‘Mel, what you’re talking like is a man with a paper asshole. Haven’t you ever heard of honor? Human trust? Mutual benefit?’
‘Yes. I’ve heard of blackmail, too. And coercion.’
‘Well, fuck ya then, son. I better do business with this Debritto boy. Besides the information, maybe I could get a few of them two hundred fifty Ks that my little ol’ computer tells me were recently transferred from your very own Whole Corn Distributing Company to a numbered Cayman account. Shit-oh-dear, wouldn’t the Washington Post have fun with that on the front page!’
‘I’d like some guarantee,’ Keyes whined. ‘You can understand that.’
‘You got a guarantee, hoss! You got my word. Now quit dicking me around while you’re trying to slap a trace on my call,’ cause the call’s routed through an empty apartment in San Angelo. Shit or get off the pot, Mel. You’re not playing with kids.’
‘Okay, I’m going to connect you with Shelby Bennett in our Denver office. The information came directly to him about four hours before the bomb was to be planted. His informant is named Alex Three. He’d called Shelby before. There’s no tapes, and Shelby ran Alex Three and Al X Three, and like he expected, got a blank screen. It’s a code name. Shelby says––’
‘’Scuse me, pardner, but why don’t you let Shelby tell me hisself.’
‘Sure, I’m putting it through now. I’m going to stay on the line.’
‘You don’t have a real bone in ya, do ya Melvin? Not one trusting bone. Reckon it must raise hell with your faith.’
As Shelby Bennett’s phone rang on tape, Volta said to Jack, ‘You’re incorrigible.’
Jack smiled, then he and Volta listened as Shelby Bennett confirmed the information Keyes had already given. On tape, Texas Jacques- Jacques said, ‘Shelby, I’d be obliged if you’d answer a couple of questions for me.’
‘I’ll try, Mr Lafayette,’ Shelby replied.
‘How many times has this Alex Three hombré rang up you?’
‘Nine, starting in seventy-five and ending a few years later with the plutonium tip.’
‘Why do you think that was his last call?’
‘Because his conditions weren’t met.’
‘What sorta conditions we talking about here?’
‘Just one, really. That nobody get hurt.’
‘Who fucked it up?’
Bennett paused a moment. ‘Nobody, really. I couldn’t handle it personally because I was here, in Denver. He said he understood, that he was trusting me to put it in the proper hands, but that I’d be responsible if his condition wasn’t satisfied. I told him that anything involving theft of nuclear materials went straight to the director; I had no choice unless I wanted a career change. He said to do my best to retain control. But when I called the director he took it out of my hands.’
‘Why’d this good ol’ Alex Three choose you for these friendly calls?’
‘When I asked him that myself, he said, “I hear you’re honest and reliable.” That’s the only reason he ever gave.’
‘He ever let on how he was getting his information, or why he was passing it on?’
‘I asked his source the first time he called, and he said, “Me.” I never bothered to ask again.’
‘He ever ask for anything in return?’
‘No, but he said he might. I told him I couldn’t make promises, but that I’d do whatever I honorably could.’
‘Ya get that, Mel?’ Texas Jacques-Jacques yelled down the line. ‘This fella knows how to establish a professional working atmosphere. You lissen up and learn something, hear?’ When Keyes didn’t reply, he asked Bennett, ‘Now Shelby, I’m hoping you might be able to tell me what sorta other tips this Alex Three passed along.’
‘I’d rather not – and anyway, I doubt if they’re germane. Nothing even close to the level of the plutonium theft. I can tell you that most of it involved small South American matters and internal government corruption. I’ll give you an example: We had some of our own low-level people ripping off emergency medical supply shipments after a big earthquake down south. That sort of thing.’
‘His information always pretty accurate, was it?’
‘Utterly.’
‘You never met him, that right?’
‘Always by phone.’
‘Ever tempted to slap on a trace, see where he was calling from?’
‘He told me not to bother. I didn’t.’
‘Okay now, so all you ever heard was his voice. You can tell a lot about a man just listening to him talk. What did you hear?’
‘Male, mid-thirties or a little older, faint Germanic accent – Swiss maybe – good vocabulary, very precise. But these weren’t long conversations, you understand.’
‘No tapes, huh?’
‘No. He asked me not to. It was a request, not a condition.’
‘You think you’d recognize his voice if you heard it again?’
‘I don’t know. He hasn’t called since Livermore.’
‘Well, thanks for your help, Shelby.’ Preciate it. Mel does, too, I’m sure.’
Keyes said, ‘Yes, thanks Shel; I owe you one.’ He waited for Bennett to get off the line and said to Texas Jacques-Jacques, ‘That’s all there is, cowboy. You satisfied with my end?’
‘You know, my ol’ Pappy, bless his wildcat soul, always told me that if a man’s real anxious to sell, give it some hard, cold thinking ’fore you buy. I got to respect my Pappy’s advice. I’ll get back to you on it soon as I got it mulled over good. Keep your loop tight, Mel.’
Keyes was sputtering, ‘Hold on now, you––’ when the recording ended.
Smiling Jack hit Stop, then Rewind. He glanced at Volta, who was staring into his untouched glass of cognac. ‘You want to hear it again, Volt?’
‘Later, perhaps.’
‘What do you think? Flowers or fertilizer?’
‘Flowers. I think you got everything there was, the whole truth and nothing but, and you had fun doing it. Please reconsider giving me the honor of nominating you to replace me on the Star. The Alliance is losing that sense of fun; you could refresh it.’
‘Damn, Volt, I think you’re getting maudlin in your old age – or else it’s tougher than you thought to sit here waiting for Daniel to call. Maybe you should get some natural light and fresh air on you. Do a bunch of pushups. Jog over to McDonald’s and get back in the world.’
Volta barely smiled. ‘You’re right, waiting has been tougher than I thought. The hardest part is that I’ve had four straight days with time to reflect, and what I see of myself doesn’t please me. I’m losing my effectiveness, and I’m not having fun. I’m tired of excruciating decisions, balancing acts, judgments that must consider the welfare of the Alliance before the good of my heart – though truly they aren’t often at odds.’
‘Jesus,’ Jack said, ‘you’re turning sane.’
‘I’m beginning to cherish that infrequent state of mind, yes.’
‘Well, before your effectiveness peters out completely, how do you want to move on this Alex Three info?’
‘I think we should follow your dear ol’ Pappy’s advice and mull it over reeeal good.’
Jack looked skeptical. ‘Way you were just talking, didn’t sound like your muller could take much more.’
‘Plenty of room,’ Volta assured him. ‘Throw it in there with the rest and sit back and wait for something to connect. I’m assuming, naturally, that you’re having Alex Three run through our own sources.’
‘Yeah, got them on it pronto, but they haven’t turned diddley yet.’
‘Alex Three,’ Volta mused. ‘Try it under Alexandra, also – and Xan. Maybe try working on Al Ex-Three, or maybe X as “times,” a multiplier, or as addition. Al Triple? All three times? A.L.? American League? Three-time winner in the American League?’