A Minute to Midnight

by David Baldacci

Pine gritted her teeth at this thinly veiled barb. “At the very least it got two asshole felons off the street for maybe five to ten years,” retorted Pine. “Because the next girl they’d run into wouldn’t be me, would she?”

  “I don’t think there is another you.”

  Wallis looked between them, his brows arching, and his expression confused. He said, “Okay, I guess we’re done here. You probably want to get some shut-eye.”

  Pine checked her watch. “What I really need is some coffee and breakfast.” She shot Laredo a look. “Taking risks and kicking ass makes a girl hungry.”

  “Good, I’m buying,” was Laredo’s surprising reply. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

  He turned and walked off before she could respond.

  Wallis looked at her sympathetically. “I take it the situation is complicated?”

  Pine, whose mouth had widened perhaps more than she had thought, snapped it shut, gave him a curt nod, and followed Laredo out.

  Chapter 34

  WHERE ARE YOU STAYING?” Pine asked.

  She was riding shotgun in the black SUV Laredo was driving.

  “Motel about two miles outside of Andersonville. You?”

  “Place called the Cottage in town.”

  He shrugged. “If it’s nicer than a dump it’s more than the Bureau per diem.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know. This trip is on my dime.”

  “I love all those TV shows where agents fly around on Gulfstreams, wear designer clothes, and stay at the Ritz. And forensics tests are never wrong. And they get ’em back in two seconds, and the perp tearfully cops a plea two more seconds after that because a hair fiber might match him. And then they all go out and celebrate with hundred-dollar bottles of champagne at this really cool cop bar.”

  “You mean you hate all those shows.”

  He smiled and nodded. “Right. Hate ’em.”

  “Where are we headed?” asked Pine.

  “Diner down the road a bit. Saw it on the way in.” He paused, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. “You must be bushed, no sleep last night.”

  “How much sleep did you get last night?”

  “Like a baby.”

  “Tell me another lie.”

  They reached the aptly named Hole in the Wall Diner, parked right next to the front door, and climbed out.

  “You can tell class by how much plywood they use on the exterior walls,” said Pine, eyeing the place.

  “Hey, you grew up here. I’m from Queens. Lived in a six-story walkup. I don’t know what they used on the walls there. I just knew there was no grass and you were rich if you had an elevator in your building. And you were a billionaire if you had a doorman.”

  They walked in, were told by the matronly woman at the front entrance to seat themselves, and chose a table in the far back so they could have some privacy. It really didn’t matter. At this time of the morning there were very few customers.

  They ordered coffee and food from a skinny waitress in her sixties dressed in a shabby, stained uniform that might at some point in its life have been sterling white. Her face bore the searing marks of a hard life that had probably both over- and underwhelmed its owner. But to her credit, she greeted them with a smile and a cheerful, “Mornin’, y’all.”

  She didn’t comment on the bruise on Pine’s forehead, or the visible stiffness of her limbs. Maybe she saw battered people come in all the time here, thought Pine.

  They sipped the coffee while Laredo ran his gaze over Pine.

  “How’s your head feel?”

  “Why are you really here?” she snapped.

  “It’s my job.”

  “Bullshit. You saying you’re the only agent in BAU Four?”

  “It was my turn.”

  “Bullshit a second time.” She leaned forward. “Why do I think when my name floated across the request for assistance in DC, that you pushed yourself up to the front of the line?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Pine.”

  “Then tell me I’m wrong, Laredo.”

  He fiddled with his paper napkin, tearing it into neat triangles. She observed this. “Never got over your little rituals?”

  “We all have rituals. Maybe you’re on one of yours right now.”

  “I’ve haven’t been back to this place since I was a kid.”

  “Maybe not physically.”

  “So now you’re a shrink? I’m not even lying on a couch. I mean, come on. You can do better than that, can’t you, Eddie?”

  An uncomfortably long silence passed.

  “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I did come down here because I saw you were involved.”

  “Why would it matter to you? We said our piece and our good-byes a long time ago.”

  He stopped fiddling with the napkin. “You did. I never got a chance to.”

  She pointed at his ring finger. “What happened there?”

  He rubbed the spot with his thumb. “Denise divorced me and took the boys. Long time ago.”

  “Any particular reason?”

  “Let’s see. I was never home because I was working ungodly hours. Half the time I couldn’t tell her where I was or what I was doing. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I pulled an undercover gig and got outed, and some cartel lowlife threatened my family.”

  “Were you still in DC?”

  “No. Before we called it quits I finagled a transfer to New York. Back to my hometown. I thought it would be good for everybody. Fresh start.”

  “And?”

  “And Denise got a part-time job down on Wall Street and fell for a hedge fund manager who makes more money in a day than I’ll make in my entire life. They live in London now. And they have another place in the south of France and travel there on a private jet. She is loving life after ditching her FBI spouse.”

  “I didn’t know her all that well, but Denise never struck me as being that shallow.”

  Laredo balled up the pieces of napkin and set it down next to the salt shaker. “She’s not. She would have stayed with me if I was down to my last nickel, if I had an ordinary job that didn’t require me to put my neck out. The most dangerous thing her current hubby does is swing a golf club. A lot less worrying for Denise.”

  “And the kids?”

  “I see them a couple times a year when they come over. I get to show my kids the other side of life at my little apartment in Virginia.” The strain now showed on Laredo’s lean face. “Fact is, well, they see him as more of their father now than me. Nature of the beast, I guess. I’m like the odd uncle who drops in every once in a while for an awkward visit that everyone involved can’t wait to be over. Everyone except me,” he added quietly.

  Pine dropped her gaze and with it her aggressive attitude. “I’m sorry, Eddie. That must be really tough to handle.”

  He shrugged. “You-make-your-bed thing, you know.”

  “Just like that?”

  “If you’d like I can cry into the beer I’m probably going to order with my dinner tonight. But I prefer the stoic route. It’s in the Bureau handbook, after all.”

  “Your sons should get to know you better. Understand what you do for a living. I don’t know this hedge fund guy from Adam. For all I know, he’s a saint. But he’s not risking his life for his country. He’s not sacrificing anything for anybody. Not like when you wear the shield.”

  “My boys know. At least I think they do. Maybe when they get older we can hang together more.”

  “It might be too late by then.”

  He gave her the eye. “How about you? Is it too late for you?”

  “In what context?” she said stonily.

  “You could have been in the number three spot at WFO by now,” said Laredo, referring to the FBI’s prestigious Washington Field Office. “Maybe the number two by the time you were forty. You had the talent. And the drive.”

  “But not the desire.”

  “I never did get you. You had all that in front of you and now you’re in a on
e-agent RA in Nowhere, Arizona.”

  “And happy as a clam.”

  “The happiness of clams is highly overrated.”

  That comment drew a brief smile from Pine. “So you knew I was here. Why’d you want to come?”

  “I think you know why.”

  “I’d like to hear it from you.”

  “I was a dick to you. I was all Mister Testosterone, showing you who was the boss and not believing that women belonged at the Bureau. I did everything I could to screw with you. And despite what you just said, I think I drove you away from the place you were meant to be. And…”

  “And?”

  “And I never apologized for any of that. And I came down here to tell you that. And that I do apologize. You didn’t deserve it. And there’s nobody to point the finger at except me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay.”

  She leaned forward. “But I didn’t leave WFO because of you, Eddie. Yeah, you were all those things. But you never made a run at me like some other guys did, thinking I’d be thrilled to fall into bed with them.”

  “I was happily married back then, and even if I weren’t I wouldn’t have done that to you. I can be an ass, but not that kind.”

  “I left WFO because I don’t like crowds. I don’t like vertical living. I like the wide-open spaces. I like to be by myself handling my own cases without some bureaucrat looking over my shoulder every second. I never cared about being in the number three, two, or one spot. I work my cases and catch my bad guys. That’s it.”

  “Fair enough.” He hunched over. “Anyway, after the divorce I got some professional help. Made me see things with more clarity. It was through the Bureau. They offer that service.” He gave her a quick glance. “Did you know that?”

  “Why do you ask?” she said coolly.

  “Because you’ve been to see Daniel James Tor three times now.”

  Her expression tightened. “And why do you know that? And what the hell business is it of yours?”

  “The Bureau is a small ecosystem.”

  “That doesn’t answer my second question.”

  “Amber Alert in Colorado? A perp who you nearly killed? You getting time off to come here and clear your past? That’s what this is about, right?”

  Pine looked away. Her expression now seemed weary. “Word does get around, apparently.”

  “There’s no apparently about it. You’re here to find out what happened to your sister and salvage your career. I want you to do both, because I don’t want the Bureau to lose you.”

  She sat back and looked at him in amazement. “Whatever professional help you got they need to bottle. Or else you are a world-class bullshitter.”

  “It took me a while, but I finally got it right. But you still didn’t answer my question.”

  Pine didn’t respond right away. When she did, her tone was distant, as though she were no longer in the moment. “You’re right about why I’m here, on both counts. And what I do know is I’ve run out of time not to try anymore. If that makes sense.”

  He nodded. “It actually does.”

  “I got a second shot. I don’t intend to waste it.”

  “Okay. I’m down here to look into these two murders, but if you want a second pair of eyes on what happened all those years ago, well, I’m here for that, too. I can’t promise you’re going to get what you came here for. And I’m no genius. Just an agent doing his thing.”

  “And is this payback for all those years ago? To make yourself feel better? Because if it is, you don’t have to. And I don’t want you to.”

  “I’m an agent. You’re an agent. We took an oath to serve and protect. That includes everybody, you and me. We carry the same shield. You want to catch whoever hurt you and abducted your sister. That’s a federal crime. That’s what I do for a living. That’s why I’m here. No other reason than that since I delivered my apology.”

  She studied him with the intensity of a mass spectrometer. “I think you really have changed.”

  “We all change, Atlee. For better or worse. Right up until the moment we get dropped in a hole six feet down.”

  Chapter 35

  BLUM TOLD PINE she was not going to lecture her about that previous night, and then she proceeded to do just that. When she’d finished venting, Pine said, “Do you feel better?”

  “Not really. How about you?”

  “Not really.”

  “How’s your head?”

  “The bruising is already starting to subside.”

  They were once more sitting in the breakfast room at the Cottage. Pine had gotten about five hours’ worth of deep sleep, showered and changed, and had some lunch that did not sit well in her belly, because it was churning with a lot of stuff.

  She had filled Blum in on her trip to the cemetery and her hunches about the positioning of the body over one particular grave.

  Blum was drinking a cup of hot tea as she studied her boss.

  “What happened after I left you last night?” asked Pine. “I saw Wallis and Laredo at the police station this morning, but we didn’t talk about the case.”

  “I decided to circle back to the Clink. Found out some info from Wallis.” She proceeded to tell Pine about Layne Gillespie being identified and his military background.

  “Discharged but not under honorable conditions,” said Pine thoughtfully. “Any ideas?”

  “I didn’t have any, which is why I called my son, the MP. He had some ideas.”

  “Such as?”

  “Gillespie did something that the brass didn’t like, but it was also something they didn’t want to make a fuss about. Solution, the general discharge not under honorable conditions. The Army gets to kick him out without any honor, but doesn’t do so in a way that will necessarily hurt his ability to move on with his life. Only other military folks would understand the nuance. And I doubt Gillespie was itching to reenlist in another branch.”

  “I wonder what those conditions could have been?” said Pine.

  “Could be quite a few.”

  “Your son have any ideas?”

  “He called me back and said he thought it would be something personal to Gillespie. If it were related to his service record it would be more cut-and-dried.”

  “I appreciate his doing that. And I appreciate your asking. I…uh, you told me you don’t have the greatest relationship with your kids.”

  Blum’s smile was tinged with a bit of melancholy. “As time goes on, it’s actually getting better. I think they understand now that their dad was not this shining example of a human being and that I did the best that I could with the hand I was dealt.” She paused. “But I bear a lot of the responsibility. I married him, after all.”

  Pine smiled. “I always admire how you never dodge the bullet, Carol.”

  “It’s not worth doing. Eventually, it will hit its target anyway.”

  “Savannah, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wallis wants to go there?”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “When?”

  “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready now.”

  “I thought you would be, which is why I phoned him and he’s on his way over now.”

  Blum gave Pine a look that gave her pause. “Yes?” she said to her assistant.

  “Wallis told me that you and Laredo went to breakfast this morning.”

  “We did.”

  “How did that go?”

  “It went okay, believe it or not.”

  “Did the air get cleared?”

  “Is that what you think the issue was?”

  “I don’t know. I’m shooting somewhat blind here.”

  “Wallis mentioned to me that it seemed complicated, and I didn’t disagree with him.”

  “Okay.”

  “So it is complicated, Carol. That’s as far as I’m going.”

  “And he’s here just to work the case?”

  “He did say that he would be willing to
help me on my sister’s case.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “He’s an experienced criminal investigator. I can use all the help I can get. When will Wallis get here?”

  “About ten minutes. Agent Laredo will be with him.”

  “As he should be. He’s the field agent on this.”

  “And your sister’s case? I mean, with Agent Laredo here, you could focus on that. Detective Wallis has the weight of the Bureau behind him now.”

  “Do you want to stop working this case?”

  “It’s not up to me. I came here to support you. I just don’t want you to fill your plate up so much, you get disappointed one way or another.”

  “You really know how to push me into an uncomfortable corner.”

  “Is there a comfortable corner? Because I’ve yet to encounter one in my life.”

  “We’re women, Carol, we can multitask.”

  “Since I am a woman, I can tell you that’s a glib retort but doesn’t really answer my question.”

  Pine stared down at her hands. “When I was a kid, I never thought about working in law enforcement. When I lost Mercy, I just closed up inside. I didn’t make any friends. My parents were there, but there was this void, you know?”

  “Yes, I can see that.”

  “I found my calling in sports. I could play any of them and do well. I enjoyed it, but those were all team sports. I…I had to be part of something and it was hard. Really hard. I found I couldn’t connect with people. I was terrified that eventually the conversation would come around to family, and then what would I say? It was like I was carrying around this terrible dark secret. I know it makes no sense, but I felt ashamed.”

  “I can understand how that would be very difficult for you.”

  “Then I started the competitive weightlifting. With that, it was just me against everyone else. I didn’t have to relate to anyone. I just had to beat them.”

  “I get that. But it must have been very lonely for you.”

  Pine let out a long breath and looked up at her friend. “Incredibly so. Especially after my mom left. Then I got out of college, wandered around for a bit, and then something happened to change my life.”

  “What was that?”

  “I was walking down the street one night when this guy suddenly bursts out of an alleyway. He almost knocked me down. I jumped back and saw that he was armed. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what was happening. It was like out of a movie.”