We All Fall Down mk-4

by Michael Harvey

  “Why don’t we have sound down at Cook?” Doll spoke softly into the receiver and kept his eyes glued to the screen. The couple disentangled. A moment later, they headed for the door. The feed switched to a second camera in the hallway. Doll watched them walk away. “She’s gonna drive him out? Uh-huh. Fine. Let them go.”

  The door behind Doll clicked, and a man in a long gray overcoat entered the room. He dragged his left foot behind him as he walked.

  “I’ll get back to you.” Doll hung up the receiver.

  The gray man took a seat on the other side of the table. His eyes were dead holes, pegged into his skull and fixed on Doll.

  “Call DC.”

  Doll waited long enough to satisfy himself he wasn’t taking orders. Then he did exactly that. The room filled with the thunder of numbers being dialed. The other end picked up on the first ring.

  “It’s me,” Doll said.

  “Where are you?” The voice was muted and full of precision.

  “City Hall.”

  “I’m here as well,” the gray man said.

  “Where’s Michael Kelly?” the voice on the phone said.

  Doll’s eyes flicked to the screens. The hallway at the hospital was empty.

  “He walked into Cook County Hospital about an hour and a half ago. They screened him for exposure and released him.”

  “We don’t know why he was there, or what he saw?”

  “I haven’t spoken to him directly,” Doll said.

  “Is he still pursuing the outbreak?”

  “Honestly?”

  “By all means, Mr. Doll.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about Kelly.”

  “You don’t have much confidence in him?”

  “Guy’s a hack.”

  “Really?”

  “Hundred percent.”

  A pause. “Anyone out there ever talk about something called the Dweller?” the voice said.

  “The Dweller?”

  “Kelly ever mention it?”

  “No.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “No.” Doll scribbled down the name on a piece of paper and underlined it.

  Another pause. Then the voice on the phone again.

  “I think we’re going to need to take care of this.”

  “Take care of what?”

  “Kelly. Crane can handle it.”

  Doll felt his focus tighten until it blurred. “Why?”

  “Get a location on him. I’ll explain the rest later. Crane?”

  “Yes, sir.” The gray man scratched two fingers against the finish on the table.

  “There’s a package of information on the secure link. Let me know once you’ve reviewed the options. Any questions?”

  No one spoke.

  “Good. Mr. Doll, we have a conference call with the mayor in an hour. You can update me then.” The man from DC cut the call.

  “It’s a mistake,” Doll said.

  “Wouldn’t be the first.”

  “You ever heard anything about this Dweller?”

  “I find it’s easier if I don’t hear anything at all.” Crane stood up. “Let me know when you get a fix on Kelly.”

  The door opened and Crane limped off. Doll hit a few buttons on his computer and listened to a recording of the conversation. He made a copy to a flash drive and deleted the original from his desktop. After that he took a cell phone from his pocket. Rachel Swenson picked up on the other end.

  “There’s been a change of plans,” Doll said.

  CHAPTER 44

  Rachel Swenson clicked off her cell and ventured a cautious smile. I was sitting in the passenger seat, tugging at a bandage they’d put on my arm.

  “Who was that?” I said.

  “Just my clerk.”

  “You have to get back?”

  “Yes.”

  A guard checked her tag number and waved us through the last set of gates marking off the quarantine zone.

  “How did you get in here?” I said.

  “Your friend, Ellen, called and told me you needed to get out. I know some people at the DOD. Explained I had someone who got stuck behind the fence.”

  “Did they ask for a name?”

  “They wanted one.”

  “Thanks for getting me.”

  “You can thank me by explaining Danielson.”

  “He had a gun. Shot himself.”

  “Was he in your apartment when I went in to get Mags?”

  “He was.”

  “So he could have taken me if he wanted. With the gun. A knife. Whatever.”

  “If I knew he was there… ”

  “You never would have let me go in. But you didn’t know. And I did go in.”

  I’d put her in danger. And I swore I never would again. “I’m sorry, Rach.”

  “Forget it.”

  We drove in silence.

  “Where are we headed?” she said.

  I gestured vaguely. “Just drive north.”

  She swung a left off Ogden onto Ashland. “The government doesn’t think you murdered him, Michael.”

  “So they’re not looking for me anymore?”

  “From what I understand, no.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I think they’d rather have you under their control but are too busy to worry about it.”

  More silence.

  “Who was on the phone just now?” I said.

  “I told you. My clerk.”

  There was a flaw in her voice-a cold, hard malignancy that found a home in my stomach.

  “You sure about that?” I said.

  “What does that mean?”

  I pointed to an Osco parking lot. “Pull in.”

  She turned into the empty lot. The drugstore was locked up tight. An increasing number of drugstores and grocery stores had threatened to shut down across the city. Either because they’d run low on inventory or didn’t want to deal with the panic buying.

  “This place is closed,” Rachel said. “You need something?”

  “No.”

  “Then why did we stop?”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “About what?”

  “Whatever’s bothering you.”

  “Nothing’s bothering me.”

  “That’s another lie.”

  Her phone buzzed again. She reached, but I beat her to it. The caller ID window flashed RESTRICTED.

  “Go ahead and answer,” she said. I tossed the phone into her lap, where it went silent.

  “They knew you were down at Cook, Michael.”

  “Who’s ‘they’?”

  “Homeland.”

  I nodded, as if the moment of her betrayal was one I’d expected.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Why didn’t they just throw me in a cell?”

  “I told you. They wanted you out.”

  “But on a string. With you at the other end.”

  Her phone buzzed a third time. Like a goddamn toothache knocking inside my jaw. She turned the thing off.

  “What do they have on you?” I said.

  She shook her head. I waited.

  “CDA Labs.”

  “What about them?” I said.

  “I’m an investor. Got involved when it was just a start-up. Jon Stoddard was a friend. I believed in his work.”

  “What do you know about CDA’s work?”

  “I know they do genetic research.”

  “They create bioweapons for the government.”

  “If you’re asking if I knew that I had to divest when I came onto the bench, the answer is yes. The potential conflicts of interest were obvious.”

  “But you didn’t?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “How much?”

  “Jon talked about going public. Even my small stake would have meant millions. So I told the Justice Department I’d liquidated my holdings, but I hid them.”

  “And now the feds are squeezing you?”

  “They of
fered a way out.”

  “You mean me.”

  She stared at the lines in her hands. I thought about the cracks in our life. When I looked over, it was through a window. Her features scratched and dull. Sealed off from me forever.

  “Are you recording this?” I said.

  She shook her head.

  “Are they following us?”

  “They want to know where you’re going. What you’ve uncovered.”

  I took out a piece of paper and scribbled down an address. “Fat Willy’s on Western. I’m supposed to meet Rita Alvarez, but she doesn’t know anything. Tell your pals I’m working a lead but wouldn’t tell you about it. Tell them I wanted to protect you.”

  She nodded but didn’t look at me.

  “That’s all I can give you.” I stuck the note on the dash and reached for the door handle. “Be careful.”

  I started to leave. She touched my sleeve.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  I waited.

  “Do you really have an idea who might be behind the release?”

  “Don’t know yet.”

  “Would you tell me if you did?”

  “Don’t know that either.”

  We lapsed back into silence.

  “Can you handle Mags for a couple more days?” I finally said.

  She nodded.

  “Are you staying outside the city?”

  “We’re fine, Michael.”

  I opened the door and got out. Halfway across the lot, I wanted to turn around. And that scared me as much as anything.

  Rachel picked up her phone and hit REDIAL.

  “He’s headed to a place called Fat Willy’s. On Western Avenue.” A pause. “That’s right. Call me again and I swear to Christ I’ll go public and take you down with me.”

  She threw her cell to the floor of the car, where it broke into a couple of pieces. Rachel wanted to cry, but there was nothing left inside. Instead, she kicked over the engine and pumped the gas, smoking her tires as she left the lot.

  CHAPTER 45

  I sat in a booth at the back of Fat Willy’s, sipped at some coffee, and watched my conscience chase my past around the room.

  “You look like you just lost your best friend.” Rita Alvarez dumped her briefcase onto the opposite seat and slid in beside it.

  “Hey, Rita.”

  “Hey.”

  The place was empty. A waitress hovered nearby with a menu. Rita ordered a pulled pork sandwich and waited until we were alone again.

  “So, what’s the matter with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Looks like something.”

  “Some days life sucks.”

  “You think?” She pulled a bottle of water from her briefcase, uncapped it, and took a sip.

  “I didn’t ask you here to listen to my problems, Rita.”

  “I didn’t figure that.”

  “You been working the West Side?”

  “Feds got the whole place shut down. Reporters tripping over each other.”

  “Camp Chicago, right?”

  “That’s what they call it.”

  “What do you know about what’s going on inside?”

  “We know what they tell us.”

  “Which is what?”

  “There’s been some sort of biorelease. Not sure if it’s an attack or an accident. Got some sick people, maybe fifty dead. They’re hoping the thing’s contained.”

  “What did you think of the mayor?”

  “On TV?”

  I nodded.

  “Asshole.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” I said.

  Rita’s sandwich came. She took a bite and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Heaven.” The reporter took another sip of water. “Got a lot of stuff going on today, Michael.”

  “This is worth your time.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Off the record?”

  I expected her to fight me tooth and nail, but Rita just nodded and chewed.

  “I just came out of a quarantine zone on the West Side.”

  She put down her sandwich. “Jesus.”

  “I’m not infected.”

  ”I wasn’t worried about that.”

  “You should be. They’re loading dead bodies onto L trains and shipping them out so they can be cremated.”

  “You saw this?”

  “I took a ride on one of the trains this morning. They’re also worried the thing might have caught a plane out of O’Hare.”

  “How did you get out?”

  “Rachel.”

  Rita’s eyes flicked to the street. “Where is she?”

  “She’s not part of this.”

  I could see the reporter adding up bylines and headlines in her head.

  “You can’t report any of it, Rita.”

  “Let me explain why that’s not a good idea. In the long run-”

  “I’m not finished. You know Matt Danielson?”

  “The guy from Homeland?”

  “Yesterday, he blew his brains out in my apartment. Left me with this.” I pulled out the address to the Korean’s grocery store and watched the reporter blanch. “It’s the same address you gave me on your hospital supply story.”

  “I know what it is.”

  The waitress came by to check on us. We waited until she left.

  “I tried to call Rodriguez,” I said, “but couldn’t get him.”

  “He’s down on the West Side. Working the perimeter, like the rest of the Chicago PD.” Rita pushed her plate away and leaned her forearms on the table. “All right, Michael, you got me. What does my dead Korean have to do with Homeland Security?”

  “Vince and I found ten thousand body bags in Lee’s cellar.”

  Rita tilted her head. “Why didn’t I hear about the bags earlier?”

  “Because I didn’t know what it meant. You had a legman for the Outfit trailing you around town, and I don’t want to owe Rodriguez a girlfriend.”

  “Fine, fine.” Like any good reporter, she knew better than to hold a grudge. Especially when there was nothing to be gained. “So, what does it mean?”

  “Danielson thought the body bags were ordered by someone who knew about the release. Someone looking to make a quick buck. That’s why he gave me the address.”

  Rita had her briefcase up on the table and two files open. “Nothing like that ever came through any of the county paperwork I’ve seen. Here, take a look.”

  I shook my head. “I believe you. No one’s gonna buy ten thousand body bags and run it through a county contract. This was a side deal for Lee. Black market. Still, whoever ordered the bags must have known about the release.”

  “Probably, but not necessarily.”

  I took a sip of my coffee. “How do you feel about squeezing Rissman?”

  Rita shook her head. “I told you. Rissman’s a small-time guy.”

  “We know he’s dirty.”

  “Dirty, yes. But there’s no way he’s hooked up in anything like this.”

  “You sure?”

  “I can’t see it. And if he is, what makes you think he’d roll over? Not based on what you’ve told me.”

  The reporter was right. “We’re gonna need to dig a little, Rita.”

  “Where?”

  “You said Lee spread the hospital supply work out among a few small companies, but you couldn’t find the money behind it?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Push a little harder. Creditors, lenders. Mention your investigation. If you have to, tell them there might be a connection to the pathogen release. See if anyone gets nervous.”

  “That’s a pretty hard push.”

  “You want the story or not?”

  “Of course I want the story. I just don’t think any of this is connected… ”

  “Don’t think. Just follow the information. First thing we learn in PI school.”

  “You can really be a jerk sometimes.”

  “Will you do
it?”

  “I’ll make some calls.”

  “When?”

  “I’ve got a story to file today. I’ll hit it tomorrow morning.”

  “Good.”

  “If it does turn out to be anything… ”

  “The story’s yours.”

  “Including the drugs.”

  “You’re gonna have to talk to Vince about that.”

  Rita stood up. “I’ll call you.”

  I touched the back of her hand. “There’s one more thing we need to consider.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I like to think of it as a shortcut.”

  Rita sighed and sat back down.

  CHAPTER 46

  The girl in the yellow dress smiled at me from under her umbrella. I smiled back. Beside her, blue letters stretched across the sloped pitch of a white roof: MORTON SALT WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

  Morton’s processing shed took up a good chunk of the thirteen hundred block of North Elston Avenue. Tracks ran out on either side, and silver railcars stood on sidings, their hoppers filled with salt. I put the girl with the umbrella in my rearview mirror and turned off Elston onto Blackhawk Street. Rita Alvarez hadn’t said a word on the ride over.

  “You okay?”

  “No.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Tell me how this works again.”

  “The way I see it?”

  She glanced over. “Is there any other?”

  “The Korean needed muscle. No way he runs all that dope in and out of the West Side without it.”

  “That’s how he kept the Fours in line?”

  “For a while, yeah, that’s what I’m guessing.”

  “Guessing?”

  “We’ll know soon enough.”

  I pulled Rita’s car into a long, narrow lot. It ran north along the Chicago River, shielded from traffic by the hulking Morton Salt plant. There were a couple of truck rigs parked there, a long metal shed, and, in the exact middle of the lot, a black Cadillac. The vehicle’s windows were tinted, its engine running.

  Chili Davis was the first to exit. The little man had a large shiner and a chip the size of Napoleon on his shoulder. Chili wanted to even the score by putting a bullet in me. Or maybe three.

  The next guy who got out wasn’t so complex. Or small. His name was Johnny Apple. Johnny killed people using a gun, his bare hands, and the occasional Hefty bag. Vinny DeLuca liked to save Johnny for intimate jobs. When only the best would do.