Now we get to the meat of it, son. Theres been another warrant issued for your arrest. The chief of staff of the former President managed to call out of Mount Weather before he died. He implicated you in the disaster. Youre wanted for questioning about that. Also, that murder in Baltimore this morning? Thats back on again. It seems that you were in league with the terrorists all along. You led the President to his doom. That little dalliance in Baltimore was you killing off one of your partners to cover your tracks. And weve found an off-shore account that weve managed to trace to you. Theres more than two million dollars in there.

Luke smiled.

Surely you can do better than that? Luke asked. Putting money into a fake account in my name.

I think that will suffice, Don said.

And Ali Nassar? Luke asked.

Your paymaster? He died about an hour ago. It was a suicide. He jumped from the balcony at his apartment. Fifty stories, can you imagine? Luckily, he hit a concrete overhang on the third floor. No one on the street was injured.

Luke shrugged. He was no fan of Ali Nassar. Whatever Nassar thought he was doing, he had to know it was wrong. And he had to know his own death was a distinct possibility. If he didnt, then he was a bigger fool than he seemed. Thats convenient, Luke said. Another one bites the dust.

Indeed.

And now you want me to surrender peacefully, I suppose.

I would like you to, yes.

Not much hope of that, is there?

Luke…

From Lukes location in the dining room, he could see out the big south and west facing windows in the living room. The house sat up on a little rolling hillock of grass. The height extended his vantage point. It was a quiet neighborhood. Most residents parked in their own driveways or garages.

To the south, two unmarked squad cars were parked nose to nose at the next corner. They were fast cars, the kind that the government confiscated from drug dealers. Their windows were dark. They looked like spiders crouched there, waiting. To the west, at the far northern corner of the window, he could see a black van parked up at the next street. That was all he could see from here. There were probably others.

If theres a warrant out for me, Luke said, then why not just send some cops? All I see are spooks.

Don laughed. Ah, well. Warrant might have been a strong word. Lets just say wed like you to come in and have a chat.

Of course. There were no police involved at all. If Luke went out there and surrendered, they would just get rid of him. He would drop into a black hole and never be heard from again.

That wasnt going to happen.