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“I don’t know. I sure hope not.”

At that moment the man who had gone to the toilet came back to his seat. Brad got up and thanked Walter for the chat. “I sure hope you’re wrong,” Brad said.

“I often am.” Walter smiled.

“Wrong about what?” the man asked.

“Nothing,” Walter answered. “Mr. Miller and I were just playing a guessing game.”

As Brad walked back to where Barbara was sitting, Max Leonard appeared once again on the big screen. “I hope you all are comfortable,” he said to his captives. “I am in the process of making contact with the President of the United States. I don’t know how many of you voted for him, but if you did, then you know more than I do whether he will act sensibly and listen to what we have to say. I know that several of you have been communicating with the outside world, telling them what is going on, and quite frankly, that is fine. You might tell them to contact their representatives and convince the President to do what we ask so you all can go back to your comfortable existence. This was never meant to hurt you and it should not hurt you if your government listens to us. When this is over I will leave this ship and you will go on your merry way, hopefully with a new outlook and a new appreciation of the generations that are following you. That’s all for now.”

And the screen went dark. It didn’t really put anyone at ease, but some of the older folks had to admit that Max was rather charming. And he would have been more so without the two speed patches.

* * *

At around two-thirty, Kathy asked Clyde if she could go home early. “Of course. Absolutely. You’ve had a very, very rough day. I’m sorry if I seemed so worried, Kathy, I just know how publicity can help or hurt a business and I didn’t know what this would do, but it’s obvious you’re innocent, and I’m so happy you’re here.”

Kathy smiled and gave a halfhearted thank-you.

As she was heading home she couldn’t stop thinking about Max. She was still in love with him. He might have done something stupid, but so many people never do anything at all. At least he was trying. Just don’t kill anyone. That’s all she could think. Make your points, but don’t kill anyone and don’t you get killed. She kept saying it to herself as if she could make it come true. But the truth was, she didn’t know how this could end peacefully. She knew Max was not going to sit in prison the rest of his life. That was certain.

All of a sudden her car slammed on its brakes and stopped itself. Kathy came out of her trance and saw that she was driving toward the back of a pickup truck. She’d never been a big fan of cars taking over control from the driver—she always thought it was intrusive—but today it prevented a crash that would have made the afternoon even worse.

When she got to her house she had a message waiting for her. She played it back and watched as Max Leonard talked a mile a minute, licking his lips, looking tired and crazy, but it was still him and she was happy to see his face. “Hi, baby. I love you. I’m sure you know what’s gone down and I want to say to anyone who cares that you had nothing to do with this. You didn’t even know what I was up to for the longest time and I don’t want you blamed by association. I still love you but you are not part of anything that I am doing and it’s important for people to know that.” As Max was about to continue with his rambling someone pulled him away and he finished up by saying, “Gotta go. Love you, baby. Love you so much.”

And the screen went blank. Kathy knew that everything Max did once he got on that ship was going to be monitored. But at least he said exactly what she had told them. She was not part of this. But of course she was. Here was a message, after all, from the man holding thousands of people hostage.

She made a decision at that moment to try to save her own ass. Knowing the FBI would have already seen the message, even before her, Kathy knew that not telling them would look as though she was hiding something. She decided to contact them first. “My name is Kathy Bernard,” she