hand him to the local PD?”
“ ’Cause he’d have denied it, Einstein. And I was working alone. I don’t have crime labs and technicians backing me up. I needed your bosses to hear the confession.”
“You had his gun.”
“Yeah. Circumstantial evidence. That’s always good. Till he goes with the ‘holding it for a friend’ defense.”
“Got an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Arrogant asshole.”
“There’s a difference between being arrogant, and being right. You should think about that.”
“Or what? Going to break my jaw, as well?”
“That’s a tempting offer. I always enjoy a bit of jaw-breaking. But ultimately, what’s the point? It’s not your mouth I’m listening to.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, if anyone’s talking out of his ass, it’s you. We’ve got one agent in hospital ’cause of you. Another nearly killed this morning. And now…”
“Weston, you want to rant?” I said, getting up from Lavine’s chair. “Go ahead. But do it on your own. I’ve got a call to make.”
I could still see Weston’s mouth moving, but at least with the door shut the glass booth insulated me from the sound of his whining voice. The three chairs were still inside, so I chose the one I’d used yesterday and sat down to dial the number for the hotel switchboard. A receptionist answered on the third ring. She didn’t give her name, but it sounded like the woman who’d checked us in last night. Maxine. She must have been on a late-early. A bit like me.
“Julianne Morgan’s room, please,” I said.
“One moment,” Maxine said. “Connecting you now.”
The phone rang again for another twenty seconds, then Julianne answered. She sounded sleepy.
“Hello?” she said.
“Julianne, it’s David.”
“David? What time is it? Is it lunchtime?”
“No, not yet. But about that. I’m not going to make it, I’m afraid.”
“You’re not? Why? Is everything all right? Are you in trouble?”
“Everything’s fine. No trouble at all.”
“Then why can’t you make it?”
“Something came up, and now the FBI wants my help with it.”
“The FBI? Why? What went wrong?”
“Nothing went wrong. At least, not for me. Can’t say the same for the bad guys, though. That’s why I’m calling. I want you to get out of the hotel, right away.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t do what the bad guys wanted this morning. I went a different way. Completely stitched them up.”
“You did? Fantastic. David, good for you.”
“Point is, they’re going to hear about it. Soon.”
“So they hear. So what?”
“So they’ll be seriously pissed off. Pissed off enough to maybe send someone after you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Lots of reasons. In case you were in on it. To get back at me, through you. ’Cause you’re a journalist. It doesn’t matter why. What matters is, you’re not safe where you are.”
“Oh. Well, have I got time for a shower before I make my escape?”
I caught sight of a figure approaching from the far end of the room. It was Tanya Wilson.
“Better not,” I said. “Safer just to leave. Have you got a place to go?”
Tanya motioned through the glass that she wanted to talk to me, smiled, then went over to chat with Weston.
“Yeah,” Julianne said. “I live in the Village. It’s walkable.”
“Better head for home, then,” I said. “Sorry again about lunch.”
I saw Weston give Tanya the cold shoulder. She stood and scowled at him for a moment, and then walked over to the side wall and started looking at the train maps.
“Don’t worry about it,” Julianne said. “But I tell you what-if we can’t do lunch, what about dinner?”
“Can’t,” I said, watching Tanya. “I’ve got plans for tonight.”
“Already? You move fast. Who is she? An FBI agent?”
“Who said anything about a ‘she’?”
“Come on. You can’t fool me.”
“It’s just a work thing. Something I promised to do a while ago.”
“Oh, yeah? Just business?”
“Absolutely.”
Tanya’s body suddenly tensed as she studied the railway diagrams and I saw her head tilt slightly to the left, as if something critical had caught her attention.
“That’s what you’re telling me now,” Julianne said. “Wait till you’ve had a few glasses of red. What will it be then?”
“The same,” I said. “It’s not a date. Just someone from the consulate. She helped me out with a few things, and I promised to buy her dinner before I head back to the U.K. Nothing romantic.”
Tanya had turned to Weston and was pointing to the lower map-the one of the entire United States of America.
“You owe someone dinner in return for a few favors?” Julianne said. “Come on, David. I’m not buying that.”
“Journalists,” I said. “Too suspicious for their own good.”
“OK. You got me. I’ll back off. But listen, you did me more than a favor. You saved my life. I must owe you a whole bunch of dinners. What do you think-can’t we do at least one before you leave the country?”
“I’d love to, Julianne. But I don’t know if it’ll be possible. I could be on a plane back home, tomorrow.”
“What if you’re not? What if you’re here longer?”
“OK, tell you what. If I’m here another night, I’ll call you.”
“Great. Only trouble is, I lost my cell. Those guys took it when they threw me in their trunk. Why not give me your number. I’ll call tomorrow, after lunch, and see if you’re still around.”
I took a moment to think about her idea. I didn’t own a personal cell phone, and there’s no way I’d give my work number to a casual acquaintance. But the phone Lesley had given me was unofficial. It was untraceable, and in a few hours it would be landfill. Letting her try it tomorrow wouldn’t hurt. And it was a good way to shut her up now.
“Good plan,” I said, and read out the digits.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and signaled for Tanya to come and join me in the booth.
“Briefing’s over,” she said, touching my shoulder then taking the chair next to me.
“Wow,” I said. “Must be some kind of record.”
“They want to raid this Lesley’s headquarters.”
“Do they.”
“They want you to go with them. Show them where it is.”
“No point.”
“Why not? You’ve been there. You know the way.”
“Too late. She’ll be long gone.”
“Maybe. But their forensics teams might recover something.”
“No chance. The place will be empty. She’ll take what she can, and destroy what’s left. It’ll be a complete waste of time.”
