"Sir, there is an operation in the planning stages-"
"What kind of an operation?"
"We're going to set up a weather observation station in Mongolia, General. The mission was laid on The Corps by the Joint Chiefs. The station will be required later in the war for long-range bombing raids. McCoy is singularly well qualified to take a major role."
"Mongolia?" Pickering asked dubiously, and then: "When does this operation get under way?"
"In about four months, Sir. They're trying to decide the best way to get the people into Mongolia."
"I'm planning to get Howard and Koffler off Buka in the next month, Rickabee. Send for McCoy. I have the feeling there's a very good reason they call him `Killer." And in any event, he's a simple ex-enlisted man like me who believes that Marines don't leave their dead and wounded on the battlefield."
"There are a number of professional officers, General, including this one, who don't think so either.
"I've angered you, Rickabee, haven't I?"
What you've done is make me a little ashamed of myself.
"No, Sir. Not at all, Sir. I'll have McCoy here in the morning, and I'll give this some thought."
[Five]
THE FOSTER LAFAYETTE HOTEL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1910 HOURS 22 SEPTEMBER 1942
"May I help you, Miss?" the desk clerk said to the striking young woman with jet-black, pageboy-cut hair.
"May I have the key to 614, please?" she asked.
Although every effort had been made to prepare him for every possible contingency, the request posed certain problems for the desk clerk.
For one thing, he had no idea who this woman was. For another, 614 was a three-room suite maintained year-round by American Personal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for the convenience of corporate executives who had business in Washington. For another, the desk clerk was aware that the Chairman of the Board of American Personal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and his wife had a personal relationship with the Foster family: Mrs. Elaine Sage had been the college roommate of Mrs. Patricia Pickering, Andrew Foster's only child.
A quick look at the key board confirmed the desk clerk's recollection that 614 was not occupied at the moment.
The stunning young woman in the pageboy was obviously not Mrs. Elaine Sage. She was not even married; there was no ring on her finger. Neither was there a ring on the third finger of the left hand of the uncomfortable-looking young Marine officer standing behind her.
"Six-fourteen, Miss?"
"Please. I'm Ernestine Sage."
"Just a moment, please," the desk clerk said and walked quickly to the small office occupied by the assistant manager on duty.
"There is a young woman at the counter-a real looker, in bangs-who wants the key to 614. She says her name is Sage."
"A looker with bangs? Give it to her. That's Ernest Sage's daughter."
"She's got a Marine with her," the desk clerk said.
`Really?" the assistant manager said, and got up and walked through the door to the counter.
"Hello, Miss Sage," he said. Then, in one smooth move, he snatched the key from the key board, handed it to her, and tinkled the bell for a bellboy. "Nice to have you in the house again. And you too, Lieutenant McCoy."
"How are you," Ken McCoy responded, running the words together and flashing a brief uncomfortable smile.
"Thank you, it's nice to see you," Ernie Sage said, and turned to follow the bellboy with their luggage to the elevators.
The assistant manager picked up the telephone and asked for room service.
"Send flowers, fruit, and a bottle of champagne, Moet, to six fourteen," he ordered. After he hung up, he turned to the desk clerk. "That was indeed Miss Ernestine Sage. The gentleman with her is Lieutenant K. R. McCoy. Lieutenant Malcolm S. Pickering-who was once the bell captain here, by the way, did you know that?"
"No, I didn't."
"-Lieutenant Pickering once told me that Lieutenant McCoy was his best friend. He asked me as a personal favor to him to take very good care of Lieutenant McCoy whenever he was in the house. Is everything clear now, Tom?"
"Crystal clear."
In the elevator, oblivious to the presence of the operator, the bellboy, and a well-dressed couple in their fifties, Ernie Sage said, "Don't you dare look embarrassed! I'm not the one who doesn't want to get married."
"Jesus, Ernie!" McCoy said, flushing.
"I have no objection to becoming an honest woman," Ernie said, enjoying herself. "You're the one who insists on living in sin." McCoy rushed off the elevator before the doors were fully open and hurried down the corridor. Ernie smiled warmly at the well-dressed middle-aged couple before following the bellboy.
Once the door was open, McCoy headed for the couch in the sitting room and picked up the telephone from the coffee table in front of it. He gave the operator a number.
"Give me the watch officer, please.
"Lieutenant McCoy, Sir. The Colonel told me to check in when I got to Washington.
"No, Sir. I'm in the Foster Lafayette Hotel. Room 614.
"Thank you, Sir." Ernie, meanwhile, had led the bellboy into the largest bedroom, tipped him, and then watched him leave. By the time McCoy was done with the phone, she had removed all her clothing but her underwear. She was now standing in the bedroom doorway with her hip thrust out provocatively. Her arm was behind her head and a rose was in her teeth.
"Hi, Marine! Looking for a good time?"
"You're nuts, you know that?"
"I don't know about you, but I find it terribly sexy to be in a hotel room with someone I'm not married to."
"You're going to keep that up, are you?"
There was not time for her to reply. There was a knock at the door. After she closed the bedroom door, McCoy opened the corridor door to a waiter delivering a rolling cart with champagne, fruit, cut flowers, and a copy of The Washington Post.
The bellman refused the two dollars McCoy extended to him.