Maybe if I kept him talking, I could get him to say his contact’s name
“Yes and no. I mean, we want untracked drives.” He leaned against the wall. “Or tracked drives from known sources.”
“Well, who would put valuable info on a drive that wasn’t tracked? Didn’t you just say—?”
“Look. Some people put valuable stuff on drives without even knowing it. The guy I give these drives to knows what’s important and who’s important. The only thing is that he won’t take tracked drives without knowing where or who they came from.”
“Well how are you supposed to know if they’ve been tracked?” I threw my hands out to my sides as if I were exasperated. And I was. This system was crazy.
“Actually, I have a computer program that checks them. If they are, I chuck ‘em fast.”
“Hmm. No way around the tracking?”
“I think Marco has a way, but he’s only willing to use it when he knows the source behind the information.”
Ah, I got him to say a name. Marco.
“Huh. I’m sorry I stole tracked drives. I’ll try not to do it again, but I’m not sure how to avoid it.”
“Just make note of who you get any drives from. You could even snap a picture if you get the chance.”
“I can’t believe you were accusing me of working for someone. What was that all about?”
He sighed. “Look, I have to constantly be on guard in this business.” He lowered his head and looked at me through one eye like he was still a little suspicious.
“Maybe I should just toss any drives I get from now on away.”
He stood up straight and shook his hands out in front of him. “No. No. We get a ton of money from good drives. I just need to be careful where I check them. Today I was in a hurry and checked them at my apartment. It just made me nervous. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve run into a tracked device. And get a picture of the people you get the drive from or at the very least a description of them. I am going to be watching you, though. Today seems like too much of a coincidence.” He looked at me again, his face tight with suspicion. “Why did you have a drive in your pocket, anyway?”
I’d already come up with an excuse in case he asked me. I almost told him I thought about keeping that one for myself, but I thought stealing from him would be a pretty bad idea. “I was taking things right and left and didn’t always bother to put everything into the bag. I just missed it when I put everything in there before I left the Louvre. It was small. What can I say? It won’t happen again.”
“I better not get any more tracked drives from you. That’s all.” All strain left his face.
It seemed like the situation had been defused. He noticed I was rubbing my neck, and he moved toward me, a softness in his eyes.
“Sorry about that. It’s only a small cut. I’m sure you understand.”
“Would you really have killed me?” I narrowed my eyes and moved away from him.
“If you were a spy of some sort, yes.”
I recoiled, my hands touching the wall behind me.
He put his hand out. “This is how I make a living. It’s not the best, but it works for me. And I can’t have anyone messing it up.”
I didn’t take his hand. I had to stay in character. I had to be afraid of him. “Have you ever killed someone, then?”
“No.” He said it a little too fast, and then he touched his nose. He was lying.
“Good. ‘Cause that totally freaks me out. I don’t know if I could trust you if I thought you’d killed someone.”
He shook his head and forced a smile. “No. I haven’t. But if someone threatened me or my job, I would.” There was determination and purpose behind his words. He had killed, and he would again. A cold, wet snake slithered up my spine. It took all I had not to shiver. I leaned hard on the wall.
His phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. “I gotta go. See you tomorrow. Louvre at nine fifteen sharp by the Mona Lisa.”
I nodded. It still surprised me that he was so protective of this job. I wished I knew what his motivation was. Did he protect it because he loved it or was there something else? If I knew that, I would have some leverage over him. Until then, I was an open target and needed to be careful.
I waited thirty seconds, then I followed him. Inside, I was still reeling from the attack—I’d been alone, no backup, with a knife to my neck. And now I was following that knife, again with no backup. What is the matter with me? I wondered. But I knew the answer. Nothing was wrong with me. This was just too important to let go.
I remained a good distance from Kamal as he walked purposefully over the sidewalks, blending into the crowds and disappearing when there were none. A constant stream of cars filled the streets and every metro tunnel was hopping with people rushing about. He picked up loot from four different kids at four different spots, all very open. Not a single Parisian seemed to notice anything amiss. He was smart, careful. I kept with him as he made his way to a business building I wasn’t familiar with. Could it be the clearinghouse for all the stolen goods? I snapped a picture of the placard with the names of the business behind the door then took a few pictures of the buildings and the surrounding area and sent it all to Ace.
