my people do.”
“What’s your name?” I said.
“Lesley. Why?”
“I was thinking Agripinilla, for some reason.”
“Know anywhere in the city where you could do this?” she said, opening one of the desk drawers and taking out a cell phone. “Or do you want me to find you a place? Needs to be away from their building. Nowhere with witnesses. Easy access.”
“How about the building they took me to this afternoon?” I said. “It is theirs, but it’s not fitted out yet. No one else uses it.”
“Metal detectors? Cameras?”
“No.”
“Good. And the location’s OK,” she said, switching the phone on and bringing it over to me. “You already know the layout. Ties in with wanting to see the same three guys. All right. Go ahead.”
I left the phone on the table.
“Two more things,” I said. “One-I spent last night in jail. Today I’ve had a coffee, a sandwich, and a Coke. No way am I meeting these guys tonight. Tomorrow at the earliest. And I’m not staying here. I want a night in a decent hotel, with a decent meal, which you’re paying for.”
“Be safer here,” she said. “People are looking for you.”
“People are always looking for me. It comes with the territory.”
“Well, OK, I guess. I’ll send a couple of guys with you. What else?”
“Julianne Morgan. The woman you’ve got locked up in the basement. I’m taking her with me.”
“You want the woman?” she said, glancing at the tall guy. “Why?”
“She got mixed up in this by mistake. She’s got no idea what’s going on. She’s no threat to you. If Varley and this other guy of yours don’t make it through-too bad. They knew the risks. They made their choices. She didn’t.”
“What will you do with her?”
“Take her to the city. Let her stay in the hotel tonight, and cut her loose in the morning. I’m hardly going to want a journalist hanging around me tomorrow.”
“Well, why not? OK. You can have her. Saves us having to get rid of her. But she rides to the city in the trunk. We’ll have cars watching you. Let her out anywhere this side of the river, she’ll be dead before her feet touch the sidewalk.”
“I can live with that,” I said, wondering if Julianne could.
“Now make the damn call before I change my mind.”
Tanya answered on the first ring.
“This is David,” I said.
“David?” she said. “Are you all right? Where are you?”
“Those contacts you had at Federal Plaza. Are they still in place?”
“What’s up? Is someone listening?”
“Yes. Could you call them? Set something up for tomorrow?”
“Really? That soon?”
“Yes. Call tonight. Right now, if you can. This is urgent.”
“What do you need?”
“Tell them I’m holding the guy they’re looking for. From the alley, last night. They’ll know who I mean. I’m prepared to hand him over, but only to the same three guys I met today. Rosser, Varley, and Breuer.”
“Could be difficult, David. They’re still really mad at you. Why not deliver him to me, let me liaise? Stay out of the firing line?”
“No. It has to be the same three guys. The same three, or I cut this guy loose and they’ll never find him.”
“Oh. OK, then. I’ll square it somehow. Where and when?”
“Don’t know yet. I still have to get out of the city. Tell them to be at the Wall Street helipad at 9:00 A.M. Bring a pilot, and enough fuel for two hours. I’ll call then with a time and location.”
“Understood. Back in five.”
Lesley hadn’t even pretended not to listen.
“Nice misdirection, with the heliport,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Talking of which-my hotel room, with the ash? That was you?”
“That was me,” the tall guy said.
“Really?” I said. “Good work. Subtle. I might use it myself, sometime.”
“Just glad they went for it,” he said. “It was kind of last-minute. And a bitch to do, without the smoke alarms going off.”
“How did you know where I was staying?”
“Someone told us.”
“Who?”
“Can’t remember now. Could have been so many people.”
“That kind of information isn’t exactly commonplace.”
“Depends who you know. The NYPD? They’re like the TV, the Internet, and the newspapers all rolled into one, for us. Same goes for the FBI. Nothing happens in this city we don’t find out about.”
“You found out pretty fast.”
The tall guy shrugged.
“Wanted to make sure they swallowed you whole,” he said. “Didn’t know it would be the feds that found it. Didn’t even know the vic was one of theirs at the time. Just didn’t want any possibility of the spotlight coming our way.”
“See, speed is the key,” Lesley said. “Anything goes wrong, our people are motivated to tell us right away. That way, we can jump right on it. Never miss an opportunity to protect ourselves. You might want to remember that, the next couple of days.”
“I hope there’s not an element of distrust developing here?”
“Depends how smart you are. For instance, maybe you’re thinking you could take the. 22 away from my guy? Hand him to the feds without him killing Varley?”
“That never crossed my mind.”
“Good. Because I haven’t given you one hundred percent of the facts about that.”
“Convenient time to mention it.”
“See, the guy I’m giving you-he isn’t really the one from the alley. That was one of my other guys. Not the cream of the crop. Now this guy-he’s one of my best. French. Ex-Surete. Perfect for the job. Could do it in his sleep. But he’s got a real loose tongue. Hand him to the feds, and it’ll all come pouring out. Everything will point straight back at you.”
“What if he gets caught?”
“He won’t. He’ll get out, or go down fighting. That’s the way he is.”
“You can’t be sure. The feds are no mugs.”
“It would be too late, then, anyway. Rosser and Breuer would have seen him pull the trigger. It would be your word against a cop killer. And he’d never see the inside of a courtroom, anyway. Trust me. None of my people ever have.”
“Why take the chance? Why not just give me the real guy?”
“Look at it as an incentive. To make sure you hold up your end. Plus the real guy won’t be working for a while. He needs some retraining.”
“Where is he?”
“Downstairs. Want to meet him?”
“He’s the one who called 911? Gave them my description?”
“He’s the one. His idea, though, to give you up. We’re not normally big on framing passers-by. It’s an unnecessary risk. Usually just leave the body where the NYPD will trip over it. As long as it’s unwashed, they don’t lose much sleep.”
