“At Prince and Greene he had one shell and one regular Red-eye doing the shooting. You know where that Swinger model is?”
“It should’ve been outside … the same bot that shot them up is the one that was guarding me, making sure I didn’t try anything.”
“I suspect the agent’s plan was to let things play out. The evidence and the identity of your two friends made it look like Jaeger was getting his revenge. You also grabbed Jaeger’s Automatic during a pickup and used it as your shell to draw attention away from your associate. The G-man saw that I’d ripped off the serial number and would use it to track down Jaeger. Seeing as it served its purpose, he dumped the shell up north. After all, he wouldn’t want any other cops spotting a brainless Automatic with a missing serial number at the scene of a crime, now would he? Too bad I didn’t pull the trigger.”
“You got it. The G-man said it’d work out well and I’d be swimming in three times as much money as before. But I was uneasy knowing you were still out there. I thought this would get pinned on me if you dug deeper. Then again, knowing your reputation, I was more afraid of getting shot on sight, especially at Times Square a day ago. That’s why he placed the Auger and the Red-eye here, for my ‘protection.’ Still, big guy didn’t last a week before you blew his brains out.”
“The original plan was to put a bullet in you and be done with it; you have that metal man down there to thank for my letting you live this long.”
I hoped Allen was all right, now that I thought about it.
“An Automatic for a partner? During Prohibition? Bah! Still, give it my regards. Anyway, back to the story: I knew you’d eventually find me, so I planned to liquidate my stock fast. I told the G-man I was moving to a more secure location. He wasn’t a fan, but he couldn’t stop me from getting rid of everything and pocketing the money. My runners are loyal, something his shells aren’t. It was only a matter of time before you found me — you have that knack — so I just waited for you to find this place, hoping I’d live long enough to explain everything. Today was going to be the day I moved the bricks to my bank box to grab later — if there was a later.”
“Bricks?” I popped up an eyebrow and Belik nodded toward the corner.
Looking around, I found a large briefcase standing on edge. I gripped the handle and yanked it up, bringing it back to my chair. Fuck, it was heavy enough that I had to use both hands. I sat down, placed the cumbersome suitcase on the desk, and opened it. I was not at all prepared for what was inside.
“Holy shit.”
The briefcase was filled with enough solid gold to make any miser swoon with lustful greed. I counted thirty-two small gold bars lined up neatly in the case. I’d never seen anything that shiny and pristine. Heavy, though.
“You move your cash in gold? I never thought of that. Untraceable, unchangeable, and easier to hide than stacks of cash. You’re a smart man, Belik.”
“It took me years to get a gig with some local banks and factories that let me run pure gold shipments, but it was worth it in the long run. I used fifty-ounce bars, less traceable than the standard two-hundred-ouncers. This, and another three suitcases I have stowed elsewhere, are the payout from liquidating just this portion of the warehouse stock, and it’s valued at about a hundred and twenty-five grand. Less than what I was hoping for, but it’ll do, especially just from selling the less valuable stuff. If I’d sold everything in the other two warehouses, I’d have had around one million in gold, maybe more.”
“What was the less valuable stuff?”
“Silica gel and lubricant. They took up a lot of space and were too fragile to move discreetly, so we sold it off first. The rest would’ve been much easier.”
I stood up, leaving the briefcase on the desk, and walked over to the window. The warehouse was immense, around eighty feet by ninety, with enough space to store a huge amount of silica gel. The shipments that had come through here should have been easy to spot, but we hadn’t been accounting for the G-men to be distracting the 5th. All of it had been a ploy to move this shit out and make a quick buck before the operation was compromised. And after they moved it, all they’d have to do was sell off the gold and buy more parts. Belik said the Black Hat had wanted a 40 percent cut of all profits, which meant that if all this was sold, four hundred thousand dollars would be funnelled into some shady government dealings. And that was far too much unaccountable money, especially in that business.
“Take the gold. I don’t need it.” I spun around to face him. He couldn’t mean it. But he repeated himself. “Take it. I know how you run, Roche. This little excursion must be costing Robins one hell of a chunk of pocket change. Take the gold and call yourself paid. Hell, I’ll even tell you the location of the other three suitcases. But first, I need a favour.”
“Depends on what you need.” I sat down again, leaning in.
He took a minute to collect his thoughts. “I’ll give you his address, that’s all. He planned this entire shitshow — the deaths of my old friends, nearly destabilizing police activities across southern Manhattan.
