“You will let us know how we can help?” Hisayuki asked, interrupting.
“You can count on it,” Louie said. He looked at his watch. “We have to move! I’d like to have the kid in our hands around noon, if it is at all possible.”
“What will we do with the kid once we have him?”
“That’s another issue,” Louie said. “We have to find a place. But let’s not worry about that right away. We’ll bring the kid to my house! My wife loves babies. Tomorrow we can find a place.”
“What about the warehouse at the pier?” Carlo suggested. He didn’t want to be left out in the cold completely.
“No heat,” Louie said, standing up. “We don’t want the kid getting sick. As I said, taking care of the kid might be the hardest part of this affair. We don’t want to make it more difficult for ourselves, and he’ll be no value to us dead. There’s something called ‘proof of life’ involved in kidnapping episodes, which they will be demanding as we keep Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton busy with negotiations.”
“Very nice to meet you, Ishii-san,” Louie said while thrusting out his thick-fingered hand toward the
“That would be my pleasure,” Hisayuki said, bowing and shaking Louie’s hand simultaneously.
Louie self-consciously bowed as well. He then quickly repeated the gesture with Hideki, who had managed with some effort to get to his feet.
Louie began to herd Carlo and Brennan toward the stairs while calling over his shoulder to Hideki that he’d be in touch within the hour.
“I’ll be waiting,” Hideki called after them.
“Do you want me to try Vinnie Amendola again?” Carlo questioned. He felt he was still being sidelined, as his previous suggestion had been so quickly rebuffed.
“Absolutely not,” Louie responded, heading down the stairs ahead of his two henchmen. “We’ll only involve him as a last resort. He could easily be forced into becoming a double agent. Brennan, are you confident you’ll be able to find out the woman’s address from the Internet?”
“You’ll be surprised at what I’ll be able to find out about her in two minutes,” Brennan bragged confidently. “Especially with being a public employee.” Brennan was remarkably facile with computers. He had gone to a technical high school after having been thrown out of regular high school in his freshman year for truancy. At the technical school he’d specialized in computers and electronics. On his own, he’d learned how to pick locks with world-class agility to round out his resume.
Rebuffed again, Carlo hung back and watched the upstart Brennan go through the revolving door. Carlo sensed he was being upstaged, and he did not like it.
The three men waited in silence while the valet service went for the car. Meanwhile, Louie was planning the details of the kidnapping and was enjoying himself. The previous kidnapping he’d done had been satisfying, and he had been dreaming of doing another someday. It was easy money, although still a challenge. Brennan was already mentally listing the websites he wanted to visit. He was sure he could get things as personal as Laurie’s shoe size if he wanted. Carlo was watching Brennan, wondering how he was going to wipe the self-satisfied smile off his face.
When the car finally came, Carlo crowded out Brennan and got behind the wheel. Brennan allowed it to happen, as Carlo was officially higher in the pecking order, and it was, after all, Carlo’s vehicle. Brennan settled for shotgun. Louie got into his usual place in one of the middle seats. Once they were under way, he said, “Okay, this is the way we are going to do it.”
23
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 10:45 a.m.
Ben’s phone shocked him with a ring that sounded much louder than usual, causing him to jump.
“Wow!” Michael said, genuinely impressed. “You picked up before the first ring had finished. You must be expecting a seriously important call.”
“The phone scared the hell out of me,” Ben confessed. “It’s been tomb-like around here. I told my assistant not to schedule any meetings for me today, and she didn’t. It’s delightful.”
“No meetings, no phone calls,” Michael commented. “I’d be afraid I was dead.”
“It’s a great way to get some reading done. What’s up?”
“I just heard back from Dominick. I’d called and left a message about you wanting the address and phone number where Satoshi’s staying. You have a pen and something to write on?”
“Go ahead.”
“The address is four seventeen Pleasant Lane, Fort Lee. Sounds charmingly suburban.”
“If it’s a safe house, it’s not going to be charming in the slightest. Although Satoshi never complained, I imagine it’s only a little bit north of being unlivable. How about a phone number?”
Writing down the phone number, Ben noticed that it was the same area code as his in Englewood Cliffs.
“Any news on the company you are considering buying?” Michael questioned.
“Nope,” Ben said. “Carl is doing his due diligence. I don’t think we’ll have an answer yes or no for a couple of weeks.”
“I’m glad you told me,” Michael said. “I misunderstood. I thought it was days, not weeks. I’m going to have to call the prospective investor and tell him to hold his water. He thought it was only days away, as did I.”
“How well do you know this dude?”
“I’ve known him for a long time and have done work with him before. He’s an okay guy.”
“Would it be fair to say he’s in a similar business as the other angels?”
“That’s fair to say,” Michael answered. “He does well for himself, not in Vinnie Dominick’s league but respectable.”
After thanking the placement agent, Ben hung up and stared at Satoshi’s home address and phone number. Ben wondered if he should call or just stop in on the way home. The address was only a few miles from his own abode, which would make stopping by an easy proposition, but it would also put off his knowing Satoshi was safe and sound.
“Oh, what the hell,” Ben said to himself, picking up the phone. Although his paranoia was continuing to make him superstitious such that he now believed he’d be more likely to find someone home if he made the effort to drive, he’d decided to call. If the home was a Mafia safe house for a bunch of Mafia bums, it was going to be dirty and depressing at the very least.
Ben dialed the number, sat back, and smiled to himself. He was acting so juvenile. But after twenty rings and no response, Ben had to admit no one was home. It seemed that a visit was in order even though he was convinced it was going to be as in vain as calling Satoshi’s cell. Obviously Satoshi and family were in Washington having a ball while he was stressing himself out.
24
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 10:50 a.m.
When Laurie got involved in a task, she often became oblivious to the world around her. Such was the situation as she worked through the histology slides of the previous day’s case. Instead of “John
