meant what he said.' Kelly reluctantly nodded. 'So do I. The man is dying.' 'Do you know of any reason why someone would try to kill the two of you?' 'No,' Diane said. 'If it isn't Altieri-' She shook her head. 'I have no idea.' Kelly swallowed. 'Neither have I.'
DETECTIVE GREENBURG ESCORTED Diane and Kelly back into Diane's apartment. 'I'm going to get to work on this now,' he said, 'but you'll be safe here. In fifteen minutes there will be a police cruiser outside your apartment building for the next twenty-four hours, and we'll see what we can find out by then. If you need me, call.' And he was gone.
DlANE AND KELLY stared at each other. There was an awkward silence.
'Would you like some tea?' Diane asked.
Kelly said perversely, 'Coffee.' Diane looked at her a moment, irritated, and sighed. 'Right.' Diane walked into the kitchen to start the coffee. Kelly wandered around the living room, looking at the paintings on the walls.
When Diane came out of the kitchen, Kelly was studying one of Diane's paintings.
'Stevens.' She turned to Diane. 'Did you paint this?' Diane nodded. 'Yes.' Kelly said in a dismissive tone of voice, 'Pretty.' Diane's lips tightened. 'Oh? Do you know a lot about art?' 'Not much, Mrs. Stevens.' 'Who do you like? Grandma Moses, I suppose.' one's interesting.
'And what other primitive painters touch your heart?' Kelly turned to face Diane. 'To be honest, I prefer the curvilinear, nonrepresentational form. There are exceptions, of course. For instance, in Titian's Venus of Robin, the diagonal sweep of her form is breathtaking, and-' From the kitchen, they could hear the coffee percolating.
Diane said curtly, 'The coffee is ready.'
THEY WERE SEATED across from each other in the dining room, taciturn, letting their coffee get cold.
Diane broke the silence. 'Can you think of any reason why someone would try to kill us?' 'No.' Kelly was silent for a moment. 'The only connection you and I have is that both our husbands worked at KIG. Maybe they were involved in some top secret project. And whoever killed them thinks they might have told us about it.' Diane paled. 'Yes…' They looked at each other in dismay.
IN HIS OFFICE, Tanner was watching the scene taking place in Diane's apartment, on one of the wall television sets. His chief security guard stood next to him.
'No. The only connection you and I have is that both our husbands worked at KIG.
Maybe they were involved in some top secret project. And whoever killed them thinks they might have told us about it.' 'Yes…'
THE STEVENS APARTMENT had been wired with state-of-the-art television and sound.
Just as Tanner had told his partner, the house was filled with cutting-edge technology.
There were concealed video systems in every room of the apartment, with a Web-based camera the size of a button resting among the books, bent fiber-optic wires under the doors, and a wireless picture frame camera. In the attic, a video server the size of a laptop computer had been installed to service six cameras. Attached to the server was a wireless modem that allowed the equipment to function through cellular technology.
AS TANNER LEANED forward, watching the screen intently, Diane said, 'We have to find out what our husbands were working on.' 'Right. But we're going to need help. How do we do that?' 'We'll call Tanner Kingsley. He's the only one who can help us, and he's trying to find out who's behind all this.' 'Let's do it.'
DIANE SAID, 'YOU can spend the night here. Well be safe. There's a police car stationed outside.' She walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back. There was no car.
She stared for a long moment and felt a sudden chill. 'That's strange,' Diane said. 'There was supposed to be a patrol car here. Let me make a phone call.' Diane took Detective Greenberg's card from her purse, went to the telephone, and called a number. 'Detective Greenburg, please.' She listened a moment. 'Are you sure?… I see. Then could I speak to Detective Praegitzer?' There was another moment of silence. 'Yes, thank you.' Diane slowly replaced the receiver.
Kelly looked at Diane. 'What is it?' Diane said, 'Detectives Greenburg and Praegitzer have been transferred to another precinct.' Kelly swallowed. 'That's a real coincidence, isn't it?' Diane said, 'And I just remembered something.' 'What?' 'Detective Greenburg asked me if Richard had done or said anything out of his usual routine lately.
There was one thing I forgot to mention. Richard was going to Washington to see somebody.
Sometimes I travel with him, but this time he insisted it would be better if he went alone.' Kelly was watching her with a surprised expression. 'That's strange. Mark told me he had to go to Washington, and had to go alone.' 'We have to find out why.' Kelly walked over to the window and pulled back the drapes. 'There's still no car.' She turned to Diane. 'Let's get out of here.' 'Right,' Diane said. 'I know a little out-of-the-way hotel in Chinatown called the Mandarin. No one will ever think of looking for us there. We'll call Mr. Kingsley from the room.'
'I KNOW A little out-of-the-way hotel in Chinatown called the Mandarin. No one will ever think of looking for us there. We'll call Mr. Kingsley from the room.' Tanner turned to his chief security officer, Harry Flint, with the perpetual half smile. 'Kill them.'
CHAPTER 23
HARRY FLINT WILL take good care of the women, Tanner thought with satisfaction.
Flint had never failed him.
It amused Tanner to think about how Flint had come into his life. Years ago his brother, Andrew, poster boy for the bleeding hearts of the world, had started a halfway house for newly released prisoners, to help them adjust to civilian life. Then he would find jobs for them.
Tanner had a more useful plan for ex-felons, because he believed that there was no such thing as an ex- felon. Through his private sources, he would get inside information on the backgrounds of recently released prisoners, and if they had the qualifications that Tanner needed, they went from the halfway house to working for Tanner directly, doing what he called 'delicate private tasks.' He had arranged for an ex-felon named Vince Carballo to come to work for KIG.
