The Kill Zone by David Hagberg Read Free Book Online Page A

look, but she couldn’t hold it. She smiled. “Chili, corn bread and a salad. Down-home.”
    â€œSounds good,” McGarvey said. “So, how was your day?”
    â€œBusy. How about you?”
    â€œIt was definitely a Monday.”
    â€œGo change. I’ll make you a drink.”
    â€œYou’ve got a deal,” he said, suddenly weary. He went upstairs, changed into a flannel shirt, jeans and moccasins. His eyes were bloodshot from the pool water, and his muscles were sore. Each year it seemed to get a little bit tougher to come back from a strong workout. He stopped and looked out the window. The wind had risen, and the snow had a definite slant. Bad night to be out. He shivered, for some reason thinking about bad nights like this one, and some a lot worse, when he’d been out; stalking his prey—someone unexpected, some monster coming out of the blizzard and darkness. What other monsters were lurking out there now, coming toward them? He couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding, of menace that had been hanging over him like a dark cloud for the past several days.
    Time to get out, the thought once again flashed across his mind. Go. Run. Run. Run. Find a hole and jump in like he had done before. For the sake of Katy and Liz. Or for self-preservation? He’d never had the guts to ask himself that question. Maybe it was time to start. Self-doubt settled heavy on his shoulders, pushing him down; a nearly impossible burden to bear. He walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, grasping for a lightness that he didn’t feel because he owed it to his wife to try at least as hard as she was trying.
    She had poured him a cognac neat, and she was laying out the place settings at the counter. “I thought we’d eat in here. That okay with you?” She had turned on the gas logs in the French fireplace that separated the kitchen from the family room.
    McGarvey nodded. “How was your day, Katy?”
    She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Nothing unusual.”
    â€œYou look a little frazzled.”
    She was on the other side of the counter, and she cocked her head as if she was listening for something. “The confirmation hearings start tomorrow, don’t they?”
    â€œIs that what’s getting to you?”
    â€œI saw the Post this morning. They think that you’re going to have a bad time of it. Are they going to stop you?”

    He was relieved that that’s all that was bothering her. They’d not talked very much about the Senate hearings except that their lives, hers included, would be under a microscope for a week or two. It was an inevitable part of the process. Worse than running for elected office because you couldn’t campaign. No one was supposed to want this job. If you did, you were automatically suspect. “They might. Would that bother you?”
    She thought about it. “What if you are confirmed as DCI, Kirk? How long will you keep the job?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe I won’t take it in the first place. Look, Katy, if—”
    â€œI’m serious. Would you make a career of it like Roland did? Peggy told me that it almost killed him.” She was stressed out. “Now that we’ve come this far I want some time with you.”
    â€œI’ll call the President in the morning and tell him I’m out.”
    â€œNo,” Kathleen replied sharply.
    â€œIt’s not worth it, what it’s doing to you. I’ll stick it out until they get someone else.”
    She shook her head as he was talking. “That’s not what I meant. I simply want to know how long you’ll stay.”
    McGarvey didn’t know what to say. He felt that whatever answer he gave her would be the wrong one. “Three or four years,” he finally said. “I owe them that much.”
    Kathleen stared wide-eyed at him for a moment or two, then nodded.