Tanya answered on the first ring.
“This is David,” I said.
“David?” she said. “Are you all right? Where are you?”
“Those contacts you had at Federal Plaza. Are they still in place?”
“What’s up? Is someone listening?”
“Yes. Could you call them? Set something up for tomorrow?”
“Really? That soon?”
“Yes. Call tonight. Right now, if you can. This is urgent.”
“What do you need?”
“Tell them I’m holding the guy they’re looking for. From the alley, last night. They’ll know who I mean. I’m prepared to hand him over, but only to the same three guys I met today. Rosser, Varley, and Breuer.”
“Could be difficult, David. They’re still really mad at you. Why not deliver him to me, let me liaise? Stay out of the firing line?”
“No. It has to be the same three guys. The same three, or I cut this guy loose and they’ll never find him.”
“Oh. OK, then. I’ll square it somehow. Where and when?”
“Don’t know yet. I still have to get out of the city. Tell them to be at the Wall Street helipad at 9:00 A.M. Bring a pilot, and enough fuel for two hours. I’ll call then with a time and location.”
“Understood. Back in five.”
Lesley hadn’t even pretended not to listen.
“Nice misdirection, with the heliport,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Talking of which-my hotel room, with the ash? That was you?”
“That was me,” the tall guy said.
“Really?” I said. “Good work. Subtle. I might use it myself, sometime.”
“Just glad they went for it,” he said. “It was kind of last-minute. And a bitch to do, without the smoke alarms going off.”
“How did you know where I was staying?”
“Someone told us.”
“Who?”
“Can’t remember now. Could have been so many people.”
“That kind of information isn’t exactly commonplace.”
“Depends who you know. The NYPD? They’re like the TV, the Internet, and the newspapers all rolled into one, for us. Same goes for the FBI. Nothing happens in this city we don’t find out about.”
“You found out pretty fast.”
The tall guy shrugged.
“Wanted to make sure they swallowed you whole,” he said. “Didn’t know it would be the feds that found it. Didn’t even know the vic was one of theirs at the time. Just didn’t want any possibility of the spotlight coming our way.”
“See, speed is the key,” Lesley said. “Anything goes wrong, our people are motivated to tell us right away. That way, we can jump right on it. Never miss an opportunity to protect ourselves. You might want to remember that, the next couple of days.”
“I hope there’s not an element of distrust developing here?”
“Depends how smart you are. For instance, maybe you’re thinking you could take the. 22 away from my guy? Hand him to the feds without him killing Varley?”
“That never crossed my mind.”
“Good. Because I haven’t given you one hundred percent of the facts about that.”
“Convenient time to mention it.”
“See, the guy I’m giving you-he isn’t really the one from the alley. That was one of my other guys. Not the cream of the crop. Now this guy-he’s one of my best. French. Ex-Surete. Perfect for the job. Could do it in his sleep. But he’s got a real loose tongue. Hand him to the feds, and it’ll all come pouring out. Everything will point straight back at you.”
“What if he gets caught?”
“He won’t. He’ll get out, or go down fighting. That’s the way he is.”
“You can’t be sure. The feds are no mugs.”
“It would be too late, then, anyway. Rosser and Breuer would have seen him pull the trigger. It would be your word against a cop killer. And he’d never see the inside of a courtroom, anyway. Trust me. None of my people ever have.”
“Why take the chance? Why not just give me the real guy?”
“Look at it as an incentive. To make sure you hold up your end. Plus the real guy won’t be working for a while. He needs some retraining.”
“Where is he?”
“Downstairs. Want to meet him?”
“He’s the one who called 911? Gave them my description?”
“He’s the one. His idea, though, to give you up. We’re not normally big on framing passers-by. It’s an unnecessary risk. Usually just leave the body where the NYPD will trip over it. As long as it’s unwashed, they don’t lose much sleep.”
“Then, yeah, I want to meet the guy. Alone, preferably.”
“Can’t do alone,” she said, getting up and heading for the desk. “But don’t worry. You’re going to love what I’ve got for him.”
I watched Lesley open one of the lower drawers, then the cell phone she’d given me started to vibrate in my pocket. It was Tanya.
“Deal’s done,” she said. “We’ll be at the helipad at 9:00 A.M. tomorrow, waiting for your call. The three guys you specified and me.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Thanks. Any problems getting it set up?”
“Don’t ask. You owe me, big-time.”
“Dinner’s on me, then, when this is over.”
“Three dinners, minimum. Don’t forget that stunt with Lavine. And you still owe me one from Madrid.”
Lesley had started back before I hung up.
“We’re in business,” I said.
“I heard,” she said.
She was carrying a lumpy, vaguely cylindrical parcel, nine inches long by four inches diameter. It was made of gray suede, held together by a fine silver chain. I heard the tall guy shifting in his chair, and I saw his eyes were glued to the object as Lesley gently laid it down on the table in front of her.
“Something you should think about,” she said. “We own people. They tell us things. Your name. Where you were staying.”
“You mentioned that already,” I said.
“It goes further. Let me give you an example. Louis Breuer received a secret e-mail from London this afternoon. One of our guys got to it first. We’d read it before Breuer or Rosser or Varley. We know all about you. What you do. All your little trips around the world. Not a bad life, for a sailor boy.”
“And your point is?”
“You need to believe, anything goes wrong tomorrow-accidentally or otherwise-we’re going to know before you leave the building.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“I am. Like this afternoon. You outsmarted the FBI. Got away from them, easily enough. But not me. Because my ear’s to the ground. Always. I heard what you did. And I had two cars outside before you even found the door.”
I allowed myself a little smile. She still didn’t realize the favor she’d done me back there.
“OK,” I said. “If anything goes wrong tomorrow, it won’t be down to me.”
“Good,” she said. “ ’Cause there are penalties for people who let me down.”
“Like what? You don’t let them shoot tramps anymore?”
“Yeah. Kind of like that. I was going to tell you about it, but then I thought, why not show you?”
Lesley nodded at the tall guy. His face was blank, bordering on sullen. He paused for a moment then hauled himself up and stalked out of the room, his big feet clattering along the landing and down the stairs.
“Watch what happens next,” she said. “Then see if you still have a taste for wisecracks.”
THIRTEEN
I passed my test at seventeen. And learned to drive at twenty-two.
It’s one of the first things the navy does when they recruit you. For intelligence work, anyway. They take your license away and make you earn it back. Which sounds fine in principle, because you know you’ll not be dealing with Nissan Micras and three-point turns anymore. You’ll be in modified vehicles, on private racetracks, getting to grips with the A to Z of defensive maneuvers.
There’s only one snag.
They insist you understand the cars before you drive them.
I remember on the first day they showed us two groups of twenty different models lined up on opposite sides of an old aircraft hangar. One half were regular civilian cars. The others were from the motor pool. We knew the navy cars had been adapted. They would have special engines. Brakes. Tires. Suspensions. Electronics. You name it. But it was all so discreetly done that no one could tell which was which.