hard to know if I accomplished anything. Certainly he didn’t say anything to make me think I had, but I wouldn’t have expected him to openly agree to anything. The real answer will come from his actions, from what he does with Loney.
Although the fact is that I may never find out what Ricci does. Loney and Ricci operate in the shadows, and I haven’t come close to penetrating their world. Ricci could have him killed, or appoint him Emperor of Crimedom, and I probably wouldn’t know it.
And whatever I don’t learn, the jury doesn’t learn.
Carmine Ricci got the phone call about an hour after his meeting with Carpenter.
He was having lunch, or maybe even breakfast, though it was four P.M. Carmine rarely slept, and when he did it was almost never at night, so assigning names to meals based on the time he ate them was not something he bothered to do.
It was a call he expected, and no time was wasted on chitchat. “It’s done,” Fowler said.
“Without incident?” Carmine asked.
“Without incident.”
The fact that Fowler was able to dispatch Loney so easily impressed Carmine, though he would never admit it. Loney had been tough and smart, not Carmine’s most talented employee, but right up there.
“This puts you out of it,” Fowler said. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Not quite,” Carmine said. “There is a large amount of money outstanding.”
“I understand. We’ve discussed and agreed to the timing of that. Thirty days from the conclusion of the operation.”
“Where does that stand?” Carmine asked.
“It will be very soon. I can’t say exactly.”
Carmine didn’t want to ask too many questions about the operation, but he was pretty sure that he knew the basic points. The firestorm that it would create would be too hot for anyone, even Carmine, so he wanted no connection to the actual events whatsoever.
Carmine had simply provided the muscle, and much of the financing. Substantial, secret collateral had been provided, but all parties knew that debts to Carmine were always paid in full, or the debtor did not live to borrow again.
“Carpenter was here to see me,” Carmine said. “He knew all about Loney.”
“That’s not a problem, seeing as how Loney no longer exists.”
“The next time I hear from you, you will be calling to arrange payment.”
Fowler smiled. “I look forward to it.”
Sam Willis finally got what he was after.
Actually, he didn’t personally get it; Hilda Mandlebaum once again had that honor. But they were a team, and their triumphs were joint ones.
The first step was getting Judge Holland’s phone records, supposedly safely tucked away in the phone company’s computer system. Once they had that to examine, Sam was sure that he identified the number that the judge called that belonged to Loney.
Andy Carpenter had provided the idea. He told Sam the date and time he had tried to reach the judge, mentioning Bauer’s name to the assistant. Andy figured that the judge might get worried and quickly call people related to the case, hopefully Loney.
Sure enough, a call was made from the judge to a cell phone just two minutes after Andy had called him. The call lasted four minutes. And when Sam obtained the phone records for that number, it was registered under a fake name.
It had to be Loney’s.
The next step was equally easy; they retrieved Loney’s phone records. But that was not the big prize, and they just printed out a copy of the records to show Andy. The big prize was delivering on Hike’s suggestion. Hilda, under Sam’s able direction, was able to use the phone company’s computers to track the GPS signal to learn where Loney was. They had the street address in Dover, Delaware. The significance of that was not lost on Sam. He knew that Judge Holland lived in the same city, and MapQuest quickly told him the two addresses were less than a mile away.
Andy was in Vegas, and when Sam tried to call him it went straight to voice mail. Marcus was with him, so he wasn’t an option. Sam considered calling Laurie, but she would just tell him to wait until Andy got back.
Sam didn’t want to wait.
Leaving his elderly crew behind to continue work on the list of missing persons from the time of the fire, Sam made the three-hour drive to Delaware. It was Hilda’s responsibility to keep track of Loney’s GPS signal, in case Loney was on the move. She would be able to redirect Sam to where Loney had moved to.
But Hilda kept reporting in that the signal had not changed, which Sam was pleased about. He used the drive to figure out what he would do when he got there.
He had no intention of being a hero; he was not going to go in, guns blazing. He had brought his gun, but only for protection, in case things were to go wrong. His goals were modest. He would confirm that Loney was there, and perhaps follow him if necessary to learn where he lived.
Perhaps more importantly, he would try and get a look at Loney. Loney was a mystery man so far, and Sam was sure that Andy would appreciate his getting a cell phone picture of him.
When Sam arrived at the GPS address, he was surprised to see that it was an abandoned warehouse. He had expected it to be a hotel or apartment building, and the fact that it was not caused him to rethink his plan. There was no real way to approach the building without being seen, and Sam had no desire at all to be seen.
So he sat in his car for two hours, a half block from the warehouse. It was a fairly deserted area, so there was a danger that Sam could be noticed by anyone inclined to care, but no one around seemed to pay any attention. And no one went anywhere near the warehouse; the abandoned building certainly seemed abandoned.
But Hilda was certain that the GPS signal still showed that the phone was in there, which meant that Loney very well might be in there as well.
It was not in Sam’s DNA to turn around and go home, so he got out of his car and walked down the street, toward the warehouse. He did so nonchalantly, as if he had not a care in the world, but his hand was in his jacket pocket, clutching his gun.
When he neared the warehouse, Sam walked around to the back and looked in the window. It was dusty and hard to see through, but Sam saw no signs of life. He checked some other windows to give himself a different vantage point, but again, there was no apparent activity at all.
Feeling more emboldened but fearing that this entire episode was a waste of time, Sam checked each window until he found one that was unlocked. He climbed through the window, not the easiest maneuver in the world for the unathletic accountant.
But before long he found himself in the very large warehouse, and he certainly seemed to be alone. Sam took out his own cell phone, and dialed Loney’s number. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard it ring; the GPS signal was right after all. The phone was there.
Sam headed for the sound, but it stopped ringing before he could find it. He had to call it twice more before he had enough time to locate it, but eventually did so.
What attracted his attention, more than the cell phone itself, were the obvious bloodstains just a few feet away. And it didn’t take a forensic scientist to follow the smeared blood to the large drum lying on its side.
Sam was scared to death, but determined to take the top off the drum and see what was inside. It came off easily, and Sam realized it had only recently been placed there.
There was no reason to empty or explore the drum, the body was obvious as soon as the top came off. And Sam was not about to examine it, or stick around; he made a beeline for the same window he came in, and ran to the street.
Sam had no idea what to do, but he knew who to ask. He called Laurie and told her the entire story. He had to stop a few times to catch his breath; he was that scared.
“Laurie, I’m sure I left my prints all over the place… on the window, the drum, I don’t know where else.”
“That’s okay, Sam, because you’re not going to deny you were in there. You’re going to report what you found to the police, and answer any questions they have.”
“They’ll ask me why I was in there in the first place.”
