Chapter 16

CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely¹ believed that all soldiers were expendable, even himself. He had always preached² the gospel:

there's always another soldier.

So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission³ Dis-trict. If the call was interrupted, if the call was discovered, well, so be it.

The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. He recognized the voice of Michelle, the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. What a performance she'd put on.

"I'm proud of you, Michelle. Please don't say anything. Just put Malcolm on. You are a hero, though."

Michelle put the phone down, and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders.

It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. Hell⁴, it might even explain Hitler at Munich. These were very smart people, most of them with graduate degrees, but they rarely questioned anything he told them.

"Yeah. It's me."

He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. This boy was brilliant, but he was truly a killer⁵, probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes.

"Listen to me. I don't want to stay on too long. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully. It couldn't be better."

Danko paused for a couple of seconds. "Do it again," he finally said.

1 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

2 preached   

v.布道( preach的过去式和过去分词 )；劝诫；说教；宣传

参考例句：

• She preached to the congregation about forgiveness. 她向会众宣讲宽恕的道理。
• The friar preached against stealing and had a goose in his sleeve. 口是心非。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mission   

n.使命，任务，天职；代表团，使团

参考例句：

• He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
• I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

4 hell   

n.地狱，阴间；用以咒骂或表示愤怒，不满

参考例句：

• It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
• The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。