As Bridge stared at the address, he thought of another way to get the answers they needed. And a lot faster than what they were doing now. He finally put the paper down and looked at Nicole.
“Or we can just speed things up.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Nicole asked.
Bridge tapped on the paper with his index finger. “Talk with the man that runs this.”
Nicole leaned back, surprised to hear him say it. “I dunno, Luke.”
“Is there ever a better way at getting to the heart of a matter than by going right to the top?”
“Even if they’re involved, they’re unlikely to tell you anything.”
“If there’s one thing I learned when I worked there, it’s that it’s not always about what they say. Sometimes it’s about what they don’t.”
“It might put a target on you.”
“After last night, I’d say the target’s already been painted on my back.”
Nicole wiped her face. “You sure this is a good idea?”
“No.” Bridge smiled. “But I think wherever this case is taking us… we’ll get there a lot faster.”
“I’m not sure I’m liking this.”
“You’re the one who begged me to take this case.”
“Well, that was when I thought it was a simple murder. Besides, when do you ever listen to me?”
“I always listen to you. Especially when you start… doing things.”
“Well, maybe you should start learning some willpower to resist me.”
Bridge looked at her and smiled. “Impossible.” He then leaned over and gave her a kiss. “I could never resist you.”
“Except you did for a while.”
“And you broke me down.”
“Unhappy that I did?”
Bridge leaned over and kissed her again. “Never.”
“I’m sorry I got us into this.”
Bridge shrugged. “It is what it is. We both know that whenever we’re on a case, we never know where it might lead, or who it might lead to. Just one of the perils of the business.”
“You’re sure you wanna do this?”
“No. But I think we have to.”
Bridge got up and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed a number that he hadn’t dialed in a long time.
“Hello?” a woman answered.
Bridge didn’t miss a beat. “This is Alpha Two-One-Seven-Six-Five.”
“What is your business?”
“I would like to speak with Pinnacle One.” There was silence on the other end of the line. The operator wasn’t used to someone asking for that. Bridge knew it was an unusual request, but that wasn’t going to stop him from demanding it. “I need to talk to Pinnacle One. Today. You get him the message. Tell him it’s about Gary Abbott. I can be reached on this number.”
“I will see what I can do.”
“Thanks.”
Bridge hung up and looked at Nicole.
“How’d it go?”
Bridge shrugged. “We’ll see. I put the line out. Now we just have to wait and see if we get a bite.”
“No reason why we shouldn’t. We left on good terms.”
“You know as well as I do that leaving on good terms doesn’t exactly mean you get a free access card to sensitive information should it ever come up.”
“True.”
Bridge went back to the table and started looking at more papers with Nicole, though he knew it was unlikely they were going to find anything else. He thought it was all going to hinge on getting the meeting he was requesting. About ten minutes passed before Bridge’s phone rang. He looked at Nicole once it did, a little surprised he was getting a call so fast. He looked at the number. It was unfamiliar. He knew that meant it was probably the call he was hoping for.
“Yes?” Bridge said.
“State your ID,” a man replied.
“Alpha Two-One-Seven-Six-Five.” Bridge could tell by the voice that it was not Pinnacle One. He had a deeper voice than the one he was listening to. It was most likely one of his assistants.
“And your business?”
“I need to speak with Pinnacle One.”
“What for?”
“It’s about Gary Abbott.”
“Who’s that?”
“That’s what I want to speak with Pinnacle One about.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Listen, you all know who I am and what I do. I’m on a case that I think has something to do with you guys. Now, you can either let me in on it so I don’t step on any toes, or I can just go about it on my own and risk blowing something that you don’t want blown. Now which do you prefer?”
It was quiet on the other end for about ten seconds. “Hold on.”
As he waited, Bridge looked at Nicole and shrugged. He wasn’t sure which way this was going yet. They might decide to do business with him, or they could decide to blow him off and hope he goes away.
After a good solid minute, the man got back on the phone. “Pinnacle One will see you in one hour.”
“Where?”
“Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.”
Before Bridge was able to get off another question, the line went dead. He looked at his phone for a second before putting it back in his pocket.
“Well?” Nicole asked.
“One hour. Central Park at the Bethesda Fountain.”
“With Pinnacle One?”
Bridge nodded. “With Pinnacle One.”
Nicole gave him a look. At least it was in a public place. That meant there would be no funny business. If it was in an abandoned building or somewhere with no people, that would give them pause to worry. But when meetings were done in public, there was usually little to fear in terms of one’s personal health. Usually.
“What do you think?”
Bridge shrugged. “I really don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“Well, at least the park is good.”
Bridge nodded. “Looks like we’re going for a stroll.”
5
Bridge walked around the fountain until he got to the edge of the lake and watched a few of the rowers go by in their small boats. He touched his ear to make sure his earpiece was working.
“You on?”
“I’m here,” Nicole answered. She was dressed in running attire, shorts, shoes, a baseball hat, all to try to disguise her appearance if their guests knew what she looked like.
“See anything yet?”
“Not yet.”
Bridge looked at his watch. “Still got a few minutes.”
Bridge took his
