“How?”
“I don’t give a damn. Bribery is usually good.” He hung up. He was surrounded by idiots and incompetents.
Brandell called back ten minutes later. “Room 1502.”
“Keep watch outside and make sure you know when she leaves the hotel.”
Queen hesitated a moment, then dialed another number. “Marriott Hotel. Room 1502.”
“How very accommodating of you,” Black said.
“Accommodating? I’ve practically drawn you a picture,” Queen said. “Just get me what I need.”
“Gallo’s head and the ledger,” Black said. “I’ll probably have to take out the woman, too. It would be dangerous to leave a witness.”
“Then she has to just disappear. She has contacts with the Atlanta PD.”
“Disappear. No problem. Do you think that I’d still be free if I wasn’t an expert?” he said mockingly. “One can’t just leave bodies lying about. Actually, it’s rather fitting, isn’t it? Her daughter disappeared, and now poor Eve Duncan herself.”
“As far as I know, Duncan is still hale and hearty and able to cause me trouble. I don’t care what you do to any of them. Just get me what I need. It shouldn’t be hard now that I’ve done your groundwork.”
“You don’t know anything about it. I may not even choose to use your precious information. I’ll have to decide. It’s sometimes better to go for a fresh, unexpected approach. It’s certainly more enjoyable.”
“I’m not interested in what’s enjoyable for you.”
“You may be very interested at some point, Queen.”
Back off. That last remark was aimed at him, and Black’s malice might also be changed to include Queen. He didn’t want to have to deal with Black until he had done his job and retrieved the ledger. He’d already lined up a hit man to take care of Black after he had no use for him. “All I’m saying is that nothing should get in the way of what’s important.”
“I thought that was what you meant.” Black sounded amused. “I’m certain you wouldn’t deliberately be rude.” He hung up.
Queen expelled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Everything was in motion. All he had to do was sit back and watch and pick up the spoils.
BLACK LOOKED DOWN AT THE pad on which he’d scrawled the room number in Milwaukee.
Eve Duncan’s room number.
He remembered her well. How could he forget?
And how well and in what ways did Gallo remember Eve Duncan? Queen had said she’d been with him in the house in the mountains.
Is it time to take your toy from you, Gallo?
He felt a surge of fierce pleasure at the thought. Not only the death of Gallo, but making him watch the death of someone he cared about.
But how to do it in the most pleasurable way for himself?
He thought he knew what path he wanted to take. He reached in his pocket and pulled out another note he had made.
EVE TOOK OUT THE PLASTIC key the clerk had given her and pushed it into the slot.
“No, my room.”
She stiffened and turned to see John Gallo standing behind her. He was wearing a black shirt and khaki pants and looked dark, lean, and completely casual and confident. “All of this cloak-and-dagger stuff is annoying, John. I feel as if I’ve joined the CIA like Catherine.”
He shook his head. “Nary a cloak or dagger in sight.” He nodded at an open door down the hall. “My room. It’s safer. I’ve ordered dinner.” He took her carry-on and rolled it down the hall. “You were followed from the airport.”
“How do you know?”
“I hired an old friend, Peter Chakon, to watch the Toyota and report to me.” He smiled. “Would I let you take a chance on being intercepted on your way here?”
“I don’t know what you’d do. Was it one of Queen’s people?”
“Maybe.” He stepped aside for her to enter the room. “Probably.”
She glanced around the room. Typical hotel room, blue synthetic-silk spread on a king-size bed, a desk and chair across the room. A small damask-covered room-service table was pushed against the wall.
“Not as nice as the last Marriott we were in together,” John said. “But then there are Marriotts and Marriotts.”
She looked at him. “That wasn’t a pleasant memory, either.”
“I know. But I couldn’t resist the temptation to repeat history on some level.” He shut the door and gestured to the table. “Sit down and eat. I don’t know how long we’ll have before we’re interrupted.”
She sat down in the chair. “You think someone is going to come. Then why are we still here?”
“Because I want to see who it is.” He uncovered the plates to reveal sandwiches and soup. “Ham okay?”
She nodded. “You said you were curious. I don’t think you’re this curious.”
He sat down across from her. “It’s important that I know who may be knocking on the door.”
“Queen.” She took a sip of soup. “Who else?”
He didn’t answer.
She studied him. “Who else?” she whispered. “Black?”
“It’s possible that Queen decided to bring him in on a job that he considered important. I worked very hard at being a thorn in his side to bring that about.” He poured coffee into her cup. “At least, I hope he did.”
“Bring him in?” Her grip tightened on her spoon. “Stop this. I have to know what you’re talking about. Start at the beginning. What do you have on Queen?”
He made a face. “The beginning? I try to avoid thinking of the beginning.” He leaned back in his chair. “But I’ll try to skirt around the really nasty parts. Korea. Five months after I left Atlanta. Fresh out of Ranger school. I was good and cocky and one of the chosen ones. I met Queen and his subordinate, Jacobs, at a meeting in Tokyo. Queen was a major at that time, and Jacobs was a corporal. Jacobs seemed to be some kind of assistant to Queen. They were officers in Army Intelligence and had requested special assistance from my unit. They said Washington had information that North Korea was buying nuclear raw materials to start their own program. They wanted proof but didn’t want to disturb diplomatic relations to get it. So they sent me, Ron Capshaw, and Larry Silak in to find it.”
“What kind of proof?”
“A ledger of transactions between the North Koreans and arms dealers of various countries. It was described as a slender leather-bound book and easily portable. The ledger was in the possession of General Tai Sen. He kept it at his country home near Pyongyang. Our orders were to go in and grab the ledger and head for the coast to get picked up. The theft went slick as glass.” He grimaced. “But everything went wrong from the time that we stole the ledger. We knew the chances were that we all weren’t going to make it to the coast. We hid the ledger and separated and took off on our own.”
“And you were caught.”
“Capshaw and Silak were shot and killed. I was taken to prison and questioned. They wanted to know what happened to the ledger. I told them that I was only a noncom and that Capshaw as the commanding officer had taken it with him when we separated. I thought they believed me, maybe they did for a while. The Koreans have an almost slavish obedience and respect for their officers.” He lifted his cup to his lips. “But General Tai Sen decided they had to be sure when they still couldn’t find the ledger.” He looked at her and his lips twisted. “And this is
