by Tom Wood
The surprise mellowed into curiosity. ‘Why would you think anyone sent me?’
‘You’re a hired gun, like me. Who hired you?’
A corner of her mouth turned up a fraction. ‘Is it completely outside the realm of comprehension that I might be working for no one, that I might be my own client? The same as you’re telling yourself that you are now.’
‘It is outside the realm of comprehension,’ Victor said. ‘We’ve never crossed paths before now. People try to kill me all the time, and it’s never by accident. There’s always a client or a broker behind it. There’s always a good reason. I always deserve it. But not this time. I didn’t even know you existed before you tried to kill me.’
‘And that means you can’t be my enemy?’
He studied her. ‘Did I kill your husband or brother or father?’
‘No, no, and no,’ she said. ‘At least as far as I know.’
‘Exactly. Who paid you? Who are you meeting here? If it’s your client or broker, maybe you can survive this after all.’
‘You’re so close to the truth and you don’t even realise, do you?’
‘One way or the other, I’ll find out.’
‘I have no doubts you will. You’ve got this far, after all.’
He detected sarcasm in her voice but didn’t respond. He said nothing more for the moment. Neither did Raven. Around them people young and old, male and female talked and laughed and admired the views and the art. They took photographs of the installations and themselves and of themselves with the installations. They sipped coffee and cocktails and ate expensive snacks in the roof garden’s café and martini bar.
‘I love this place,’ Raven said. ‘It was created through arrogance. The founders wanted to build somewhere to rival the great museums of Europe.’
‘I’d say they succeeded.’
‘First time here?’
He looked at her. ‘And last.’
She understood what he meant. ‘That’s a shame. For both of us, I mean. But it doesn’t have to be like that.’
‘Yes, it does. You know that.’
A look of sadness passed over her face. ‘I suppose we should get this over with. But as you said, it’s too public up here. Why don’t we go somewhere with some privacy? No need to upset these nice people, is there?’
It was a trap, he knew. But he also wanted to leave the roof and all the witnesses.
He nodded as she stared into his eyes. ‘Some privacy would be good.’
THIRTY-FOUR
They walked across the roof to the elevator. She headed that way and he let her. He kept her close – but not too close – and in his peripheral vision at all times. She did the same. They waited to allow a chubby family out and stepped inside. They faced each other from across the car. No one else was inside. Victor didn’t blink as she extended her arm to knuckle the button for the ground floor.
Her fingers were long and slender but he could see the strength in her wrists and exposed forearms. The wrist flexors were defined and the brachioradialis had uncommon prominence.
She saw him looking and made a fist to greater emphasise the muscles. ‘Would you like to arm wrestle?’
‘You should wear long sleeves.’
‘I tell people I climb.’
‘I tell people the same,’ he said. ‘But I do climb.’
‘Sure you want to go through with this?’ she asked.
He said, ‘I haven’t survived this long by ignoring threats.’
‘I’m no threat to you.’
‘You tried to kill me.’
‘What’s the significant part of that statement?’
He studied her face. Her skin was smooth, and freckled over the cheekbones. ‘Are you saying you no longer want to kill me?’
‘I never wanted to kill you.’
‘Games don’t work on me, Constance,’ Victor said. ‘You can’t manipulate me. Playing sweet and innocent is a waste of your time. You can’t appeal to my humanity. I have none left. I traded the last of it in a long time ago. I’m here to kill you before you kill me. There’s nothing more to it than that.’
Her eyebrows raised at the use of her name. ‘You know a lot about me then.’
‘Of course.’
‘Of course,’ she repeated. ‘It’s not sexy, is it? Constance. Sounds so old-fashioned. My parents were hippies. My American mother and Indian father wanted to celebrate their uncommon bond. At least, it was uncommon back then. They wanted a name for their first child that encapsulated the bringing together of East and West. Have you ever heard anything so corny?’
‘Constance for Constantinople, where Europe and Asia meet.’
‘I guess they couldn’t make a name from Istanbul.’
‘I like Constance,’ he admitted. ‘I like names that have meaning.’
‘I guess I’m used to it by now. But I feel at a disadvantage,’ Raven began. ‘If you know my name then you know everything about me. I, on the other hand, know nothing about you.’
‘Which is the way I prefer it.’
She said, ‘What’s your name?’
‘I don’t have one.’
‘Everyone has a name.’
‘Not me.’
‘Fine. Be like that. But what happened to sportsmanship?’
‘Do I look like I play by a set of rules to you?’
She examined him, a groove between her eyebrows. ‘Actually, you do. You look like a gentleman. You look like someone who believes in fairness.’
‘Then I’m a better actor than I thought.’
‘When we act,’ she countered, ‘there is always a part of ourselves in the role we play.’
Victor remained silent.
‘Don’t you agree?’ Raven said.
‘I didn’t come here to chitchat,’ he replied. ‘And I’m getting bored of this now.’
A small smile played on her lips. ‘No, you’re not.’
The elevator doors opened on the subterranean parking garage.
‘After you,’ she said.
Victor smirked and stepped out backwards. The ceiling was low, only four inches above his head. Raven followed him.
‘How do you want to do this?’ she asked.
‘I’d prefer to keep that to myself for now.’
She said, ‘What I mean is: should I start running yet?’
‘I’m not fooled by your passivity, Constance. We both know you’re not going to let me kill you. You’ll fight to the very end.’
‘And how do you know that?’
‘Because that’s what I’d do,’ Victor said. ‘You’re just like me.’
She frowned. ‘I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.’
‘It’s neither.’
‘I think it was a compliment,’ she said with a teasing smile. ‘I think you like me.’
‘Then you have an inflated opinion of yourself. And you’re stalling for time. Don’t think I don’t know that. What are you waiting for? Your employer? Backup? Is that who you had arranged to meet at four p.m.?’
‘I’m not meeting anyone,’ she said. ‘Besides you.’
‘Why bother pretending?’ Victor asked. ‘I tracked you here, didn’t I? How do you think I did that?’
She smiled at him, incredulous. ‘You tracked me?’
He looked at her lips and eyes, open with surprise and mirth and disbelief.
He regarded her for a moment. Her expression looked genuine. He thought about the book and the code and how he had come here thinking he was following a lead when maybe it had been nothing more than bait. He had realised in Prague she could predict his actions as he could hers. He should have remembered that lesson.
Victor said, ‘You left the book for me?’
‘What are you talking about?’ She frowned. ‘What book?’
He stopped himself answering. He reminded himself that manipulation was as powerful a weapon as any gun. He saw she was regarding him as he had regarded her.
Then her expression hardened
as she looked over his shoulder. Victor didn’t look too. He wasn’t about to fall for such an obvious trick.
‘Did you come here alone?’ Raven asked.
‘I work alone.’
She absorbed this, then said, ‘Could anyone have shadowed you? Don’t look back.’
‘I’m not going to look back. You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to take me by surprise.’
‘It’s not a trick.’
Something in her voice made him believe the enquiry could be sincere. His mind flashed back to the man he’d seen reflected in the pool in the Temple of Dendur. But she could still be lying, hoping to convince him to look away and give her the window to draw a knife from her bag and slip it between ribs and into his heart.
Victor said, ‘If he’s tall and slim. About thirty. Balding. And wearing a black suit, then yes.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Blue suit.’
Victor’s back straightened. ‘That’s him. But if he is interested in me he’s nothing more than a watcher. I’ve already crossed paths with some of his teammates. He won’t get in the way of our business. In fact, he might even offer to help me.’
‘He’s no watcher. He’s a hitter.’
‘That makes no sense. What does he want?’
‘What do you think? He doesn’t like me very much. Well, the people he works for don’t. I’m not very popular.’
‘Then he and I are on the same side,’ Victor said.
‘That’s where you couldn’t be more wrong,’ she replied. ‘He’s after me, not you. But now we’re together he’s after us both. Just by talking to you, I’m afraid I’ve marked you for death.’
Victor shrugged. ‘Perhaps, if you’re telling the truth. But even if that is the case, it’s two to one against him.’
She shook her head, but was smiling, acting as if she were lost in a happy memory. ‘He’s brought friends.’
THIRTY-FIVE
The parking garage was well lit and quiet apart from the sound of nearing footsteps. He could see neither the approaching men nor any visitors. There were parked vehicles everywhere in neat rows interspaced with pillars and shining under fluorescent lights.
Victor said, ‘How many of them are there?’
‘Four,’ Raven said. ‘Including blue suit.’
‘Assessment?’
‘They’re a clean-up crew. And they’re not amateurs. Someone must have seen us together in the roof garden. They think we’re working together, or you know what I know.’
‘They’ve spotted us?’
She nodded, still smiling and looking carefree. ‘Not yet. But they will. They’re spreading out and they’re coming this way. They know we came down in the elevator. It’s only a matter of time.’
Victor resisted the urge to turn and look. Whatever Raven said, he wasn’t prepared to turn his back to her. Besides, he still needed more information.
‘Who do these guys work for?’
‘I don’t have time to explain everything. All that matters for now is that they want me dead. And though they’re after me and not you, you’re here. That means you’re a witness or a threat. They won’t take any chances.’
‘I know how these things work.’
‘How do you want to do this?’
A line appeared between his eyebrows. ‘What are you talking about? We’re not on the same team here.’
‘They don’t know that. We need to work together.’
‘There is no “we”, Constance. We’re not allies.’
‘But they don’t know that, so either we work together or they’ll take us down one by one.’
‘No,’ Victor said. ‘I operate alone.’
‘Then we’re both dead. These guys are serious operators.’
‘I’m harder to kill than I look.’
Her face softened, but this time he saw it was real. ‘I’m not.’
She looked at him as though he were the most important person in the world, because right then that’s what she needed him to be. And she was right: two guns were better than one, especially if these guys were as good as she made out.
‘Weapon?’ Victor said.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t carry one, usually. Too much of a risk.’
‘I’m the same. What about them?’
He saw her peering over his shoulder. ‘I can’t see any bulging on their suit jackets, so only handguns in the worst-case scenario.’
‘Is there a best-case scenario? They’re not going to be unarmed like we are.’
She cocked her head to one side. ‘Who said we’re unarmed?’
Raven reached into her bag.
Victor said, ‘Careful, Constance.’
She withdrew a small handgun and Victor couldn’t help but tense. She held the grip out to him. He looked at it, surprised and suspicious.
‘Take it,’ she said.
He did, expecting a trap or trick or for the gun to explode in his hand. But it was genuine. He could tell just by the weight of it.
‘You really don’t want to kill me,’ he found himself saying.
‘I’ve been trying to tell you that.’
Victor turned to see the four men, including the man he had seen earlier, as Raven had noted. They were all wearing suits. None young. None old. Raven was correct to say they didn’t look like amateurs. They were not here for surveillance. They had spread out and were approaching as they swept the area. All four of the men had their suit jackets unbuttoned.
‘But what about Prague?’ he asked.
She said, ‘That was then. This is now.’
‘I need a lot more information than that.’
‘And you can have it,’ she said. ‘But we don’t have time now. Meet me at the apartment in the Bronx in two hours. Don’t be a second late.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘These four won’t be the only ones here for me. There’ll be others nearby. If we stay together they’ll box us in. We need to split up.’
Victor said, ‘You can’t run from me.’
She looked at him like he was an idiot. ‘I gave you my gun.’ And for a moment he felt like one.
One by one the strip lights flickered and went out.
The parking garage was enveloped in a blanket of utter blackness. It lasted only a second because the lights came back on, albeit dimmer – backup power from the museum’s own generator, necessary to protect the priceless exhibits. Which meant this wasn’t someone taking out the lights but shutting down the primary power to the entire building.
‘It’s started,’ Raven said, but to herself. ‘Damn it, I’m too late.’
Victor pointed the gun at her face.
‘It wasn’t me,’ she was quick to say. ‘Not this time.’
‘What’s started?’ he asked.
‘There’s no time to explain. Later.’
He said, ‘We can’t go back to the apartment. It’s blown.’
‘Good,’ she said, nodding. ‘That’s what we need. We need to draw them out into the open.’
‘Who are they? What are you talking about?’
She said, ‘Later.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not going back there. I was there earlier. Homeland Security know about you. They’re watching your safe house.’
‘Homeland Security isn’t after me.’
‘Two agents kicked the door down. I saw their IDs. They were genuine.’
‘Their bona fides might be legit, but they’re not. Whoever you met may have had real Homeland Security badges, but they weren’t there on legitimate business. Trust me on that.’
‘I don’t trust anything you’ve said.’
‘Thirty seconds until they see us,’ she said, looking over his shoulder. ‘Here we go.’
He ignored her. ‘Why?’ he asked, staring into her eyes. ‘Why are you certain the two I met weren’t really Homeland Security agents?’
‘Because,’ she answered, ‘I didn’t leave any book there. That isn’t my safe house.’
&nb
sp; THIRTY-SIX
There was no time left to question her further because the four-man team was approaching. She backed away from him, turned, and walked away. He watched her go. It would have been simple enough to shoot her in the back and finish what he came here to do, but he had a bad feeling she was telling the truth.
That isn’t my safe house.
In seconds she had rounded a corner and was out of sight. He tucked the handgun she had given him into the front of his waistband, where it would be hidden by his suit jacket, and stepped out of cover.
The four men saw him and stopped. They had the look of professionals: serious expressions but no attempt to intimidate. All four wore suits that gave them an air of respectability and authority. Their ties were clip-ons, impossible to distinguish from the real thing except for the fact a true professional expecting trouble would never wear a ready-made noose around his neck.
None of the men were taller than Victor and none had broader shoulders or thicker arms. They were lean and fit and dangerous. They knew speed and stamina were more often more valuable than strength and bulk.
Raven was right: these were no mere watchers.
The guy in the blue suit said, ‘Where is she?’
‘Who?’ Victor said.
‘You were seen with her.’
Victor remained silent.
Several seconds passed as they looked at one another, evaluating and seeking strengths as well as weaknesses. Neither showed any fear or made any rash movements.
‘You’re coming with us,’ the guy in the blue suit said.
‘I really don’t think so.’
They were spread out, but had stopped because he had. They didn’t know his intentions, but now he knew theirs. You’re coming with us. They wanted to take him – maybe they wanted to interrogate him about Raven; maybe they wanted to kill him somewhere without witnesses or CCTV.
The guy in the blue suit stared at Victor. He seemed experienced enough to come to accurate conclusions about him as Victor was about them. But the guy in the blue suit was smiling because Victor had his chin pointed down in a tell of submission and therefore fear. He knew they would pick up on such subtle clues and their evaluation of him would be inaccurate.
