Silent Treatment

amongthem would be willing to take chances for him.

Together, he and Maura would be able tofigure out something — especially if they were somehow able to locate Ray.Santana had contributed mightily to the mess he was in, but he certainly hadn'tcaused it. Now, if he could be brought together with Loomis, a breakthrough wasquite possible. If. First Harry had to reconnect with Maura; then he hadto do what he could to ensure that Kevin Loomis stayed alive; and finally, hehad to find Santana — and do it all while keeping himself out of jail. FirstThings First, he thought, recalling one of the blue and gold banners he hadseen on the wall of the AA meeting. First Things First.

He turned on to Fifty-sixth Street.Gratefully, there were no delivery trucks, road crews, or double parkers. Butthere was also no Maura. The front of C.C.'s was deserted, and the place lookedto be locked up. Harry slowed and considered stopping to check the door. But aninsistent horn from behind saved him the trouble of making a decision. He droveup Amsterdam for a few blocks, then swung over to Columbus and made anotherpass. Nothing. He tried calling her apartment and his, but got answeringmachines in both places. There was no answer at C.C.'s. Finally, he paged Phil.

'Hey, Harry,' Phil said. 'Good to hearfrom you. I think I caught some little item about you on the news orsomeplace.'

'Very funny. How are Gail and the kidsholding up?'

'Let's just say we're all having to defendthe family name a bit. How're you doing?'

'Thanks to you, I'm still on the loose.Phil, that note I gave you set up a meeting with Maura. But so far she hasn'tshowed. Are you sure it was delivered?'

'Positive. I spoke to Ziggy this morning.He put it in her hand personally at about three A.M.'

'Shit.'

'Anything I can do?'

'Not for now. You've done more than enoughalready. Phil, thanks, I'll be in touch.'

'Just take good care of my baby, there.I've been promising Gail a weekend away in her. Now that you've gotten firstdibs, I'm going to have to deliver.'

Harry cruised around his loop for almostan hour, careful to widen or shorten it each time. No Maura. Something wasdefinitely wrong. He got Kevin Loomis's home phone number from information andtried him there. Daddy was at the store getting ice for a party, a childinformed him. Mommy was in the bathroom. Harry said he'd call back in an hour.

It was nearly eleven — almost two hoursbefore the second scheduled try at connecting outside C.C.'s. Harry would bethere, but he felt almost certain that Maura would not. Perchek? Dickinson?Booze? Of the three, only a fall off the wagon seemed unlikely. He checkedthe gas gauge and the rest of the jet plane dashboard panel. No problems … sofar. He headed downtown.

The only option he had, it seemed, was totry and find Ray Santana. He had no desire to put Mary Tobin at risk, but hereally had no choice. Besides, he thought smiling, in any match between theauthorities and Mary, his sympathies would have to go out to the cops. Hereached her at home. As he expected, she was anxious to do whatever she couldto help him and had an enormous extended family who were willing to help out aswell.

'My son-in-law, Darryl, is the only onewho has bad-mouthed you,' she said. 'He'll be back home just as soon as theyfinish the X rays and the stitches. An' that's just from my daughter. He'llstill have to deal with me.'

It took almost forty-five minutes for herto get Walter Concepcion's address and number and make it back home. As soon asshe entered the office, the two policemen who were staking out the place hadbarged in and questioned her.

'We're going to get him,' one of them hadsaid. 'Just don't you be helping him when we do.'

'I've got twenty-one grandchildren andseven great-grandchildren, young man,' Mary replied. 'I'm sure you'll be a bighit with your family and fellow officers when you haul me off to jail.'

At precisely noon, she called Harry withConcepcion's number and address and a report of her conversation with police.He called immediately and got no answer. Then, when he was a block away fromthe rooming house, he tried again. This time, Santana picked up. Three minuteslater, he loped out of the house and jumped into the passenger seat. Harry knewthe moment he saw the man that his anger had gone. He was merely grateful thatwhere there had been one, now there were two. He swung on to the Harlem RiverDrive, heading north.

'Now this is my idea of a getaway car,'Santana said. Ray was well past needing a shave and looked as wasted and hyperas Harry had ever seen him.

'It's a loaner from my brother. I'm gladyou got away. Are you all right? You don't look so hot.'

'Just the usual, only more of it thanusual. I screwed up at the hospital. I'm really sorry.'

'Was it Perchek you saw?'

'No, not Perchek. It was Garvey, Harry.Sean Garvey, the bastard who served me up to Perchek. I was lying there halfasleep when I heard his voice outside the door. It's been seven years, but Iknew in two seconds that it was him. Our eyes met and he recognized me, too.I'm certain of it. He was with a bunch of people in suits. He's lightened hishair and had some sort of stuff done to his face, but it was him. By the time Ireached the doorway of my room, he was pulling away from me. I … lost my cooland fired at him. The rest I guess you know.'

'Do you have any idea who Garvey is now?What he might be doing at a hospital in New York?'

'None. After Nogales, he disappeared,almost into thin air. He either had some powerful friends in high places, or hehad the goods on them. I pulled every string I could to find him. Nothing. Norecords he ever worked for the government. No Social Security number. No taxreturns. Nothing. Witness relocation times fifty. I called in ever marker Icould think of around the agency and the CIA. Zip. You have coffee in here?'

Harry motioned the thermos. Santana pouredhimself a cup and then flipped on the nine-inch television bolted on a swivelatop the passenger-side dash. The reporter was updating developments in thedual manhunt for Dr. Harry Corbett and a man tentatively identified as RaymondSantana, a former DEA undercover agent, whose fingerprints were among thosetaken from Grey 218.

'So much for the element of surprise,' Raysaid. 'It was only a matter of time. You think Maura's in trouble?'

'I know she is. Listen, I'm goingto head back to the club soon. The note I sent her said we'd try again at oneif either of us didn't show up.'

'That body in your trunk sounds like Perchek'swork. Do you suppose he's got her?'

Harry shook his head. 'I don't want tothink about it.'

'First this Roundtable, then Perchek, andnow goddamn Sean Garvey to boot. This is really the mother lode, Harry.'

'Where do you think we should start?. .Ray? …'

Santana, eyes narrowed, was peering at thescreen from just a few inches away.

'Douglas Atwater, vice president ofManhattan Health. You know him, Harry?'

'I know him well. He's one of my fewenduring supporters at the hospital.'

'He's on this station live, right now,issuing a plea for you to give yourself up before anyone gets hurt.'

'So?'

'Well,' Santana said, 'your enduringsupporter at the hospital is also the man I tried to kill yesterday.'

'Garvey?'

'In the flesh.'

Chapter39

It made no sense for them to remain in thecity and there were a number of good reasons not to. With Harry driving, he andSantana left Manhattan and headed north on Route 684 toward the NewYork-Connecticut border. Their mood was grim. Maura had not shown up at C.C.'sat one, and it seemed fairly certain now that Perchek, not the police, had her.

'You know,' Harry said, 'the more I thinkabout Atwater, the stupider I feel.'

'What do you mean?'