2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [152]
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“A few days ago.”
“The authorities might want to question you, wouldn’t you think?” Kathy was smart. She knew what he was afraid of.
“I won’t let them question me here, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve got nothing to tell them anyway.”
And at that moment Clyde’s fears were realized. Without any warning, five men, looking very official and very scary, came into the real estate office. It was all Clyde could do to keep from saying, “You want her!” But he didn’t. He played it cool. “May I help you?”
The men didn’t need him. They knew who Kathy Bernard was and what she looked like and they asked her to come quietly. Kathy didn’t resist. She could have asked for an official warrant, but she didn’t. She wasn’t on that ship and had never known about it, so she had nothing to hide. But the questioning was going to be tough.
She was taken about twenty miles west to an army base in Plainfield. She was escorted into a conference room where there were several screens on the wall, and on one of the screens was a man who looked very important; certainly he had more medals on his uniform than Kathy had ever seen. He was introduced as Major General Mark Allen.
“First, Ms. Bernard, we brought you here only to get as much information as possible. No one is accusing you of anything.”
“My God,” Kathy said, “I can only imagine what this would feel like if you were accusing me.”
The general smiled, but immediately got down to business. Over the next hour and a half he asked her a hundred questions about Max Leonard. How did they meet, what was he like, what drugs did he do, what were his plans, what was his family like, who were his friends. It went on and on and on. Kathy had been deposed when her father was shot, and she’d thought that was the third degree, but this made that seem like kindergarten.
Fortunately for Kathy, she had had no idea of the plan. And since that was the truth she didn’t act as though she were hiding any information. The only things she didn’t tell them were that she’d seen a model of the boat and that Max Leonard had made a Sam Mueller wall. They would never know that. Somehow she felt that those could be taken the wrong way, that someone might think she should have called the authorities as soon as she discovered either one of them. But she was forthcoming in every other way. She told them that she was part of the group for youth equality, but she always went back to the truth, which was that she never, ever participated in violence and she hadn’t known Max Leonard would, either. That last part might have been a lie, but so what?
When they drove her back to the office three hours later, she felt as if she’d been verbally raped. Clyde Folsom was waiting there to see if she was okay and if his business was going to suffer. But it became apparent that, at least for now, Kathy Bernard was not a suspect. And even after all she had been through, she still sold another house before lunch was over. That was good enough for Clyde. Hell, maybe this will even turn out to be a plus somehow.
* * *
Sam Mueller was in Switzerland when he saw the news. He turned to his wife and said, “That son of a bitch accosted me in Texas. I thought he was going to kidnap Mark.”
“Jesus,” Maggie said. “Did you think he was capable of doing this?”
“How could I? I knew something was wrong with him, but who would know this?”
“You should have had him arrested.”
“I suggested it. They threw him out of the hotel. Go figure. Thank God we don’t know anyone on that ship.”
And because they were a world away and the skiing was particularly good that afternoon, they turned off the news and went back to their luxuries.
* * *
Matthew Bernstein was trying to get two hours of sleep as Air Force One made its way