DeLuca nodded. “Paid in full. Now let’s talk about my shipment.”
CHAPTER 49
I slumped behind the desk in my office and watched the streetlights change on Broadway. Rodriguez and Rita sat across from me. The detective pushed back in his chair and looked up at a bronze plaque on the wall. It contained a line of ancient Greek:
“What the hell is that?” Rodriguez said.
“Quote from Heraclitus,” I said. “ ‘Everything changes, nothing remains the same.’ ”
“He’s got that right. This morning I was just a cop. Now you got me pushing dope for the Outfit.”
“Let it go,” Rita said. “At least we’ve got a lead.”
Rodriguez picked up the photo DeLuca had given us. “And how are we gonna ID this guy?”
“Homeland?” Rita said.
Rodriguez shook his head. “I cut a deal with the mayor. Not the feds. We tell them nothing about DeLuca. Or the drugs we’re gonna give him.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said. “We have other pieces to work.”
The detective and his girlfriend crossed their arms in tandem and fell silent, waiting, apparently, for my magical pieces to fall into place. I tapped on my computer and pulled up an e-mail. I’d already read it three times. Now I typed out a few lines in response and closed the window. There was a footfall on the stairs outside. The door to my office squeaked open, and a small shadow crept across the threshold. A small shadow, wearing a small sling.
“Hey.”
“Molly.” I came around the desk and gave her an awkward hug. “Thanks for stopping by.”
“They wanted me to overnight at the hospital, but I needed to get out of there.”
“I bet.”
I pulled up another chair and settled her in. “Molly Carrolton, this is Rita Alvarez from the Daily Herald. Detective Vince Rodriguez. Molly’s one of the scientists who’s been tracking the pathogen.”
Vince and Rita shook hands with Molly. I slipped back behind my desk.
“What happened?” Rita said.
“I was shot at this morning. Grazed my arm.”
“Let me guess,” Rodriguez said. “You were with Kelly?”
“Molly was shot at as we rode through a hot zone,” I said.
“What were you riding in?” Rita said.
“An L train.” I pulled out a plastic Baggie and pushed it toward Rodriguez. “I dug out the slug from the wall of the car. Was hoping you could run it against the one we recovered in the Korean’s cellar?”
Rodriguez held the Baggie by his fingertips. “You want to know if the guy in our photo here was also hunting Molly?”
“Or me. Either way, I’d like to know.”
Molly picked up the photo. I watched her face.
“You know that guy?”
She shook her head. “Should I?”
“We think he might be behind the release.”
Molly dropped the photo like it was one of the monsters from her lab. “Who is he?”
“Good question.”
I pulled a second Baggie from my pocket.
“What’s that?” Molly said.
“It’s a cigarette butt.”
“I can see that. Why are you holding it in front of me?”
I told her about the Korean’s cellar. And the body bags I’d found there. And the tall man with the rifle.
“And he’s the man in the photo?” Molly said.
“That’s right.”
“You’re sure?”
“Sure enough.”
“How does the cigarette fit in?”
“When I first walked into the Korean’s cellar that night, I smelled cigarette smoke. I found the butt under the stairs.”
“And you think it belonged to him?”
“It looked fresh. So, yeah, I think it might.”
Molly picked up the Baggie and considered its contents in the speckled light from the street. “If there’s DNA, it will be from saliva trapped in the filter.”
“What are the odds?”
“If I did get a profile, what would you do with it?”
“I’d ask if you could run it through the feds’ system. See if we can put a name to our face.”
Molly stared at the butt. I let her sit with things and turned to Rita. “How about our money angle?”
“Best I can tell, there is no money angle.”
I waited. Rita pouted.
“I told you,” she said. “I’ll give it a try. First thing tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks.”
“Smile,” Rodriguez said. “At least you don’t have to break any laws to help him.”
“I could maybe start DNA extraction tonight,” Molly said. “Gaining access to the feds’ database might not be so easy.”
“Get me a profile,” I said. “Then we’ll worry about the rest.”
Everyone sat for another minute or so. None of them looked particularly thrilled to be there. Or necessarily happy with me. Rodriguez made a move to go. Rita followed suit. I touched Molly’s sleeve.
“Hang a minute.”
We waited until the other two had left.
“You okay for all this?” I said.
“You mean the arm? It’s fine. They told me I could drop the sling tomorrow.”
“Pain?”
“I slept most of the afternoon.” Molly picked up the photo DeLuca had given us and gave it a second look. “I’m gonna need a copy for the database search.”
“You can have that one.”
She tucked the snapshot into her jacket.
“How’s Ellen doing?” I said.
“If you’re asking whether she’ll crack the pathogen, the answer is yes.”
“Where is she now?”
“She should be back at CDA. Why?”
I brushed a key on my computer. “I just got an e-mail from her. Said she needed to talk.”
“That’s not so easy these days.”
“They’re not letting people leave the lab?”
“They’re not letting Ellen leave. At least not without someone from Homeland riding shotgun.”
“She’s that important?”
“You have no idea. Did she say what she wanted?”
“No.”
“I’m headed back there. I’ll talk to her.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“What?”
