today.”
“Mr. Dietrich, has anyone explained the kind of danger you’re exposed to by being here?” he asked him. “I would advise you to find some other place for a few days.”
“Paul!” Laura said. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Well, I don’t think he’s aware of the stakes.”
“I am,” Reid said. “Fully aware. And I am not going anywhere.”
“What the hell do you mean storming into my house as if you own it? What gives you the right to speak to my friend like that? To come in here uninvited, waving a gun around.”
Paul looked at his ex-wife and dropped his head a fraction of an inch. Then he looked at his son as if he had just realized he was in the room. He holstered the Colt and took his cane from Rainey.
“Sorry, Mr. Dietrich,” he said. “Hello, son.”
He turned to Sean and Woody, but before he could speak, the front door slammed shut. Paul whirled, launched down the hall, and the house was filled with the sounds of Paul Masterson’s wrath and Thorne’s muffled replies. The dog ran into the kitchen dragging his leash and cowered against Reb’s leg. Rainey stood in the doorway and appeared both embarrassed and a bit amused. He nodded at Laura, and she walked over and hugged him.
“Don’t much care for the company you’re keeping,” she said. “But it’s really good to see you.” She hugged him.
“When you moved inside here, the security should have been far more intensive,” Paul said as he and Thorne entered the room. “Is this the way you watch your movie stars? By walking their dogs? Can’t the animal water the plants inside the gate?”
“No-well, yes, Paul. It’s… I mean, it isn’t the same thing. We’ve been at it around the clock. We shouldn’t have lowered our guard. I wanted to stretch my legs. It’s just that we’re so relieved we got Erin back…” He stopped. “I left four good men here.”
Laura rolled her eyes skyward.
“Four?”
“Nelson’s out back,” Thorne said.
“Missed that one,” Paul said. Then he realized what Thorne had said. “Got Erin back… back from where?”
Reb was still staring at his father, unsure what to say, his face blank. “Woody kicked the guy’s ass and broke his arm,” he said finally.
Paul looked at Reb, his face giving away nothing.
Laura was doing a slow burn; Reid stood with his arms crossed. “I don’t want this Erin incident discussed now.” She cut her eyes to indicate Reb’s presence.
Rainey said, “Laura, could you take Reb and Reid upstairs for twenty minutes? Paul needs to talk to Thorne.”
They filed out. As they passed Paul, Reb looked up at his father. Paul stared at him and winked. Or maybe he had just blinked. It was a guess either way, because he hadn’t smiled at all. As Reb was led from the room by his mother, he turned so his eyes could stay locked on his father until he was led out of sight.
After the room was cleared of civilians, Paul sat on a stool and lit a cigarette. “What’s this shit about Erin?”
As Thorne told the story, Paul listened carefully, alternating his gaze, and made no motion save a few shakes of his head in disgust.
After Thorne finished, Paul looked at Sean and Woody, and his tight mouth relaxed into a brief smile. “Thank you, Woody, for saving my daughter. Sean, shit happens and you fucked up, but you recovered nicely. I hope you’ve learned a lesson. You know how dangerous this operation is, and what happened had nothing to do with Martin. If Martin had been around, we’d be in mourning right now instead of celebrating the safe return.” He crushed out the cigarette. “Are you all back to one hundred percent?”
The men nodded.
“Now, what makes you think Martin doesn’t know everything we know?” Paul said.
“Even I’m not sure what we know. What do we know?” Thorne said. “We’re like so many mushrooms here. In the dark.”
“Have you swept the house lately for bugs… today?”
“No. We’ve had it under our control since-”
“He had bugs in place before you came in, right? So he knew you were here.”
“We assume that,” Sean started.
“Assume?” Paul said. “Who told you that you could assume anything?” Paul stared at Thorne and tightened the line of his lips.
Thorne’s face betrayed the insecurity he felt. His status had sunk from ruler of the roost to advanced amateur in a heartbeat. He was embarrassed and trying to fight the urge to be defensive in front of his men.
Paul wrote something on a piece of paper and held it up.
It said: Kill our transmitters.
Paul turned and poured himself a cup of coffee. He didn’t look up again until Sean had run the frequency- sweeping equipment through the rooms. Paul smoked a cigarette and dropped the ashes into the garbage can.
“Nothing,” Thorne said after the search was completed. “Not so much as a blip.”
“Our lasers?”
Thorne said, “Disarmed.”
“Very good,” Paul said. He patted Thorne on the shoulder. “Let’s forget the lapse. It happens. I’ve been known to relax myself. Let’s just make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’re entering the most dangerous time of the operation. Every single assigned agent is about to swing into motion in Charlotte and Miami. But for right now, when you feel safest, you have to be most alert. What we least expect may well happen. We’re dealing with very crafty men.”
Paul lit another cigarette. “Did you know that Martin can capture signals from bugs planted by others? He explained it to me once. Piggybacking he called it, and he said he had perfected it. Maybe he was just bragging.”
“You mean, if he knew we were using the window readers, he could intercept the signal?”
Paul shrugged. “You turned off the transmitters, so we’re okay now. Sorry I got so excited. It’s my nerves. Martin probably wouldn’t come in like I did. He isn’t into suicide. He’s too goal oriented.” He looked at Thorne and smiled. “I’m telling you? You knew him as well as I did. In fact you were the first one at DEA who suspected him of being the leak.”
Thorne perked up again, feeling adequately restored as leader of his team in the eyes of the agents.
“Martin’s accomplice is a man named Kurt Steiner,” Paul said. “My guess is that he’s here in New Orleans. So even though we don’t expect Martin to be in New Orleans tonight, Steiner may be. He might do something dramatic to draw us here. What he lacks in the sort of personal motivation driving Martin he will undoubtedly make up in some other compensation.”
“Asshole buddies?” Thorne asked, laughing.
Paul frowned. “Agent Lee and I are flying out in an hour or so because I plan to be in Miami when Eve gets there. Whichever way she moves, we intend to have her covered. My people will be in place in Miami, Dallas, or Denver-wherever she heads. We have every confidence we’ll find Martin. If we miss his friend, the game will not be over. When we take Martin, we have to take Steiner as well. All we have so far is a set of his fingerprints from an Argentine police ID.”
“That’ll be a trick. Any chance of a picture?” Thorne asked.
“Not clear yet,” Paul said. “Have you swept the house for explosives like I asked?”
“Yes, sir,” Sean offered. “It’s clean.”
“You mean it’s clean as far as a dog could tell. I don’t plan to take the chance that Martin doesn’t know how to fool a dog’s nose. My family has to be moved to a secure location unknown to anyone outside this house. Nobody is to have a chance to get through to Laura and the kids. They won’t be able to resume a normal existence until Martin and his friend are neutralized.”
“Force her into exile?” Woody said it before he had a chance to think.
Paul froze and looked at him. “Of course. Safe house somewhere until this is over.”
