I answered.
“I need to speak to Ursula,” Jacob’selectronic voice said.
The code signified urgency, and I could feela dose of adrenaline surge into my bloodstream.
“I’m afraid she has already left for thehospital.”
“You’ve met with the contact?”
“He just took Julie.” I peered at the carsflooding around Columbus Circle and up Broadway.
“Damn. He’s early.”
“What is it?”
“You were right to have me check him,Chandler. He’s not Morrissey.”
Oh, shit.
“What do you mean?” I knew the suspicion wasoriginally mine, but Jacob’s words carried a shock wave anyway.
“Morrissey’s body was found—or at least partof it was—a week ago in New Jersey. He was mutilated, no face, nohands, so we didn’t identify him right away.”
“But you’re sure it’s him?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t ask how or when. Worrying about thatwas someone else’s job. “So this guy, who is he?” I was alreadywalking, rimming Columbus Circle, waving my hand for a cab.
Goddamn rush hour.
“We have no idea. Can you describe him?”
“I can do even better.”
I forwarded the photo to Jacob, pleased thatbeing horny might have actually come in handy for once.
“Hmm, he’s cute.” Odd thing for Jacob to say.“I’ll run it through facial recognition software. Hold on.”
I squinted into the distance, breaking into ajog. The limo was still in sight—thank you bumper-to-bumper—butgetting further away. As I ran, I fished the business card out ofmy knife holster.
No name on the card. No phone number either.Just a generic Hotmail address.
I took another scan of the roundabout,searching for a vacancy light in the flood of cabs. A green SUVcaught my attention. Rental plates. Five men inside. Not SouthAmerican, maybe of Middle Eastern origin. But it wasn’t the vehicleor their ethnicity that caught me. It was the intensity behindtheir eyes, the way they assessed the crowd … just the way I wouldif I were searching for someone.
Maybe I was being paranoid, but I doubtedit.
Keeping my expression neutral, I glanced atthe cars beyond, not letting on I’d made them.
“Got a match,” Jacob said after only thirtyseconds. Jonathan Kirk. Former special forces. He fell off ourradar about a year ago. Apparently he’s been operating without aleash.”
“Merc?” I eyed Broadway, but I’d lost thecar.
“Yeah.” Jacob paused, but I could feel whatwas coming next. “Most recently, he’s been doing wet work.”
“No matter how well you’ve prepared or howthorough you are, sometimes you will make mistakes,” The Instructorsaid. “The important thing is that you identify the mistakeimmediately and take steps to salvage the mission. Stay aware, useyour brain, your handler, and anything around you to set theoperation right. If repair is impossible, cover up your involvementand get out of there.”
I ran, picking and dodging between people onthe sidewalk, the phone still pressed to my ear.
“Was Morrissey part of the package?” Iasked.
“Yes. Came with the deal.”
A hum rose in my ears. I’d invested myself inprotecting Julie, not just because it was my assignment, butbecause I’d started to care. The possibility that I might have beenset up from the beginning to deliver the girl to her death made megrind my teeth.
“Jacob? Are we being used here? Who’s theVIP?”
“You’re thinking Kirk was brought in onpurpose?”
“It occurred to me.”
“We don’t have any evidence that Kirk’sworking for the VIP. A third party could have intercepted Morrisseybefore our agency was brought in.”
Of course, Jacob was right. But often playingdevil’s advocate could help sort through confusing or complicatedsituations like this one. I was hoping that strategy would worknow, because I was confused as hell.
I kept moving, rimming Columbus Circle, mymind racing as fast as my feet.
“Or Kirk could have taken out Morrisseyhimself, maybe with the VIP’s blessing.”
When we’d been in the limo, Kirk had a chanceto kill Julie and me. But that would have been a mistake. First ofall, driving around with two dead chicks in your car wasn’t safe.Second, killing me would have brought a shit storm down on him andwhoever controlled him. Better to wait until the heat died down andlet me deliver her, thinking the op had ended there.
“He must need her alive,” I said.
“Agreed. Kirk has had sniper training. Hecould have taken her out without involving you at all. Or you couldhave been ordered to do it.”
I hesitated. Could I have killed Julie ifthat was my assignment? Probably not. But there were other femaleassassins they could have assigned in my place, women who didn’thave a history similar to Julie’s and wouldn’t hesitate to completethe job.
“So why lie to us about the father?”
“It’s the government, Chandler. I think lyingis merely the default setting.”
“I don’t like being lied to. Or used.”
Jacob paused for a beat before replying. “Ido have one thing. The assignment was routed through the defensedepartment.”
“So the VIP is someone in the Pentagon? Or isit the Pentagon itself?”
“Don’t know. I’m trying to find more.”
And maybe, if I could catch up with Kirk, Icould do the same from my end. “Thanks, Jacob.”
“Good luck.”
I stuffed the phone back in my pocket andeyed the streets leading off the circle.
I wanted answers.
I also wanted to make sure Julie wassafe.
But apparently I wasn’t the only one lookingfor her.
The SUV holding the men I’d noticed earlierwas just inching onto Broadway.
Cabs clogged the flow of traffic likecholesterol in a fat guy’s bloodstream, but not one had its lighton indicating it was for hire. Even if I could flag down a ride,traffic was moving so slowly, I’d never catch the men I’d pegged asMiddle Eastern operatives, let alone Kirk. He’d be long gone and sowould Julie.
I needed to find another way, and runningwasn’t cutting it.
The jingle of a bell caught my ear, followedby a voice speaking heavily accented English.
“Out of the way. Move!”
I spun around just as a bike/cart combinationdrew even with me, one of the pedicab drivers I’d noticed earliertaking a couple of tourists into the park. I shot out a hand andgrabbed the handlebars, wresting the vehicle to a halt.
“Get off,” I said evenly.
He stared at me as if I’d lost my mind.
“Get off. Now.”
I grabbed his left hand and jammed his wristbackward. Using the leverage, I twisted his arm and his whole bodymoved to the side and off the seat.
“Okay, okay, take it,”
