Willy. Dammit, will you listen?
To what? More of your lies?
No. The truth.
The truth? She laughed. Since when have you bothered with the truth?
He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. Since right now.
Let me go.
Not until you hear me out.
Why should I believe anything you say?
Look, I admit it. I knew about Friar Tuck. About the reward. And
And you knew my father was on their list.
Yes.
Then why didnt you tell me?
I would have. I was going to.
It was all worked out from the beginning, wasnt it? Use me to track down my father.
I thought about it. At first.
Oh, youre low, Guy. Youre really scraping bottom. Does money mean so much to you?
I wasnt doing it for the money. I didnt have a choice. They backed me into it.
Who?
The Ariel Group. I told youtwo weeks ago they showed up in my office. They knew I was headed back to Nam. What I didnt tell you was the real reason they wanted me to work for them. They werent tracking MIAs. They were tracking an old war criminal.
Friar Tuck.
He nodded. I told them I wasnt interested. They offered me money. A lot of it. I got a little interested. Then they made me an offer I couldnt refuse.
Ah, she said with disdain.
Not money he protested.
Then whats the payoff?
He ran his hand through his hair and let out a tired breath. Silence.
She frowned, not understanding. He didnt say a thing, but she could see in his eyes some deep, dark agony. Then thats it, she finally whispered. Blackmail. What do they have on you, Guy? What are you hiding?
Its not he swallowed something I can talk about.
I see. It must be pretty damn shocking. Which is no big surprise, I guess. But it still doesnt justify what you tried to do to me. She turned and walked away in disgust.
The road shimmered in the midmorning heat. Guy was right on her heels, like a stray dog that refused to be left behind. And he wasnt the only stray following her. The slap of bare feet announced the reappearance of Oliver, who skipped along beside her, chirping, You want cyclo ride? It is very hot day! A thousand dongI get you ride!
She heard the squeak of wheels, the wheeze of an out-of-breath driver. Now Olivers uncles had joined the procession.
Go away, she said. I dont want a ride.
Sun very hot, very strong today. Maybe you faint. Once I see Russian lady faint. Oliver shook his head at the memory. It was very bad sight.
Go away!
Undaunted, Oliver turned to Guy. How about you, Daddy?
Guy slapped a few bills into Olivers grubby hand. Theres a thousand. Now scram.
Oliver vanished. Unfortunately, Guy wasnt so easily brushed off. He followed Willy into the town marketplace,
past stands piled high with melons and mangoes, past counters where freshly butchered meat gathered flies.
I was going to tell you about your father, Guy said. I just wasnt sure how youd take it.
Im not afraid of the truth.
Sure you are! Youre trying to protect him. Thats why you keep ignoring the evidence.
He wasnt a traitor!
You still love him, dont you?
She turned sharply and walked away. Guy was right beside her. Whats wrong? he said. Did I hit a nerve?
Why should I care about him? He walked out on us.
And you still feel guilty about it.
Guilty? She stopped. Me?
Thats right. Somewhere in that little-girl head of yours, you still blame yourself for his leaving. Maybe you had a fight, the way kids and dads always do, and you said something you shouldnt have. But before you had the chance to make up, he took off. And his plane went down. And here you are, twenty years later, still trying to make it up to him.
Practicing psychiatry without a license now?
It doesnt take a shrink to know what goes on in a kids head. I was fourteen when my old man walked out. I never got over being abandoned, either. Now I worry about my own kid. And it hurts.
She stared at him, astonished. You have a child?
In a manner of speaking. He looked down. The boys mother and I, we werent married. Its not something Im particularly proud of.
Oh.
Yeah.
You walked out on them, she thought. Your father left you. You left your son. The world never changes.
He wasnt a traitor, she insisted, returning to the matter at hand. He was a lot of thingsirresponsible, careless, insensitive. But he wouldnt turn against his own country.
But hes on that list of suspects. If hes not Friar Tuck himself, hes probably connected somehow. And its got to be a dangerous link. Thats why someones trying to stop you. Thats why youre hitting brick walls wherever you turn. Thats why, with every step you take, youre being followed.
What! In reflex, she turned to scan the crowd.
Dont be so obvious. Guy grabbed her arm and dragged her to a pharmacy window. Man at two oclock, he murmured, nodding at a reflection in the glass. Blue shirt, black trousers.
Are you sure?
Absolutely. I just dont know who hes working for.
He looks Vietnamese.
But he could be working for the Russians. Or the Chinese. They both have a stake in this country.
Even as she stared at the reflection, the man in the blue shirt melted into the crowd. She knew he was still lingering nearby; she could feel his gaze on her back.