“Oh hell. It
“I don’t have any time for bullshit. I need you to listen to me.”
“Quinn, I don’t work for you. So—”
“Shut up and listen. Congressman James Guerrero is somewhere in your building. You need to keep him there. Don’t let him leave.”
“What?” Murray said, confused. “Why?”
“Because if you let him out, he’s going to be killed.”
“I don’t know if I can—”
“I’m not screwing with you. Do it!”
“Just a minute.”
Murray’s reluctance to help was understandable. Beyond the fact that he had somehow developed the idea that Quinn was an assassin who might kill him at any moment, he had almost lost his job and gone to jail the previous winter in Berlin for helping Quinn. But none of that had happened. Quinn had made sure of it. In fact, Quinn had been the one instrumental in getting Murray transferred halfway around the world to his current cushy job in Southeast Asia.
Jenny came back into the living room wearing the same pants she’d been wearing the night before, and a blue T-shirt.
Only seconds behind her was Orlando. She had a black backpack hanging from her shoulders and had another in her hand. Each looked full and heavy.
“Who are you talking to?” Jenny asked.
“The embassy,” he said.
She looked surprised. “Have...have they been able to stop him?”
Before he could answer her, Murray came back on the line. “He’s already gone.”
Quinn closed his eyes. “When did he leave?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Twenty minutes?” Quinn said, looking over at Orlando.
“His schedule says he shouldn’t be leaving for another ten,” Orlando said.
“You have to send someone after him,” Quinn said to Murray. “Get him someplace safe.”
“I can’t just do that for no reason.”
“I’ve told you the reason!” Quinn yelled.
“I need
“Hell yes, you can!” Quinn said. “Look, the congressman is scheduled to visit the Maxwell Food Centre at one p.m. He won’t leave there alive. You need to stop him before he even gets there.”
“I don’t know if I can. I mean, if you’d just give me a little—”
“Do it, goddamn it! Just do it!” Quinn hung up the phone, then looked over at Orlando and Jenny. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER
THEY HEADED TOWARD THE VON FELDT BUILDING IN
a Mercedes Nate appropriated a couple blocks away from the apartment. Nate was at the wheel, with Quinn in the front passenger seat. Jenny and Orlando sat in the back.
“Where did the tape come from?” Quinn asked.
“Gerry got it. I don’t know how, but he figured out what was going on. He told me he began recording Ms. Goodman’s conversations.”
“So she was the contact person for the assassin?”
“Yes.”
“And she didn’t find out about the recordings?” Orlando said.
“She must have,” Jenny said. “That’s why Gerry’s dead. I think he probably believed she was onto him, and that’s why he gave me the tape.”
“Why you?” Quinn asked.
“We were friendly. We occasionally had to work together to coordinate the congressman’s and his wife’s schedules. I guess he thought I could get it to my boss.”
“But you didn’t,” Quinn said.
“Congressman Guerrero was out of town for a couple of days when Gerry gave it to me. I was going to talk to him the minute he got back.” She paused. “But Gerry was killed the next day. That’s why I actually listened to the tape. As soon as I heard it, I knew that was the reason he was dead. I also knew I had to get out of there, or I’d be
