‘You weren’t worried about getting fired?’
‘I knew how to do it.’
‘Tell us about the deliveries and then we’ll come back to the description of Helsing. We need more on him.’
‘Yeah, we’ve got a lot of things to talk about before we get to a better description.’
Raveneau glanced at Coe. That was loud and clear from Drury and Raveneau doubted the description he’d given of this Helsing was accurate at all.
‘You’d better make your deal with him,’ Raveneau said. ‘He’s just playing your guys in there and they know it.’
Coe folded his arms over his chest. ‘We promised Oakland we wouldn’t make any deals.’
‘You’ve got to do something to convince him.’
Coe slowly shook his head. He stared through the glass.
‘When did you start doing deliveries for Helsing?’
‘Right after that, and if you’re going to ask me what day, I don’t know, end of November, I guess.’
‘What did you deliver the first delivery?’
‘Some boxes.’
‘How many?’
‘Half a dozen maybe.’
‘How many deliveries have you done altogether?’
‘Probably a dozen.’
‘Did you keep a record of where?’
‘The opposite, I didn’t want any record. They went different places. The unit of plywood was the biggest. Most were small enough for me to carry them, boxes and shit. The first ones were test runs. You know, to see if I could make it work and it worked fine because we’d talk and I’d be able to give him my route for the day. It wasn’t like his deliveries were urgent. I thought he was just about saving money. It would have cost three times as much to run it through the company.’
‘What did you think you were delivering?’
‘The wood I knew was plywood obviously. A lot of the other stuff was in boxes or crates. A couple of heavier things went to a machine shop.’
‘What was the name of that shop?’
‘I don’t remember.’
‘Where was it?’
‘Out toward Vacaville.’
‘We’ll need you to take us there.’
‘That, my man, depends on your offer.’
Outside the glass Raveneau said, ‘He doesn’t think he’s going to be charged with murder.’
‘Where did you get paid?’
‘At the bar and in cash, and no I don’t have some account book I entered it in.’
‘Have you been through the photos on his cell phone?’
‘We’re going through everything. We’re in his house. We’re in his computer and everything in his life we can find. Eight agents are on this guy tonight.’
One of the interrogators stood up. The other asked, ‘Were you paid at the bar at Pete’s Corner every time?’
‘Yeah, and I know it’s a stupid name, but Pete’s a good dude.’ Drury rubbed his right cheek. ‘Look, I’m trying to help here. Am I going to be set-up somewhere in like witness protection or something?’
The interrogator who stood leaned on the table and stared him in the eye.
‘Our job in here is to get the information from you. If the information checks out things advance to the next step, but those decisions aren’t made by us. Right now, it’s not advancing the way we want. I’m not sure about this Helsing, if you know what I mean. The things you’re telling are a little hazy at key spots. You keep telling us the same story and it’s making me tired. It’s making me think we’re wasting our time.’
Coe turned. ‘Guess they agree with you.’
‘You need to go in and sell him.’
‘I’ll be lying to him.’
In the interview room Drury said, ‘I want my deal now.’
‘First we need something to make a deal over. We need to be able to find this Helsing without a first name.’ There you go, Raveneau thought, give it back to him. ‘Did Mr H ever say where he lives or where he’s from or what he does for a living?’
‘He said he was a broker.’
‘What kind of broker?’
Drury shrugged.
‘Are you going to tell us a guy like you wouldn’t find out who he’s dealing with? You’re way too smart for that.’
‘It wasn’t any of my business. He was just saving money hiring me and I needed the cash. He paid up front.’
‘A few minutes ago he was paying you afterward at Pete’s Corner. So which is it?’
‘I’m not fucking giving you this and then getting screwed later. The Coe dude said we’d make a deal.’
Raveneau nudged Coe. ‘Go tell him something to get him talking.’
‘What would you do with him, right now?’
‘Either sell him a car or threaten him. If you sell him a car you’ll have to lie to him, but it won’t hit him right away and you can take him on that drive early tomorrow before it all blows up. If you take that route you’re on his side, so knock down the interrogators, especially her. She’s most effective. She’s gotten under his skin. Let him name what he wants and agree with him that’s fair as long as he comes across with everything you need. Then leave like a car salesman goes back to the dealership manager, which in this case is Bureau headquarters.
‘Leave the room to go call Bureau headquarters. Guys like Drury are used to getting screwed by people like auto dealership managers. He expects to get screwed here, too. But he needs to get something in return. He needs a framework he can see his new life in. So it should be prison but not too much and a promise of special privileges while he’s there.’
‘I’m not doing that.’
‘OK, then threaten him. You guys operate outside the boundaries of law anyway. Everyone in the country knows it, so hit him hard. Tell him there’s a bunk waiting for him in Guantanamo.’
In the interview room an interrogator, the woman asked him slowly, ‘Are you expecting everything that happened today to go away?’
‘Coe said he could make things happen.’ Drury looked from her to the glass. He spoke to the glass. ‘I know the Oakland cop got hurt and you’re not talking about him. What about him? Are you going to wait until you’re done milking me before you mention him?’
Drury lifted his hands and pretended to make quotation marks in the air as he asked, ‘If that’s the plan, I should have just shot fucking Raveneau and myself. I’m not sitting in a prison the rest of my life. If you’re so worried and you want to know where I took this stuff, you better keep your word. I want to talk to someone who can make decisions. It’s not going to happen otherwise.’
In the room the interrogator, the woman said, ‘It’s just us until you give us something. Then we’ll call Special Agent Coe. But no one offered you a deal. You were offered a trade and so far you’re not coming across.’
‘I’m not talking any more. I’m done.’
‘Then so are we.’
They left and Drury sat there for forty-five minutes before Coe went in. Coe sat down across from him and said, ‘I’ve got some bad news. The police officer, the woman you took hostage, those aren’t your biggest problems any more. We’re close to charging you with aiding terrorists and we may up the charges from there. If we do that, you may never feel sunlight on your face again. You’ll never hold a woman again. I can promise you that. You’ll never drive again. You’ll never go anywhere ever. You won’t have a life. You’ll have a number and after awhile your name won’t really matter to anyone any more, not even you.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The deliveries, the people you’re working with. You can’t believe the shit we’re prepared to charge you with.’
Raveneau saw Drury’s face change.
‘You got him,’ Raveneau said, but there was no one to hear him.
THIRTY
The bar was empty, the lights dimmed for the night when Raveneau and Celeste sat down at a table. In the early evening the wind blew in hard gusts as a storm came in off the ocean. It was raining and outside the street was dark and wet and the sodium street lights threw orange light through sheets of rain on to the oiled wood of the restaurant floor. Raveneau hung his dripping coat on the back of a nearby chair. A bottle of a Rioja sat between them, along with salt cod crostini and a salad of farro, shrimp, and cucumber. She smiled at him and said, ‘This is something we can do now. Are you really OK?’