“How would he get hold of my phone to plant spyware?”
“They don’t need to touch it. They can install spyware through the Internet from anywhere on the planet. Especially people who know something about computers.”
People who know something about computers. He’d met a couple of those types lately. Chuck Mays. His client.
“Every time I think I’m starting to know what I’m doing with computers, something new comes along to make me feel like an old fart.”
“You’ve been an old fart since you were eleven.”
“Thanks,” said Jack. His head was hurting again, but another one of those gnawing questions was buzzing in his brain. “How do you suppose the guy who clobbered me last night overheard the same conversation?”
“He knows you were talking about Pio Nono, too?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Two possibilities,” said Theo. “Either he’s been spying on you, too. Or he was spying on Chang.”
“You mean they have spyware that can pick up from Chang the information that he picked up while spying on me.”
“How do you think spies get caught?”
“Good point,” said Jack. He went to the cooler, grabbed a handful of ice, and placed it on his forehead. “I wish my head didn’t hurt too much to think about who might be spying on Chang.”
“Probably the person who stands to lose the most if word gets out about a black site in Prague.”
“That question is not as easy to answer as it sounds.”
“The CIA comes to mind,” said Theo.
“Or a security firm that works for the CIA. Or the Czech government. Or someone who works for any of the above and has a personal interest to protect. And those are just the possibilities that come to mind with my head splitting like… like I don’t know what.”
“Like a nation split over Gitmo?”
“Dude, that was unusually deep.”
“I have sex while the Colbert Report is on, just like the next guy.”
A fifty-foot Cigarette boat roared past them in the no-wake zone. Probably a drug runner late for church. The rumble of the triple racing engines faded, and even though the black fiberglass streak knifed through the water at more than fifty yards off starboard, its long wake rocked Jack’s boat.
“How is your grandfather doing, anyway?” Theo asked as the waves gently slapped the hull.
“That’s the joke of it. He slept through my entire visit last night. Last time we talked, he was pretty confused. He thinks he’s Jewish.”
“Is he?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Did you check it out?”
“I called my dad. I spoke to Grandpa’s girlfriend, Ruth. Neither one of them knew anything about it.”
“You need to dig deeper.”
Jack was unable to hide his surprise, which Theo noticed.
“What?” asked Theo.
“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I guess I always gave you credit for being much more shallow than that.”
Jack expected another smart-ass reply, but Theo simply gazed toward the horizon, his expression unusually pensive.
“You know what I know about my ancestry?” said Theo. “Nothin’. Don’t even know who my father was. My mother’s been dead since I was thirteen. Even if I had them around to help me, I’m sure I’d hit a brick wall at slavery. You’ve got a chance to find out who you really are, maybe. Having a couple of conversations and calling it a day is pretty lame.”
Jack was speechless. To be called out by Theo on matters of family was almost beyond his comprehension. Most confusing of all, Jack realized that he was right.
“It’s not that I’m not interested,” said Jack. “I’ve just been busy. Maybe I’ll spend some time on the Internet this afternoon.”
Theo scoffed. “People always think the answer is online. Get serious, dude. Where was your grandfather born?”
“Czech Republic.”
“Well, there you have it. An obvious opportunity to overcome the Internet and the Joe Cocker factor.”
“The what?”
“You know-Joe Cocker. The rock star.”
“I know who Joe Cocker is-‘You are so beautiful, to me.’ What does he have to do with the Internet?”
Theo sang his answer, adding the trademark affectations to another Cocker hit: “ ‘Lonely days are gone. My baby, she sent me an e-mail.’ ”
“ ‘Sent me the letter.’ ”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. The Joe Cocker factor. Sometimes the Internet is just all wrong.”
“So your point is what? I should go to Prague?”
“ ‘Yeah she sent me an e-mail, said she couldn’t-’ ”
“Okay, okay. I get it.”
Jack’s cell rang-more of the curse of technology. Andie had reset his ringtone before saying good-bye to Jack in Washington and returning to her undercover assignment. Carrie Underwood and “I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights” on the quiet shores of Biscayne Bay on a peaceful Sunday morning.
Talk about “all wrong.”
Jack checked the display. It was Neil, who wouldn’t have called so early if it weren’t important.
“What’s up?” Jack said into the phone.
“We got a big problem with Jamal,” he said.
Jack caught his breath, fearing the worst. “Don’t tell me he skipped.”
Neil paused, as if not sure how to put it. “He’s missing.”
“Damn him. He has to know he won’t get far wearing an ankle bracelet.”
“Actually, he borrowed his mother’s rental car to hit the clubs on South Beach last night. They found the bracelet in the car.”
“What? The Omnilink is supposed to be tamper proof. The alarm signals if you just stretch the band. How’d he get it off?”
“He didn’t exactly remove it.”
“What does that mean?”
“The bracelet is still attached to his ankle.”
The image flashed in Jack’s mind. “Oh boy,” he said.
“You can say that again,” said Neil.
“Where’s the rest of him?”
“Not sure. His mother says he never came back to their hotel last night. The rental car was parked all night on Washington at about Seventeenth near Club Inversion. I’m pulling up now. Plenty of cops here. Crime scene is roped off. Maybe someone has an answer.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” said Jack, and he ended the call. He glanced at Theo, who seemed to have caught the drift of the conversation.
“No fishing again today, huh?” said Theo.
Jack shook his head. “It’s getting to be a bad habit, I know.”
“Pity. I got a feeling even the amateurs are catching fish this morning.”
Jack glanced toward Miami Beach-toward Club Inversion. Then his gaze drifted toward the bay, which seemed to yield at least one dismembered body a year.
“I can only imagine what they’re using as bait,” said Jack.
