“He’s the man Gold came to see. I saw them meet.”

“I’m not interested in Fuchs.”

“When you saw Gold on the portal, he was carrying a copy of the Santa Fe newspaper. At the bridge—”

“I’m not interested in Fuchs.”

How often does a man see an example of love? A chance taken for him? Even if the danger was so much greater than she knew.

“Leave Dr. Weiss alone,” he said to Augustino.

“That’s up to you. It’s her or Oppenheimer. You choose.”

“I need some time.”

The windshield fogged before Anna’s face. Beads of rain idly coalesced and ran.

Go, Joe thought. Thank you, now go.

Augustino said, “Tonight. You know all the tests on the Hill for the last two days point to an ignominious failure here. We are on the eve of a historic debacle, Sergeant. Billions of dollars wasted. A chance to end the war lost. That’s why Julius Oppenheimer is coming apart now, because he knows the bomb won’t work. He knows the first question General Groves is going to ask is, Who’s to blame? Oppenheimer is a master at escaping blame. His wife is a Communist, his brother is a Communist, his friends and students are Communists, but he says he’s not a Communist, and here he is running our most important project. I didn’t make up Harry Gold, Sergeant. Harry Gold came here with a message. If Trinity fails, it won’t be a failure of American science; it will be a result of Soviet orders. When it fails, as it will tonight, I will do my part. My men are in Santa Fe, waiting to arrest Gold. I will arrest his coconspirator. That’s been my mission all along.”

Run, Joe pleaded in his mind. Go!

“No one is going to believe any charge against Anna Weiss.”

“No one will defend her. A refugee from a Nazi mental home? A scandal? The wives on the Hill will rise as one to burn her at the stake and Kitty Oppen-heimer will throw the first torch. Sergeant, I have some small experience in security, and I can promise you that in the atmosphere following the failure, everyone will be relieved that someone was blamed.”

“On what proof?”

“Gold, Weiss, you. Courier, contact, witness. The evidence does point to this sordid triangle.”

Finally the Plymouth slipped forward, lights still out, a shadow reluctantly turning in the cafe driveway, the sound of its motion covered by the rain. Joe’s last sight was the car’s taillights, a red blur fading. After ten seconds an Army sedan with its lights out rolled from behind a motel cabin and across the courtyard and followed. It was half a mile to the highway.

For the first time, now that she was gone, Augustino paid attention to Anna.