fool.”
“So what does this have to do with me?” I urged.
“There was more,” he added. “Jack has AIDS.”
“AIDS,” I repeated, picturing Heath’s gaunt face, remembering how at the Big Bear Hospital he’d said he wished he could put on some of the sheriff ’s weight. Heath was slated for death.
His eyes flashed to Mobright’s and then to mine.
“I confronted him at his home.”
“And?”
Beckett grimaced. “Heath pulled a spray bottle from his desk and . . . The last words I heard from him were ‘All good things come to he who hates.’ ”
“Then what?” I asked.
“A few hours later, Tim Mobright here found me in my car. He told me I was being accused of stealing information with the intent of selling it to our adversaries.
“A copy of a file had been made from a computer which only I and my superior had access to. I remembered the day I’d left Jack alone in the room for a few minutes. I had no defense. I had to run to escape being removed by my own organization before I could vindicate myself. My one ally was Tim.”
“That’s what this is all about?” I spat. “Some fucking file?”
“Have you heard of the Passive Coherent Location system?” Beckett asked.
I remembered my first meeting with Heath in Milan. “I know what the PCL is,” I said, getting pissed. “Tell me what’s in the goddamn file!”
Beckett’s face reddened.“An
Mobright groaned. Beckett knelt by his side, comforting him.
“After I went underground,” he continued, “Jack recruited Tim, who went along as my mole. Tim kept track of Heath, learned Krell had boxed himself in to an impossible delivery date with Soon Ta Kee, promising him a weapon which would be absolutely useless unless it had a housing that was ultralight and capable of withstanding the incredible temperatures generated by uncontrolled free-fall reentry through the atmosphere. There
“Leonardo,” I finished.
“You were my means of getting to Heath before he got to Krell with the disk,” Beckett said. “It occurred to me to use you to roust him.”
“It occurred to you to
“This is much bigger than either of us, Reb. I had no alternative.”
“So you played Greer, the courier. A crippled old man . . .”
“We can be whoever we need to be,” Beckett said matter-of-factly.
“You were dying in a hospice. . . . The nurse said you were dead.”
Beckett stood. “I believe ‘is no longer with us’ were the words I chose for her. Look, we’re out of time,” he said, turning to Mobright. “Tim, tell me what you know.”
Mobright gathered his strength. “Reb found the Dagger in the floor,” he said, “but Tecci showed up earlier than I’d told him to and took it away, spoiling our plan that you would arrive first. He andHeath left just moments ago. They’re heading for Krell’s Pullman. They didn’t give me the details. They expected me to come with Jocko and Lon.”
“We’ve got to get to that train,” I said, panic and rage rising. “Ginny’s on that train.”
Over by the door, Cardinal Lorro and Elverson were dead. Jocko lay still, a puddle of blood spreading under him. Just then Lon moaned. I’d thought he was dead, too.
“Wha . . . ?” he mumbled.
I could feel precious seconds ticking Ginny’s life away. I picked up the drill and stepped over to the goon, knelt and squeezed the trigger. The hole cutter whirred. Holding it an inch from Lon’s shoulder, I said, “Where’s the rolling palace?”
His eyes cleared. “Fuck you, Flame Boy!”
“You held my head while Nolo burned his initial in my neck. I’m going to like this more than you.” I revved the drill.
“All right, all right,” he groaned. “It’s going to Zurich.”
“Which train?”
“IC382.”
