"Dean Ing - Silent Thunder" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ing Dean)

rescue. This was Bowden's first three-day vacation since Congress had voted to accept
him as Harrison Rand's Secretary of State, and he was tiring of it before he'd even tied
into his first trout. Bowden knew he had become physically soft, and at age sixty he did
not want to feel ashamed to grip Martin's shoulder as they edged out, feeling the tug of
the Yellowstone River.

Nonetheless, he felt shame. Just one more little reminder of impotence on top of all the
rest, he admitted to himself. My God, I haven't even made it with Lucille in over a
month. Bowden wondered if the sex lives of the Secretaries of Defense and Commerce
were suffering as well. Who would have believed that an outsider like that goddamned
Walter Kalvin could usurp so much power, so fast, from the position of White House
Chief of Staff?

Let the river carry your fly, Martin suggested, as Bowden tried a sweeping backcast. The
guide stood facing away from shore, his voice barely audible in the white noise of
rushing water. That way we can attend to business.

Bowden glanced around, read Martin's faint smile, and pretended he was still interested
in fishing. What business is that? he asked.

Without preamble: I'm your contact, sir. We're convinced that Undersecretary Parker's
death was a deliberate hit, Martin said, seeming to study the river. We're not questioning
whether Parker was killed by that mugger: he was. But we've done a careful profile on
the mugger, and he'd been a suspect on two previous contract killings. He became an
addict, but he wasn't the kind to take a deliberate overdose. Needle mark in his arm was
a nasty one, too; maybe the guy was struggling. In any case, he can't give his end of it
now that he's safely dead.

Safe for whom? Richard Parker was a good man. He resigned as a protest on my behalf,
Martin. If he wasn't safe, who is?

Everyone at cabinet level, we think, so long as they don't step out of the game.
Now, Bowden drew in slack line and glanced at Martin as he made another leisurely cast.
You mean, if I should resign, I might wind up like poor Dick Parker?

Any member of President Rand's cabinet who walks out complaining that he's a rubber
stamp for Walter Kalvin could wind up on a slab, sir. I wouldn't tempt fate by trying it if I
were you. Just hang in there. These things take time.

Whose time is it taking? All I have from you people is a handshake and a promise,
Bowden said.

That handshake's been good enough for centuries, Martin replied. If it makes you feel
any better, this little meeting is expensive for me; it's my last day as Cody Martin, and I'd
got to where I liked it here. I was DIA for twelve years before I became a sacrificial
lamb.

The Defense Intelligence Agency was an arm of the Defense Department, therefore not
under control of State or Treasury. Bowden made a test connection: You're telling me
Secretary Canales runs your group?