Chapter 9 - THE SECOND LIFE OF THOMAS BENNETT
Thomas lived under the name Paul Mercer.
No wife.
No children.
A mechanic in western Pennsylvania.
Margaret had visited him twice.
"Why didn't he go home?"
Michael demanded.
"He tried."
Voss threatened June.
Not with murder.
With prosecution.
June had unknowingly helped Thomas mail coded documents before the operation.
Voss convinced her she could be charged with espionage and lose Michael.
Thomas stayed away to protect them.
Walter said:
"That's insane."
Margaret snapped:
"It was 1982, Walter. We were all scared and stupid."
Walter absorbed the word stupid.
It fit better than heroic.
Thomas eventually discovered Voss was still selling information.
He began collecting evidence.
In 2009, he contacted Margaret.
Then disappeared.
His body was found in a motel under the Paul Mercer identity.
Heart attack.
No autopsy.
Walter asked:
"Did you believe it?"
"No."
"Why?"
Margaret handed him a key.
Thomas had mailed it to her three days before his death.
A safe-deposit key.
The bank no longer existed.
Its records had been acquired by another institution in Chicago.
Walter recognized the branch address.
It stood across the street from Harrison's Grill.
That explained why someone knew he would be there.
But Walter had never known about the key.
Margaret stared at him.
"I mailed you a letter last month."
Walter shook his head.
"I never got it."
"I told you to meet me at Harrison's at noon on Veterans Day."
Walter looked at the promotion sign visible through his memory.
He had believed he entered for a free meal.
He had been summoned there.
Someone intercepted Margaret's letter.
Someone knew enough to wait.
Daniel asked:
"Who else knew?"
Margaret answered:
"One person."
She looked at Michael.
"Your father."
Michael whispered:
May you like
"Which one?"
