The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [312]
Bob Holtzman had gotten the call the previous evening. It had come on his unlisted home line. A curt, short message, it had also perked his interest. At two in the afternoon, he walked into a small Mexican place in Georgetown called Esteban's. Most of the business crowd had gone, leaving the place about a third full, mainly with kids from Georgetown University. A wave from the back told him where to go.
"Hello," Holtzman said, sitting down.
"You Holtzman?"
"That's right," the reporter said. "And you are?"
"Two friendly guys," the older one said. "Join us for lunch?"
"Okay." The younger one got up and started feeding quarters into a jukebox that played Mexican music. In a moment, it was certain that his tape recorder wouldn't have a chance of working.
"What do you want to see me about?"
"You've been writing some pieces on the Agency." the older one started off. "The target of your articles is the Deputy Director, Dr John Ryan."
"I never said that." Holtzman replied.
"Whoever leaked all that shit to you lied. It's a set-up."
"Says who?"
"Just how honest a reporter are you?"
"What do you mean?" Holtzman asked.
"If I tell you something totally off the record, will you print it?"
"That depends on the nature of the information. What exactly is your intention?"
"What I mean, Mr Holtzman, is that I can prove to you that you've been lied to, but the proof of that can never be revealed. It would endanger some people. It would also prove that somebody's been using you to grind an axe or two. I want to know who that person is."
"You know that I can never reveal a source. That violates our code of ethics."
"Ethics in a reporter." the man said, just loudly enough to be heard over the music. "I like that. Do you also protect sources who lie to you?"
"No, we don't do that."
"Okay, then I'm going to tell you a little story, but the condition is that you may never, ever reveal what I am going to tell you. Will you honor such a condition?"
"What if I find out you are misleading me?"
"Then you will be free to print it. Fair enough?" Clark got a nod. "Just remember, I will be very unhappy if you ever print it, 'cuz I ain't lying. One more thing, you can't ever use what I am going to tell you as a lead to do your own digging."
"That's asking a lot."
"You make the call, Mr Holtzman. You have the reputation of an honest reporter, and a pretty smart one.
"There are some things that can't be reported - well, that's going too far. Let's say that there are things that have to remain secret for a very long time. Like years. What I'm getting at is this: you've been used. You have been conned into printing lies in order to hurt someone. Now, I'm not a reporter, but if I were, that would bother me. It would bother me because it's wrong, and it would bother me because someone took me for a sucker."
"You have it figured out. Okay, I agree to your conditions."
"Fair enough." Clark told his story. It took ten minutes.
"What about the mission? Where exactly did the man die?"
"Sorry, pal. And you can forget about finding that one out. Less than ten people can answer that." Clark's lie was a clever one. "If you even manage to figure out who they are, they won't talk - they can't. Not too many people voluntarily leak information about breaking laws."
"And the Zimmer woman?"
"You can check out most of that story. Where she lives, the family business, where the kid was born, who was there, who the doctor was."
Holtzman checked his notes. "There's something really, really big behind all this, isn't there?"
Clark just stared at him. "All I want is a name."
"What will you do with it?"
"Nothing that concerns you."
"What will Ryan do with it?"
"He doesn't know we're here."
"Bullshit."
"That, Mr Holtzman, is the truth."
Bob Holtzman had been a reporter a very long time. He'd been lied to by experts. He'd been the target of