Page 378 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"Then who will negotiate with them?"

"I will," said George. "I'll fly down there tomorrow."

The mayor grinned. "And you being, you know, the color you are, you'll be able to talk them into backing down."

George wanted to strangle the dumb prick. "I don't want you to misunderstand me, Mr. Mayor--Denny, I should say. You will have to make some real changes. My job is to make sure they're as painless as possible. But you're an experienced political leader, and you know the importance of public relations."

"That's the truth."

"If there's any talk of the Roath Christians backing down, it could sabotage the whole deal. Better for you to take the line that you've graciously made some small concessions, much against your will, in order to get your airport built for the good of the town."

"Gotcha," Denny said with a wink.

Without realizing it, Denny had agreed to reverse a decades-old practice and employ more blacks at his airport. This was a small victory, but George relished it. However, Denny would not be happy unless he could tell himself and others that he had pulled a fast one. Best, perhaps, to go along with the delusion.

George winked back.

As the delegation from Tennessee was leaving the office, George's secretary gave him a strange look and a slip of paper.

It was a typed phone message: "There will be a prayer meeting at the Barney Circle Full Gospel Church tomorrow at six."

The secretary's look said this was a strange way for a high-powered Washington lawyer to spend the cocktail hour.

George knew the message was from Maria.

*

Cam did not like Tim Tedder. He wore a safari suit and had a soldier's short haircut. He had no sideburns, at a time when almost everyone wore sideburns. Cam felt Tedder was too gung ho. He clearly relished everything clandestine. Cam wondered what Tedder would have said if asked to kill Jasper Murray rather than just wiretap him.

Tedder had no scruples about breaking the law, but he was used to working with the government, and within twenty-four hours he appeared in Cam's office with a written plan and a budget.

The plan provided for three men to watch Jasper Murray's apartment over two days to determine his routine. Then they would enter at a time they knew to be safe and plant a transmitter in his phone. They would also place a tape recorder nearby, probably on the roof of the building, in a casing marked 50,000 VOLTS--DO NOT TOUCH to discourage investigation. Then they would change the tapes once every twenty-four hours for a month, and Tedder would provide transcripts of all conversations.

The price for all this was five thousand dollars. Cam would get the money from the slush fund operated by the Committee to Reelect the President.

Cam took the proposal to Ehrlichman, sharply conscious that he was crossing a line. He had never done anything criminal in

his life. Now he was about to become a conspirator in a burglary. It was necessary: the leaks had to be stopped, and the president had said: "I don't give a damn how it's done." All the same, Cameron did not feel good about it. He was jumping off a diving board in the dark, and could not see the water below.

John Ehrlichman wrote "E" in the approve box.

Then he added an anxious little note: "If done under your assurance that it is not traceable."

Cam knew what that meant.

If it all went wrong, he was to take the blame.

*

George left his office at five thirty and drove to Barney Circle, a low-rent residential neighborhood east of Capitol Hill. The church was a shack on a lot surrounded by a high chicken-wire fence. Inside, the rows of hard chairs were half full. The worshippers were all black, mostly women. It was a good place for a clandestine meeting: an FBI agent in here would be as conspicuous as a turd on a tablecloth.

One of the women turned around, and George recognized Maria Summers. He sat next to her.

"What is it?" he whispered. "What's the emergency?"

She put her finger to her lips. "Afterward," she said.

He smiled wryly. He would have to sit through an hour of prayers. Well, it would probably do his soul good.

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