page18 (1/2)

“Who are they really?”

“Not important”

“Who was this Milton bloke the little fellow mentioned?”

“A friend”

“But he’s dead How? Accident?”

“No, large-caliber rifle round”

Chap when Stone’s cell phone buzzed It was FBI agent Gross Stone listened and then clicked off

“The woht has turned up”

“You ht her?” asked Chapman

“No, she walked into the FB

I all on her own”

CHAPTER 20

“I’M MARISA FRIEDMAN,” the woman said as Stone and Chapman took seats opposite her and Toton Field Office, which all agents referred to as the WFO Stone took a few ht and with only a few feet separating them he decided she was closer to thirty than forty She was Chapht or a bit taller, with blonde hair that curled around her neck It was not her natural color, Stone could tell Her eyes were blue and striking, her face interesting with elegant bone structure, the chin sharply angled and the two sides of her jaw for perfect bookends for the expressive mouth Her clothes were clearly expensive but she wore them in a casual manner; e

Gross added, “Ms Fried for anyone as in the park last night”

Friedman shook her head and looked troubled “I have to tell you I was shocked at what happened I’d just gotten to H Street when the gunfire started And then the explosion” She shivered uncontrollably

“How did you find out the FBI was looking for you?” Stone asked

“A friend of mine saw an item on the news and phoned me”

Stone looked at Gross, who said, “In situations like this we call in thethe word out Usually very effective”

“Well, it certainly was in my case,” said Friedman

“In any event you probably would’ve assumed the police would want to talk to you,” said Stone

“I guess so, yes, although I don’t have any experience in things like this My hoo, that’s really the only contact I’ve ever had with the police”

“Can you tell us what you saw?” asked Gross

“S” She looked at Stone and her voice shook “I’ve never been that frightened in my life”

“But before all that you were sitting on one of the benches in the park?” said Stone

“Yes, that’s right”

“Little late at night for that, wasn’t it?” asked Stone

“My office is located in the line of town houses on the west side of the park”

“Jackson Place?” said Stone

“Yes Most of the offices there are linked to the White House, but I was able to snare one of the late Left the office The night was so nice I sat down and ht’ve even dozed off I don’t usually do that, but I did last night It was a long day and I was tired And I know the park is about the best-protected space in the city, so I felt very safe” She gave a hollow laugh “That turned out to be quite ironic It really was bad ti all around,” she added with another little shiver “Nice relaxing time in the park that turned into a war zone For a ht I’d stumbled onto a movie set”

“Only the bullets and bomb were real,” said Stone

“Yes”

“What is your business?” asked Gross

She flashed a smile “In this town, that close to the White House you’re one of the two Ls”