Shadow of the Condor Read Online Free

out there running around free. But we have to be professional about this.
    "The thing is, see, it is kind of out of my jurisdiction. I mean, sure, it was my guy. But he was killed under Air Force Security's shop. They don't want to touch it, and I can't say I blame them because it's not really their thing either. None of us are too keen on running a military operation stateside. The Army is still burning from when they got caught spying stateside on civilians. If we got caught with our pants down, it could be awfully bad PR for the Force. Awfully bad.
    "Besides, we don't have the resources. We need help, even though I'm sure the whole thing is really very simple and easy to explain. But the thing cuts across so many jurisdictions. It's a natural for L Group to work on. But I really don't think it's worth taking up at a full meeting of IC or Forty. So I thought if I gave the stuff to you, you and your staff could take it over from us. I mean, you could check it with Forty and then go, with their suggestion. Of course, I’ll give you all the backup I can.
    The coffee was cold, but drinking it gave the general something to do, an excuse for not meeting the old man's twinkling eyes.
    The two men sat quietly for a long time. The old man watched the general. The general watched nothing in particular, occasionally taking small sips of nauseatingly cold coffee, hoping it would last, hoping he was successfully filling the awful void, hoping the old man would say the right thing or at least say nothing too dangerously wrong.
    "Well," said the old man at last, "well. You do have a problem." The general winced, but said nothing. The old man continued.
    "I really can't make heads or tails of the whole thing. It's a puzzle. I'm not even sure what to do or what I can do. Of course, the Staff Liaison Board and Forty will have a lot to say about that, for, as you know, I act only as their agent."
    The general nodded and resigned himself to hell.
    "But I'll tell you what I'll do," said the old man lightly. "I'll look over this file, maybe send a few questions over to your shop. I'll see if I can come up with any ideas. If I do, I'll check them out with Forty, informally, then get back to you. All right?"
    The general wasn't sure if he was grateful, but he was relieved. After putting him through the hoops, the old man had at least dangled a bone in front of him. "Thank you, Phillip, thank you. I knew I could count on you."
    The old man rose and escorted the general to the door. He walked spryly and his voice was light when he said, "You must remember me to your wife. Lovely woman, lovely woman."
    "Of course, of course," replied the general, "and we should get together soon, informally, without all the mess of work with us."
    "How true," said the old man as he opened the door. "How true. Do come again, General. And don't worry, I'll get back to you on this."
    The general left the town house much more eagerly than he had come. He convinced himself everything was fixed, an easy task, since the general always accepted helpful interpretations. He had dumped -on the old man and gotten rid of a problem all at the same time, he thought. Not that the whole mess had been any of his problem in the first place or that the old man wasn't the one who really should handle the damn thing. The old bastard should thank him for all the help he had given him this far. Let him take the heat, thought the general, I have nothing to worry about.
    Back in the red town house the old man sat smiling while the general strode gleefully toward his waiting car.
    As the general slammed his car door, the old man began to laugh, lowly, slowly, sardonically. He laughed for a long time, long after the unmarked Air Force car slid out of its parking space carrying the general back to the Pentagon, where he would spend the rest of the day celebrating. The old man stopped laughing before the car reached the express highway encircling Washington and sat quietly while the car purred