teasing his nostrils.
It made no impression on him.
‘Epps let him go,’ I said out of nowhere, hoping for the shock effect of the sudden swerve. Aware, too, that Sean would know exactly who I meant. ‘The bastard offered to go undercover in a militia group and Epps fell for it – let him walk. He’s been away on his toes for the last couple of months, more or less, and they still haven’t found him.’ I paused again, head on one side. ‘Do you care?’ I wondered aloud. ‘Does any of it really matter anymore?’
‘It matters, Charlie,’ said a voice behind me. I swung round in my chair to see the nurse, Nancy, standing in the doorway. Her face was grave. ‘Don’t you ever give up hoping.’
I rose, gave a shrug. ‘I’m tired,’ I admitted. I glanced down at Sean. ‘Parker said the doctors are losing
‘Doctors!’ Nancy sniffed, waving a dismissive hand as she bustled forwards, checked Sean’s vital signs, straightened the covers. ‘What do they know? I seen people come out of sleep way longer and deeper than your boy here. He’ll come back when he’s good and ready.’ She stroked a hand over his hair, but he didn’t stir for her, either. ‘Maybe he’s waiting for something, ain’t that right, Sean?’
She cast me a semi-reassuring smile and left.
‘
I reached under my jacket and pulled out the SIG. I put the gun near his head, finger outside the guard, and pulled back the slide to feed the first round out of the magazine, letting the action snap forwards with a sharp metallic sound that would have been as unmistakable as it was familiar – to both of us.
Sean never moved.
I leant in closer, battling to drive the tears out of my voice with anger instead. ‘Get up, soldier. Get up and fight it, damn you. Don’t leave me here without you. What the
But I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I slipped the SIG back into its holster, checked the lie of my jacket over it, and walked out without looking back.
Behind me, I left the coffee steaming delicately on the cabinet by his bed.
Outside, it was raining again. I turned up the collar of my jacket, hunched my shoulders to close the gap, and headed for the nearest subway station that would take me back downtown. Parker had offered me use of one of the Navigators after the death of my Buell, but parking was always a problem.
Sean’s bike, a Buell Ulysses, was sitting under a dust cover, itself covered in dust, in the parking garage beneath our apartment building. I suppose I could have used that, but somehow I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the big Mercedes pull into the kerb just level with me. I even altered my pace a little, but still wasn’t prepared for the sound of my own name.
‘Hey, Charlie!’
I turned, saw Eisenberg’s head of security, Gleason, climbing out of the passenger seat. Today she wore a high-necked cream blouse and black wool trousers, and looked as casual as I’d seen her. I stood my ground and waited for her to cross the sidewalk towards me in a couple of long strides.
She jerked her head towards the building I’d just left. ‘How is he?’
My instinct was fast anger, like she had no right to ask, but I swallowed it down far enough to be civil. ‘No change.’
Gleason nodded at that, as if she hadn’t expected any other reply. As if she’d only asked for form’s sake. I felt my teeth clench with the effort of not telling her to go to hell by the shortest route possible, but she spoke before I could phrase the words.
She nodded to the car, still idling by the kerb. ‘Get in,’ she invited. ‘It’s a lousy day to be walking outside.’
‘I like the rain.’
‘Well, I don’t.’ She sighed. ‘You think I was sent all the way up here to stand around ruining a perfectly good pair of shoes and arguing with you?’
I altered my stance, noticed she’d done the same. Combative. Any moment now, we were going to be brawling. I made a conscious effort to ease off. Besides –
‘My mother told me never to get into cars with strange men – or women, come to that.’
‘Yeah? Well, mine told me never to date musicians. Looks like they’re both disappointed.’ There was a trace of dark humour lurking in her eyes that faded as she glanced pointedly towards the building behind me again. Towards Sean. ‘Get in the goddamn car, Charlie,’ she said with quiet intensity. ‘Trust me, you’ll want to hear this.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
‘Where are we going?’ I asked as I settled back into the leather upholstery of the Mercedes. The driver was another of Eisenberg’s men. From the back seat, he seemed to have no neck, his ears going straight down into his collar with no discernible alteration in width.
‘Nowhere in particular – yet,’ Gleason said as we pulled away and accelerated into traffic. ‘That’s up to you.’ She settled herself. The Merc was a brand-new S600, with enough room in the back for her to cross her legs negligently. ‘As you know, my employer is a very wealthy man. He has contacts, connections, in the highest places, and the money and power to get just about whatever he wants.’
A small smile slipped across the side of her mouth, and from it I deduced that she herself had been one of the things Brandon Eisenberg had coveted and then acquired.
‘Fascinating. How does this relate to me?’
Gleason’s face flickered. She’d got this little speech all worked out, and wasn’t going to let me hurry her to the punchline.
‘I’m coming to that. As you are probably aware, I am ex-Secret Service,’ she said, straightening the cuff of her shirt, and there was more than a hint of pride in her voice. ‘I was tasked with guarding the President.’
‘Let me guess,’ I drawled. ‘Bill Clinton?’
Her mouth tightened, but she ploughed on doggedly. ‘As such, I, too, have friends in … interesting places. Including Homeland Security.’
My expression gave me away, I know it did. She saw my reaction and smiled.
‘You know Epps?’ I said. It hardly needed to be a question.
‘I guess just about everybody knows Conrad Epps,’ she said, pulling a face. ‘Unfortunately.’
‘Word is that he’s been attempting to track a certain fugitive for the past couple of months – without success. Until now, that is,’ she continued. ‘It would seem that the guy they’re after has just popped up on the radar in Omaha, Nebraska, of all places.’
I was aware of a burning sensation in my chest, which I recognised as both relief and resentment. So, they’d got him back again – maybe. But for how long? Looked at coldly, how could Epps actually charge him without having to admit his own mistakes? And if his guys slipped in and grabbed him again, quick and quiet, who’s to say he’d ever be called to any kind of account anyway?
I sighed. ‘Look, this is all very interesting, Gleason,’ I said. ‘And I appreciate Mr Eisenberg feeling the need to keep me informed, but I don’t see—’
‘I have it on very good authority – the best, as a matter of fact – that nobody will be going to check out this lead until Monday,’ she cut in. ‘We’ve confirmed that one of Epps’s guys is booked on a flight out of LaGuardia early Monday morning.’
Today was Friday. That gave the whole of the weekend for something to spook the guy. For him to disappear, escape, evade. Again …
‘So?’
Gleason studied her fingernails. ‘Mr Eisenberg believes you would like the personal satisfaction of being the
