[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

Durrie snorted. 'I was blind to it at first, you know,' he said. 'For all I know, you two had been carrying on for years. Then Mexico City gave you away.'

'It was just a job,' Quinn said. 'Nothing happened. Orlando told you that. She wasn't lying, dammit.'

Durrie laughed. 'Oh, I pretended to believe her, but I'm not stupid, Johnny. You two alone, sharing a room, and nothing happened? Right. You don't get something like this from sleeping on the floor.'

The elevator car slowed to a stop and the doors opened.

'Wait,' Quinn said. 'You think Garrett's my son?'

'Of course he's your son. That's what you get when you fuck my girl.'

Quinn couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Garrett is your son. I've never touched Orlando, not like you're saying.'

'Don't even try that bullshit. This isn't fucking high school, Johnny. And I'm not a stupid idiot.'

The doors to the elevator started to close again. Quinn reached out to keep them open, then flipped the stop switch on the panel as he stepped quickly into the open doorway. He faced Durrie.

'What's that going to buy you?' Durrie asked.

'A moment to talk.'

Garrett was crying openly now.

'Shut up,' Durrie snapped at the boy. Garrett only began crying louder. Durrie shot a look at Quinn. 'Tell your kid to knock it off.'

'Garrett,' Quinn said gently, 'everything's going to be all right. Okay?' The boy said nothing, but after a moment his cries diminished to a soft sob.

'Nothing ever happened between Orlando and me. Nothing. I haven't even seen her for four years.'

'See what I mean about being a bad father?' Quinn's eyes narrowed. 'If I had a son, I would never do that to him.'

'You didn't have a choice. With me gone, you probably thought Orlando would be all yours. But you were wrong, weren't you? Once I was dead, she couldn't deal with being with you any longer. She probably took off without even telling you where she was going, didn't she?' Durrie laughed. 'You've got to know the way your woman thinks. I guess that's one more thing I'm still better at than you.'

Quinn stared at his mentor. He wanted to scream, 'You're wrong,' but he couldn't get his mouth to open.

'You want to know the truth, Johnny? I don't really give a damn what you did with her,' Durrie said. 'Hell, you did me a favor letting me see who she really is. I'll tell you what really pissed me off. It was you.' Durrie paused. 'I got you all set up. I gave you everything you needed. Training, experience, contacts. But that wasn't enough, was it? Couldn't just carve out your own niche. You wanted my piece of the action, too.'

'You don't know what you're talking about,' Quinn said. 'I never wanted anything more from you than what you were willing to give.'

'You talked about me behind my back. You got me blamed for insignificant things that could have happened to anyone. Eventually I wasn't getting the jobs I used to. The Office stopped calling. And where did all their work go to?'

This can't be happening, Quinn thought. Durrie's delusion was so complicated, so complete, Quinn didn't know how to fight it.

'You,' Durrie went on. 'You got everything, just like you planned. But it wasn't enough for you, was it? If I was still around, there was always the chance I could be a problem.'

'No,' Quinn said.

'So you got the Office to help. Peter would have been only too glad to see me gone.' 'No,' Quinn said. 'None of that's true.' Durrie smiled. 'I know the gig in San Francisco

was a setup. You were going to get rid of me there, weren't you? But I surprised you. I died before you could even spring your idiotic trap.'

'You're twisting everything,' Quinn said. 'There was no plan. No one wanted to kill you. Peter didn't even want you on that job.'

'I never forgot. No way you can forget deceit like that. Sure, I had to lay low for a couple of years. Then I eased my way back in slowly, planning it out, waiting for the perfect opportunity. When it was time, I was ready.'

'Bioterrorism? Is that what you were waiting for?'

'Fuck. It could have been stealing a truckload of toilet paper, for all I cared. I just needed a few things to line up for me.'

'The Office. Me.' Quinn paused. 'Orlando.'

'The bitch was a problem. I spent my first two years after San Francisco alone, no contact with anyone in the business. I mean no one. I had to make sure everyone believed I'd been killed. By the time I resurfaced, she was gone. I almost sent some people to look for her right away, but I stopped myself. I had bigger plans. Couldn't chance accidentally tipping her off. So I had to wait and use less . . . overt methods. You can understand that, can't you?'

Another Durrie maxim: Never risk exposure unless there is no option.

'It took a while, but I did finally trace her as far as Ho Chi Minh City,' Durrie said.

'Tucker?' Quinn asked.

A laugh. 'Piper, actually,' Durrie said, a smug look on his face. 'He didn't know he was working for me. If he did,