"You're very good at it."
"Bray taught me. Once in a seemingly passive situation, a refuge or a sanctuary, you should always ask questions-nicely, innocently, as though you're really curious. He claims women are better at that than men, so I do it."
"He's all heart. It also means you're more likely to get shot."
Scofield chortled.
"You must have to think before you chew," he said, then abruptly turned serious.
"We heard about the RDF corporal who bought it last night. The bastards!"
"Who'd you hear it from?"
"By way of Colonel Bracket. He came up to give Denny the news and there was a fair amount of confusion-accusations, if you like.
Toni and I got up and joined the fray."
"What accusations?"
"Just horse shit, that's all."
"No, it's not all."
"Leave it alone, Cam," said Antonia.
"Mr. Denny was 'out of line," as you Americans say."
"What did he say?"
"He wanted to know on whose authority Montrose left the com
pound with a vehicle," replied Scofield.
"Bracket told him that as second in command of the RDF unit, she didn't need any authority."
"Essentially, he was saying that she had his authority," added Bray's wife.
"The colonel's."
"That's not true," said Pryce.
"I gave her the order on my own authority as an experienced field officer who had made a logical field analysis. Regretfully, I happened to be right.. .. What was Denny doing? Who the hell does he think he is?"
"I am the compound's liaison to Deputy Director Shields, and in his absence have full responsibility for everything that takes place here."
The words came from the figure in the doorway, a medium-sized, slender man with a balding head, a pleasant, youthful face that seemed to contradict his loss of hair, and a voice that might be described as a soft monotone.
"With that responsibility," he continued, "comes authority."
"You're not just out of line, Denny," said Cameron, standing up and facing the liaison, "you're way the goddamned hell out of line! You listen to me, hot dog. I didn't hear you make any authoritative pronouncements last night when a dead killer was dropped down a wall beside the two guards whose necks he sliced from ear to ear. I don't even remember your being there!"
"I was there, Mr. Pryce, although briefly-there was nothing I could add to the current circumstances. Instead, I felt it was necessary to reach Director Shields immediately. We were quite some time on the phone, going over all the possible leaks, including the helicopter crews. . He'll be here by noon."
"Researching the chopper crews?" asked Brandon.
"Yes, sir."
"So by what authority, on what expertise, do you question an RDF decision or my decision?"
"I think that's obvious. A man was killed."
"It happens, Mr. Denny. I hate it, you hate it-we all hate it. But it happens."
"Look, Pryce, maybe I flew off the handle when I shouldn't have-" "You've got that right!" Cameron broke in.
"But I'm here to oversee things, to make sure things go smoothly, and that was the first night. I look like a fool, an incompetent."
"You couldn't have prevented it, and I think you know that," said Pryce, quieting down and gesturing for Denny to join them at the table.
"Maybe not the two guards and the assassination attempt, but I probably would have cautioned anyone about leaving the compound for the purpose explained. If I'd known about it."
"You would?" Cam's hostility returned.
"Why?"
"Because there was a better way-assuming someone was actually waiting for the assassin on the old Chesapeake Road."
"If, for Christ's sake! You want to make the call to the kid's family?"
"I was using a prior-hypothetical-" "He speaks funnier than you do-" interrupted Scofield.
"So does Shields speak funny, but I've been around these clowns long enough to understand," Cam replied.
"What would you have done, Sir Analyst-you are an analyst, right?"
"I am. and I would have reached our armed personnel in a camouflaged vehicle in a field north of the entrance drive. They could have made an external assault."
"What personnel?" Pryce, still standing, was shouting now.
"What vehicle?"
"They're there. In eight-hour shifts."
"Why the fu ... the hell didn't we know about them?"
"I'm familiar with the F-word, Cameron," said Antonia, quiet anger in her words, "and despite your courtesy, I believe it's truly appropriate here.. .. Mr. Denny, why weren't we told about them?"
"For God's sake, I hadn't gotten around to it! The first night, what could happen on the first night? ..."
"That's when you look for it," replied Scofield, his voice suddenly assuming a tone of command.
"It's not your fault, though, it's Shields's-and it's not the first time he's done it. The initial instructions to the field should inform us of all the options we have that primary. No surprises, no alternatives we don't know about, no horse-shit omissions, you got that, boy?"
"There can be variations on that scenario, sir."
"Give me one, you son of a bitch!"
"Please, Bray," interrupted his wife, her hand on her husband's arm.
"No, I want to hear his answer! Go ahead, analyst!"
"I think you know, Mr. Scofield," said Denny, in his soft, flat voice.
"You go back a long time with Deputy Shields."
"The L-Factor, am I right?"
"Yes," replied the liaison, barely audible.
"What in God's name is that?" asked Pryce, bewildered.
"You just appropriately used the name of the Lord," said Bray.
"The L-Factor is Scripture, according to Saint Shields the Immaculate, scholar of the Bible. The L is for Leviticus, as in the Pentateuch, the third book of the Old Testament. That much I remember."
"What are you talking about, my husband?"
"Shields always believed that the answers to most human problems or enigmas were found in the Bible. Not necessarily the religious aspects, but in the interpretations of the stories, both myth and history."
"Frank's a religious fanatic?" Cameron was stunned.
"I don't know, you'd have to ask him. He surely knows his Bible, though."
"This L-Factor, this Leviticus, what is it?" insisted Pryce.
"In short, don't trust the high priest. He may be a rat."
"Come again?" Cameron sat down slowly, staring at Scofield as if the retired intelligence man were a lunatic.
"I'm not sure I ever got it completely straight, but in Leviticus the high priesthood was confined to the sons of Levi or Aaron, I think.
They were the rulers of the temple and gave orders to everybody else.
Then a few ambitious brothers who weren't part of this exclusive fraternity mocked up some fake genealogical papers and wormed their way into the club. As a result, they had a real political voice over the vox populi."
"Are you crazy?" Pryce, his eyes wide, was beside himself with frustration.
"That's biblical claptrap!"
"Not necessarily," interrupted Eugene Denny.
"Mr. Scofield essentially has the basic facts, if out of context."
"Forget the redundancy," said Pryce.
"What's he talking about?"