting with Yahiro Sato on August twenty-eighth in Buenos Aires."

"Assuming that Y.S. is Yahiro Sato."

"But isn't that reasonable, given the dates on the two speeches, and everything else?"

The chief justice waggled his hand back and forth. "It's all reasonable. Personally, I'm convinced that Harrison and Sato planned this whole thing together to knock Senator Boyd out of the race. If all we had was this, I'd want to go forward and confront Harrison. Still, I'd like a little more evidence linking Harrison and Sato. I don't have to remind you, Taylor, that Philip's a skillful lawyer. You don't want him arguing that there's a reasonable doubt."

The intercom rang. "Mr. McDermott is here," Helen said.

"Send him in," the Chief replied.

McDermott had no sooner entered than he reached into his pocket, extracted a microcassette, and placed it on Hall's desk. "I made a copy. You can keep this one."

Sitting by the recorder, they listened to the tape, which confirmed everything McDermott had said yesterday. At the end, Taylor blurted out, "We've got Harrison nailed to the wall."

McDermott looked bewildered by her change of position. Yesterday she had been his most ardent defender.

"What role did the president play in all of this?" Hall asked McDermott gently.

"None. He had no knowledge of any of it."

Cady broke in. "You're covering for President Webster. Trying to take the rap."

"Absolutely not. He had no idea that I met with Harrison. I knew damn well that Webster would not have gone along with it, even if it enhanced his chances for reelection. He's not Nixon. He would have let me take my lumps rather than become a part of something like this."

Cady thought that was highly unlikely. "Why should we believe you?"

"You've got too much on me. I can't afford to lie to you. The truth is that the president's not involved. They didn't need him. They had me to do their dirty work."

"Who killed Senator Boyd?" Cady pressed.

McDermott drew back. "Beats me. Why don't you ask Harrison?"

"Harvey Gladstone?"

"Same answer. Until you told me yesterday, I didn't even know he was dead."