by Blake Banner
He hurried across the terracotta floor with his arms held out. “My God, man! What happened to you? Is Emily with you? Is she all right? Come on in…” He held my shoulders and gazed at my face. “My God…” he said again. “Who did this?”
I smiled. “You should see the other guys. Colonel, I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere…?”
“In my office. Maria.” He turned to the girl. “Bring some coffee to my office, will you?”
He led me back to the door he’d just come out of. His study was more like a comfortable living room than an office. It was agreeably shabby. There was a big, old, oak desk, beside an open fireplace, which was littered with papers and books. The air was rich with the aromatic smell of pipe tobacco, and there was a cold pipe in an old brass ashtray half buried under the papers. Against one wall there was a big sofa, and a couple of mismatched, overstuffed arm chairs were placed around the room. Two walls were taken up by a couple of thousand books stacked on oak bookcases, floor to ceiling, and sunlight streamed in through French doors that opened out onto a gleaming swimming pool.
On the sofa, the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times lay partly dismembered. I made some room and sat in the corner, half turned so that I could face him. He stood at his desk and started to pack his pipe. He spoke without looking at me.
“Is Emily OK, Lacklan?”
I nodded. “She’s sleeping right now, at my place, and she has a couple of CIA agents watching over her.”
He struck a match and held it to the bowl, puffing, sending thick billows of sweet-smelling smoke into the room, watching me all the while. When the pipe was alight, he came and sat.
“The CIA?” He shook his head. “Why are the CIA watching Emily?”
“That’s what I am trying to find out, Colonel. She and Jerry were involved in something pretty deep. That much she has admitted to me. It’s possible she was drawn in unwittingly, not really knowing what she was getting herself into. I don’t know, but make no mistake, she has got herself into an unholy mess.”
“What kind of mess? The CIA? That’s counter espionage. They operate abroad…”
“They operate wherever they need to operate and they do whatever they need to do. They are not people you want to be playing games with. Harry, I need to ask you a few awkward questions, and I need you to tell me the truth. No BS.”
For a moment, he looked offended, then sighed and bit hard on the stem of his pipe. “Of course,” he said.
“Have you had a paternity test done for Emily?”
He nodded several times. “Of course. I wasn’t going to simply accept her word for it. I have also seen the letter her mother wrote me, but never sent. I am her father.”
“Can I see the results of the test?”
He expostulated. “It was two years ago, Lacklan! I’d have to search for the letter…”
“OK, don’t worry. Who had it done, you or her?”
“Well, um, I don’t know, we sort of did it together.”
“Sure.” I smiled. “That makes sense. What can you tell me about her work, Colonel?”
He laughed. “Not a lot! I’m a fifties child. I still think in terms of levers and pulleys! I know she used to develop software for QPS. Oddly enough, they were the company that leased my land, out past Chenango. How about that for divine intervention? So after she had made contact with me, she had herself transferred there.”
“And you provided her with the house on the lake?”
“Of course. It was the least I could do. I only wish Ruby—that was her mother—I only wish she had contacted me when she knew she was pregnant. I would have gladly taken care of them.”
“Why didn’t she? Did Emily ever explain that?”
He shrugged and shook his head. “Pride? Who can understand women, Lacklan? I know I can’t.”
I grunted. “Tell me about it.”
“Their emotions fluctuate constantly and they have no real understanding of loyalty, except where their children are concerned.”
“Did she ever discuss her work with you?”
“No!” He laughed again. “Even if she had, I would not have understood. I mean, it’s essentially applied quantum physics, isn’t it? Not even they really understand how it works. They just know that it does.”
“Sure, but I mean more things like, relationships at work, people she dealt with… Did she ever come in complaining that so-and-so was a pain in the ass, this guy was really cute, that guy asked her out, Mary-Jane is a bitch…? You know the kind of thing.”
His face was completely blank. “Now that you mention it, no, she never did. She really never talked about work.”
“And you told me she never mentioned Jerry to you, either.”
“No, never…”
There was a tap at the door and Maria came in with a tray of coffee. The Colonel stood and smiled at her. “Just leave it on the desk, I’ll serve.”
He moved some papers, she set down the tray and left. As he poured, he said, “Lacklan, these questions you’re asking…” He set down the pot and looked at me. “Forgive me for saying so, but they are a bit odd, to say the least. Don’t you think it’s time you shared your thoughts with me?”
He brought over the cup and handed it to me. Then he returned to pour his own.
“Did she often work late?”
“Occasionally.”
“And she has no boyfriend?”
He smiled as he sat. “I was rather hoping you might solve that problem. Are you going to answer me or just keep asking odd questions?”
I was quiet for a while, staring down at the black brew in my cup. “I keep trying to fit all the pieces together so that they make sense, and they keep not making sense. Emily had a friend at QPS. He seems to have been a close friend, more like a close ally. When QPS closed, she and he decided to steal a piece of hardware, a prototype, that could be worth a large fortune to any number of foreign powers.”
He was staring at me like I had started speaking ancient Sumerian at him. “Emily stole from the company?”
I nodded. “The way she tells it, it was Jerry’s idea and she got carried along. Their plan was to sell it back to the government. Instead, Jerry got either impatient or greedy, and tried to set up an auction. The Russian Mafia, in the form of Gregor Ustinov, the owner of the casino up at Caribbean Island, decided they wanted this device, and that’s when things started to get badly out of hand.”
He put down his cup and rubbed his eyes. “This is a lot to take in. I can’t believe Emily would be involved in something like that. Surely there must be some kind of mistake.”
“No mistake, Colonel. But it’s not the only thing about this whole affair that is hard to believe.”
He stared at me for a long moment, like he hadn’t really heard what I’d said, then shook his head. “So what happened to her? And to you.” He gestured at my face. “These bruises…”
“Her friend Jerry was abducted and tortured by Ustinov’s men, forced to call her and arrange a meeting at her house. That was the call you thought you heard. When she returned to her house, they killed Jerry and abducted her. They took her down the coast, across the Mexican border, to a house they have there. It’s pretty remote. After that, they abducted me and took me there, too. You see, I had told Ustinov that I had this device. My aim was to take the heat off Emily. It didn’t work too well. Ustinov’s plan was to play us off against each other in some way, torture one and offer the other incentives, something like that.”
He frowned, shaking his head, “Incentives for what?”
“To give him the device.”
He kept frowning. “Am I to understand that you, and not she, have the device?”
“I have the device. But neither Ustinov nor the CIA are one hundred percent sure that’s true. They think maybe Emily still has it.”
“But she hasn’t?”
“No, only I know where it is.”
“So that means Emily is safe, right? They won’t hurt her if she hasn�
��t got it…”
“I wouldn’t be too sure. She has become a pretty dangerous witness.”
He sighed and seemed to sag. “This is very worrying news, Lacklan. What do you propose?”
“If she is smart, she will put herself in the hands of the federal government. It is the FBI who should be investigating this and not the CIA. She needs to give evidence against Ustinov, hand over the stolen device and try to get protection and immunity. If she does that, I think she stands a pretty good chance.”
“Immunity from prosecution and protection against the Russians.”
I nodded.
His eyes shifted from my face and he gazed out the French windows at the pool and the lawn. The afternoon sun reflecting off the turquoise water made odd, wavering patterns on his face. His brow suddenly contracted. “How much is this damned thing worth?”
“It’s impossible to say, Colonel. I am not even sure what it is. But it’s worth millions, at least.”
“What is it?” He asked it almost savagely, glaring at me suddenly. “What is this damned thing? You must have some idea!”
“From what she says, it’s a prototype of some kind of neural transmitter that allows the human brain to interface with computers.”
He looked disgusted. “It’s science fiction!”
I gave a short, dry laugh. “We left science fiction behind a long time ago, Colonel. That’s one of the things that worries me. Listen, I am going to arrange a meeting where I want to resolve this whole affair for once and for all. I’d like you to be there with Emily. I think she needs a lot of emotional support at the moment. She’s pretty shaken up, as you can imagine.”
“Of course, just tell me where and when.”
“I’m not exactly sure yet, but I’ll contact you and let you know.”
“She’s at your place now?”
“Yeah, and I need to get back to her.”
I stood and the Colonel stood with me. “Lacklan, may God forgive me for what I am about to say. The FBI, the CIA, military intelligence, they cross the line sometimes. I know they do—we did. Sometimes you have to in order to preserve national security. It’s the way the game is played. But the bottom line is, I trust the American government to do the right thing.” He stopped dead, staring at me, appealing to me with wide, frightened eyes. “But the Russians, Lacklan… I know what those people are capable of. I know what they would do to Emily if they got hold of her. The only thing that has stopped them so far, if what you tell me is true, is fear of losing this… device!”
“What are you saying, Colonel?”
“We have to do something…”
“We?”
“Help me, Lacklan! May God forgive me, but help me to eliminate Gregor Ustinov! I can’t bear to think of my little girl in that animal’s hands!”
I sighed. “One thing we do not need right now, Colonel, is somebody else going off the deep end. Let’s just keep cool and do this by the numbers. The sheriff is already interested in Emily. You kill Gregor and you and Emily could both go down for twenty to life. That’s not a good play.”
“Would you do it? You’re a professional. I’d pay you handsomely.”
“Stop it, Harry. I’m not a paid assassin. We do this my way and everybody wins. If you and Emily start going off half cock, we wind up with a tragedy on our hands. Just cool down and wait for my instructions. Understood?”
He closed his eyes. “Just, please, promise me you’ll keep her safe.”
“Count on it.”
I left him looking disturbed and unhappy at his front door and drove down Lake Road toward the coast. As I drove, I called Rand.
“Where are you? My boys told me you left.”
“On my way home. Any news of Gregor?”
“Yeah. He’s back at the casino. He flew in to Scholes this morning in a private charter jet. From what we can gather, he’s out for your blood.”
I was quiet long enough for him to ask if I was still there. I said, “Yeah, I’m here. Listen, Rand, do you know what this NPP is?”
He didn’t answer straight away. When he did, he said, “Do you?”
I allowed a smile to inflect my voice. “That’s what I thought.”
“Lacklan, we need to cut the crap. If you have this thing, you need to hand it over.”
“I agree. But who am I handing it over to, Rand? You have no jurisdiction in this country. Why are you not accompanied by a Federal Special Agent? Why are the Feds not here?”
“This is too sensitive for the Feds.”
“Bullshit. When a man like you uses the word ‘sensitive’ it means it’s something you have a vested interest in keeping under wraps. I’ll bet the federal government doesn’t even know this damned thing exists, does it?”
“You’re playing with fire, Lacklan.”
“You know what happened last time I played with fire, Rand?” He didn’t answer, but I told him anyway. “Everybody got burned, especially Jean-Claude Timmerman,[14] but a lot of computers got fried, too. My advice, Rand, is to humor me and trust that I will do the right thing.”
“Don’t threaten me, Lacklan. The right thing for whom?”
“I’ll be in touch. We’ll have a meeting. It’s time I handed this thing over to the relevant authorities. You’d better be representing those relevant authorities, Rand, or things could get ugly. I’ll arrange a meeting and let you know. In the meantime, call your boys off. I don’t need them anymore.”
“A meeting when?”
“Tonight.”
I hung up and turned left on the Bluewater Highway. I didn’t stop at my place. I kept going, toward Jamaica Beach and the turn off for the bridge to Caribbean Island.
Seventeen
I got there at fifteen minutes after four. The evening rush hadn’t started yet and the parking lot was almost empty. I parked the Zombie beside the grotesque fountain again, opened the trunk and pulled out the Smith & Wesson 500. This revolver weighs about four and a half pounds, has an eight inch barrel, takes 50 cal ammunition and can shatter a concrete block with a single bullet. I loaded it with 700 grain flat nose rounds and sprinted up the steps.
A clone of the pretty girl I’d seen last time I was there was standing behind the reception desk. She looked unhappy about the state of my face. I leered at her, showed her the Smith & Wesson and said, “What’s your name?”
She swallowed hard and said, “Cindy.”
“Cindy, there is something really important that you need to do across the other side of the parking lot.”
Her eyes were wide. “What…?”
“I don’t know, but I have a very strong gut feeling that it would be a really good idea for you to go and do it, and not come back until you see me leave. OK?”
She nodded and I nodded with her. She slipped around the desk and hurried into the parking lot. I sprinted up the stairs and blew the door half off its hinges without pausing in my stride. I stepped into the office and saw Gregor sitting behind his desk with his mouth open. One of his goons was sitting on the sofa and the other had been pouring a dark drink from a decanter into a balloon glass. They were all staring at me wide-eyed.
The next few seconds seemed to go into slow motion. That often happens at times of extreme violence. The guy on the sofa was only about ten feet away. It was an easy shot and his whole head exploded like a watermelon. The recoil on the 500 with a 700 grain round is huge and the revolver jumped. It took a whole second to settle again, but when it did, I had the guy with the decanter lined up. I blew the top of his head off too, and tore a hole the size of a grapefruit through the oak cabinet behind him.
As his body sank headless to the floor, I strode across the room toward Gregor. I have often seen terror in a man’s face, but I never saw it so eloquently expressed as I did in that moment. He looked like a terrified goldfish, with his mouth forming a perfect ‘O’ opening and closing on silent words. He got to his feet as I arrived at the desk. I dropped the revolver on the surface and took hold of his head in both m
y hands, then slammed it face-first onto his blotter. I lifted him up, saw that his nose was busted and bleeding and slammed him down again, twice. After that, I shoved him back in his chair. His face was smeared with blood and he kept saying, “Oh… Oh…” as he put his hands to his nose and his mouth.
I picked up the revolver and put it to his head. “Two people offered to pay me to kill you today, Gregor.”
He made an incoherent noise which might have been, “Please… stop…”
“You know what? While your man Peter was beating me on the boat, I never once asked him to stop. You think if I’d asked him, he would have stopped, Gregor?”
He made a wise choice and changed the subject. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to ask you a couple of questions, then I am going to make you an offer.”
“What questions? What offer?”
He had pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and was mopping the blood from his nose and lips.
“Who first approached you about the NPP, Emily or Jerry?”
He gave a small laugh. “Trouble in paradise. It is Jerry who makes first approach. But he was crazy, so I insist I want deal with Emily. What else?”
“What did they tell you the NPP was?”
Now he looked surprised and frowned at me. His eyes narrowed and acquired a look of cunning. “You don’t know what is…”
I nodded a few times. “I know what is, Gregor. I just wonder if you do.”
“What you are talking about?”
“What am I talking about?” I dropped into the chair opposite him. “It’s a good question, Gregor. And I’ll confess I am not one hundred percent sure yet. But I think somebody has been playing us all like fools, and you were the biggest fool of them all, because a key part of the game was that you get killed. The one person you should have trusted and worked with, Gregor, was me, because I was the one who was supposed to kill you.”
He eyed his bloody handkerchief and muttered, “Are you sure, Mr. Walker?”
“And instead you tried to kill me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Kill you? Who would want kill somebody like you?”
“You still want the NPP?”
