“More specific?” I said. “How many entire teams have you fired in the last couple of weeks?”
“I’m not sure,” Taylor said. “It’s a busy time for us. I’d need to check with HR. Perhaps if you tell me exactly what you need, I could get back to you in the next couple of days?”
“Agent Weston,” Lavine said. “Have you still got that buddy in procurement, at the Department of Defense?’
“Sure,” Weston said. “Matter of fact, I owe him a call. I was waiting till I had something to talk about.”
“Want to start this conversation again?” Lavine said.
“One,” Taylor said. “One team. Six people.”
“Why fire them?” I said.
“There was a complaint from the client.”
“About what?” I said.
“An allegation of inappropriate treatment of civilians.”
“Expand on that,” Lavine said.
“The guys were working at a hospital. In Iraq. Top team. Flagship contract. One night, three teenagers were brought in. Gunshot wounds. Took the rounds when their car-which they’d stolen-tried to run a roadblock. A U.S. Marine got hurt in the process. Story is, my guys heard about it, came on the ward, and tried to set things straight right there.”
“But you don’t believe that,” Lavine said.
“No. My guys are professionals. And they’re on good money. They wouldn’t put all that on the line over some marine they’d never met.”
“More likely to do it over someone they did know,” I said. “You lost a couple of guys recently, didn’t you? The ones Redford and Mansell were brought in to replace.”
“First thing I thought of, myself. But no. We’ve got investigators on the ground. They took a real good look, and it didn’t fly.”
“So why fire them?” I said.
“The client insisted. Lose the guys, or lose the contract.”
“So you chose the contract,” Lavine said. “That’s cold.”
“Not really. What we’re doing over there is more important than the short-term welfare of a handful of individual personnel.”
“Why not move them to another contract?” I said.
“It doesn’t work that way. We’re not a typical operator.”
“Meaning?” Lavine said.
“We’re there for principle, not profit. Our goal is the long-term advancement of the region, not the maximum percentage. We’re trying to give something back to a people who’ve been hit pretty hard, you know? Which means we only take on certain kinds of contracts. Ones that will benefit the local population as well as ourselves. Things like hospital security. Mine clearance. Ammo disposal. Prisoner transport.”
“So?” I said.
“To win that kind of business, your reputation is everything. There’s no room for anyone with the slightest question mark over them.”
“Even if they haven’t actually done anything wrong?” I said.
“Look, it’s not like we just cut these guys loose. We gave them three months’ money. And there’s plenty of other work for them, over there. They’ll get other jobs if they want them.”
“Three months’ money?” Weston said. “What’s that in dollars?”
“Ballpark? Somewhere between $40K and $60K each. Can’t remember the exact package all our guys are on.”
“Big numbers,” Weston said.
“Above average, yes. But that’s what we’re about. Above-average people, above-average risks, above- average rewards.”
“The team you let go,” Lavine said. “Who actually fired them?”
“You mean who sat in the room and gave them the bad news? Me.”
“Who else knew?” Lavine said.
“A couple of people in HR. Another couple in operations. Why?”
“We’ll need their names,” Lavine said. “And a list of people with access to your payroll system.”
“What’s that-”
“Excuse me a minute, guys,” I said. “I need to use your bathroom. No need to call anyone. I saw it on our way in.”
No one was speaking when I came back. Lavine had moved to the far side of the wolframite globe. Tanya glowered at me, as if she were annoyed I’d left the room. Taylor was standing with his back to the others, staring blankly out of the window. He looked pale. In his place at the table was a line of four-by-six photographs. If he was telling the truth, the last time he’d seen the people in those pictures, they’d just finished being his employees. And they’d still been alive.
“He was lying,” Lavine said, back in the car. “He knew something. You can forget all that friend-of-the-people bullshit. I mean, please.”
“It’s about the money,” Weston said. “Always the same.”
“It’s not about the money,” I said. “I agree with Tanya. It’s about the hospital. Something happened over there. Someone did something. Or saw something. We just have to figure out who. Or what.”
“How?” Tanya said. “Asking Taylor didn’t do much good.”
“We can start with this,” I said, taking a CD out of my jacket pocket.
“What is it?” Lavine said.
“Debut album from a new Icelandic band,” I said. “Bjork’s brother-in-law. Played the Bowery Ballroom the other night. Heard of them?”
“No.”
“Go ahead. Put it on the stereo. It’ll help us concentrate.”
“Don’t think so.”
“Well, you’re probably right. It might not sound too good. Because it’s not really music. It’s actually Tungsten’s phone bill. Brand-new, fresh out of the envelope.”
“On a CD?”
“Of course. Itemized corporate phone bills always come on CD. Unless they want twenty boxes of paper every month.”
“Where did it come from?”
“The phone company, would be my guess.”
“I mean, how come you’ve got it?”
“Use your imagination.”
“So you didn’t really need the bathroom, back there,” Tanya said.
“You stole it?” Lavine said.
“That makes it compromised,” Weston said. “We can’t use it.”
“You can’t,” I said. “But we can. Tanya, could you get some people to take a look?”
“Sure,” she said. “Drop me at the consulate. I’ll get them straight on it.”
“What’s it going to give us?” Lavine said.
“Who knows?” I said. “Maybe everything. Maybe nothing. We’ll let you know in a couple of hours.”
“Worth a try, I suppose,” Weston said. “Call us when you’re done. Meantime, we’ll head back. Check on the other hares we’ve got running.”
“You can drop me at a hotel on the way,” I said. “I’ll need a room, now that I’m staying a while.”
“No problem,” Weston said. “Which one? Same as last night?”
“No,” I said. “I fancy a change. My favorite room’s not available in that place.”
“Want us to have a word?” Lavine said. “When we ask, rooms get made available.”
“Wouldn’t work this time,” I said. “They’re not done repairing it after the bureau’s last visit.”
