Deal Breaker

“Private investigators?”

“No.”

He took off his glasses. “I’m fairly small-time,” he said. “I have my own little niche. It’s the way I like it. No one bothers me, and I don’t bother anybody else. I have no interest in a lot of publicity.”

Myron shot a glance at Win. Nickler had a family, probably a nice house in Tenafly, told the neighbors he was in publishing. Pressure could be applied. “I’ll be frank with you,” Myron said. “If you don’t help us out, it may blow up into something major. Newspapers, TV, the works.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Absolutely not.” Myron reached into his wallet and took out a fifty-dollar bill. He placed it on the desk. “We just want to know who put this ad in.”

Nickler pushed the bill back toward Myron, his expression suddenly irritated. “What is this, a movie? I don’t need a payoff. If the guy has done something wrong, I want no part of him. This business has enough problems as it is. I run a straight operation. No underage girls, nothing illegal in any way, shape, or form.”

Myron looked at Win. “Told you he was a prince.”

“Think what you want,” Nickler said in a voice that said he’d been down this road many times before. “This is a business like any other. I’m just an honest guy trying to make an honest buck.”

“Real American of you.”

He shrugged. “Look, I don’t defend everything about this business. But there are plenty of worse. IBM, Exxon, Union Carbide-these are the real monsters, the real exploiters. I don’t steal. I don’t lie. I satisfy a societal need.”

Myron had a quick comeback, but Win stopped him with a shake of his head. He was right. What was the point in antagonizing the guy?

“Could we have the name and address, please?” Myron asked.

Nickler opened a drawer behind him and pulled out a file. “Is he in some sort of trouble?”

“We just need to talk to him.”

“Can you tell me why?”

Win spoke to Nickler for the first time. “You don’t want to know.”

Fred Nickler hesitated, saw Win’s steady gaze, then nodded. “The company is called ABC. They have a p.o. box in Hoboken, number 785. The guy’s name is Jerry. I don’t know anything else about him.”

“Thanks,” Myron said, standing. “One more question if you don’t mind: Have you ever seen the girl in the ad?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“If you do or if you think of anything else, will you give me a call?” Myron handed him a card.

Nickler looked as if he wanted to ask a question, his gaze continually drifting back to Kathy’s photograph, but he settled for saying “Sure.”

Once outside, Win asked, “What do you think?”

“He’s lying,” Myron said.

Back in the car Myron asked, “Can I use the phone?”

Win nodded, his foot not slackening on the pedal. The speedometer was hovering at seventy-five. Myron watched it as if it were a taxi meter on a long ride, keeping his gaze averted from the blur of a street.

Myron dialed the office. Esperanza answered the phone after one ring.

“MB SportReps.”

MB SportReps. The M stood for Myron, the B for Bolitar. Myron had thought of the name himself, though he rarely bragged about it. “Did Otto Burke or Larry Hanson call?”

“No. But you have lots of messages.”

“Nothing from Burke or Hanson?”

“You deaf?”

“I’ll be back in a little while.”

Myron hung up. Otto and Larry should have called by now. They were avoiding him. The question was, why?

“Trouble?” Win asked.

“Maybe.”

“I believe we need a rejuvenation.”

Myron looked up. He recognized the street immediately. “Not now, Win.”

“Now.”

“I have to get back to the office.”

“It’ll keep. You need inner energy. You need focus. You need balance.”

“I hate it when you talk like that.”

Win smiled, pulling into the parking lot. “Come along now. I’d hate to kick your ass right here in the car.”

The sign read MASTER KWAN’S TAE KWON DO SCHOOL. Kwan was nearing seventy now and rarely conducted classes any longer, choosing instead to hire well-tutored underlings to handle that work. Master Kwan stayed in his high-tech office, surrounded by four television screens so he could monitor the classes. Occasionally he leaned forward and barked something into a microphone, scaring some poor student into attention. Like something out of The Wizard of Oz.

If Master Kwan’s English improved a bit, it might reach the level of pidgin. Win had brought him over from Korea fourteen years ago, when Win was only seventeen. It seemed to Myron that Master Kwan had spoken better English back then.

Win and Myron changed into their white uniforms called dobok. Both men wrapped black belts around their stomachs. Win was a sixth-degree black belt, about as high a ranking as anybody in the United States. He had been studying tae kwon do since the age of seven. Myron had picked it up in college, giving him a dozen years of studying and a third-degree black belt.

They approached Master Kwan’s door, paused in the doorway until he acknowledged their presence, then bowed at the waist. “Good afternoon, Master Kwan,” they said in unison.

Kwan smiled toothlessly. “You here early.”

“Yes, sir,” Win replied.

“Need help?”

“No, sir.”

Kwan dismissed them by spinning back to his television screens. Myron and Win bowed once more and moved into the private dojang for the upper-ranked black belts. They began with meditation, something Myron had never quite gotten the full grasp of. Win loved it. He did it for at least an hour a day. Win folded himself into a lotus position. Myron settled for sitting Indian style. Both men closed their eyes, placed their thumbs on the palm directly below the pinkie, and tilted their palms toward the ceiling. They rested their hands on their knees. Instructions echoed through Myron’s mind like a mantra. Back straight. Bottom of tongue curled up against the back of the upper teeth. He breathed in through his nose for six seconds, concentrating on pushing the air down into the pit of his gut, making sure that his chest did not move, that only his abdomen expanded. Then he held the air down deep, counting to himself to prevent his mind from wandering. After seven seconds he slowly released the air through the mouth for a ten count, making sure to empty completely his contracting gut. Then he waited four seconds before breathing in again.

Win did this painlessly. He did not count. His mind went blank. Myron always counted, needing it to keep his mind from wandering back to the problems of the day-especially on a day like today. But in spite of himself he began to relax, to feel the tension leave his body with every long exhalation. It almost tingled.

They meditated for ten minutes before Win opened his eyes and said, “Barro.” Korean for stop.

They performed deep stretching exercises for the next twenty minutes. Win had the flexibility of a ballet dancer, performing full splits effortlessly. Myron had gained a lot of flexibility since taking up tae kwon do. He believed it had helped him gain six inches on his vertical leap in college. He could almost do a full split, but he couldn’t hold it long.