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The slanting sun cast Washington in a glorious incandescent glow. At about 3,000 feet over the bay, the pilot banked the eight-passenger Learjet to the right, giving Julius Wick a full view. From that height the Mall could have been Pierre L'Enfant's visionary model board. |
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"So it's done," Julius said, without taking his face from the window. |
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"Yes," Frank DeVoe said. "No complications." |
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Sitting beside DeVoe was Dan McDermott in seats that faced those occupied by Julius and his wife Claire. McDermott and DeVoe had known each other since the late seventies when they both attended Boston University Law School. McDermott was now an attorney at the Treasury Department. Because of his lack of visibility, DeVoe had asked him to be acting counsel at the transfer of the Hazzard property tomorrow morning. He was qualified because he had passed the bar in Massachusetts and had practiced there for four years before moving to Washington and into a variety of federal positions. But more than that, he was a good point man with an instinct for expediencefor taking the path of least resistance, ruthlessly if necessary. At the Treasury he had masterminded covert operations for the ATF that had resulted in the permanent disappearance of drug-operation informants who were no longer useful to the government but were definite liabilities while they walked the street. He received promotions. But he quietly kept his eyes on the true prize. Next year he would assist Frank DeVoe, who was slated to run the reelection campaign of President Morgan Reese. The success of that campaign promised McDermott wonderful possibili- |
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