Chapter 8 Section VII

Happy 40th birthday, Decker said to himself.The haggard look on his face in the bathroom mirror suggested that he had slept poorly that night, worrying about McKittrick.Jet lag, and the fact that he had struggled to hold his breath not to inhale the choking fumes, have given him headaches that have not gone away.Last night's late-night snack of lasagna, chicken, and Marsala wine still sat in his stomach.A few lines began to form around the corners of his watchful blue-green eyes, which seemed to add some grit to his rough face.As if all this wasn't enough, he found a strand of gray hair among his slightly long sandy brown curls.He unplugged them with a grumble.

For most people, Decker thought, Saturday morning was the start of the weekend, but not for people in my line of work.He couldn't even recall the last time he had a real weekend and felt relaxed and happy.Somehow he remembered following McKittrick down the Spanish Steps, past the house where Keats died.He imagined how Keats coughed his own life away, the lung disease crushing him, suffocating him.At such a young age, he has achieved great things. I need to rest for a while. Decker puts on his long-distance running clothes, tries to ignore the haze of car exhaust, avoids the crowds on the sidewalk, and runs to the multinational real estate consulting firm he reported to the previous day.It pleased him that his circuitous course made it impossible for anyone to follow him.After showing his credentials, he was let into an office with an anti-tapping telephone equipped with a scrambler. Five minutes later, he was on the phone with his supervisor in Alexandria, Virginia.The executive, also in an office of the multinational real estate consulting firm, had a phone with a scrambler tuned to Decker's frequency.

The 15-minute call made Decker increasingly frustrated.McKittrick's father, he learned, had heard about his plans, and perhaps McKittrick called his father late last night (Decker can only hope that McKittrick used the Coin-operated phones, and more discreet calls).His father is not only a legend in the field of intelligence work, but also once served as the chairman of the National Security Council and still has great political influence. McKittrick's father is very important to Decker's work. Capability was questioned, accusing Decker of trying to remove McKittrick in order to take credit for McKittrick's finding the terrorists.Although Decker's boss claimed that he personally sided with Decker in the conflict between Decker and McKittrick, the reality was that he was compelled not to Heed Decker's warning and keep McKittrick on the job. "Take care of this kid," said the superior, "don't let him make a mistake. Check the rest of the information in his report. We'll pass it on to the Italian authorities and get you both out. I assure you, You will never work with him again."

"That's what worries me right now." Decker ran all the way back to the hotel, unable to relieve his frustration.Spreading towels on the guest room floor, he did 150 push-ups in a row, followed by the same number of sit-ups.Sweat dripped from his strong shoulders, narrow hips, and muscular legs.He practiced a few more judo moves, then took a shower, changed into clean jeans and an oxford shirt, and finally put on a tan leather jacket to hide the pistol in his lower back.His stomach is still very uncomfortable.