Die Twice (22 page)

“I didn’t handle things too well, back there. When I saw Tony coming up to the car, I froze. He looked at both of us. Then he went to Milton’s side and opened his door. He had a gun, and he was setting up for a double tap when he realized Milton had already gone. So, he pointed the gun at me. Told me to pop the trunk. And, guess what? I did.”

“So?”

“I was sitting next to a guy who Tony had effectively just killed. I was armed. And did I get a shot off? Try to stop him? Do anything at all to even the score for Milton? No. No. And No.”

“Where was your weapon?”

“Holstered.”

“Where was McIntyre’s?”

“In his hand.”

“So if you’d tried to draw, you’d be dead now. How would that have helped?”

“I feel like I should have tried to do something, at least.”

“You’d just driven into a metal girder. That’s traumatic in itself. And you’re already injured. You already had a gunshot wound, in your arm.”

“To tell the truth, that was part of the problem. I saw him pointing a gun at me, and all I could think of was what happened last time. That was the first time I’d ever been shot, in all these years, and it really messed me up.”

“That’s understandable. It happens to a lot of people. And anyway, what about your other hand? That looks hurt, too.”

He lifted his right hand and looked at it, as if noticing the bandages for the first time.

“Yes. It got burned, somehow. The doc thinks it was from the air bag. I must have reached out, instinctively, when I saw Milton flying forward. He was a large lad. Guess I was trying to stop him. Pretty stupid, huh?”

“Not stupid at all. You did what you could. And you got hurt trying to save a guy you hardly know. That’s admirable, Richard. Now stop beating yourself up. It’s time to focus.”

“Thanks for the kind words, David. I appreciate it. But the truth is I didn’t do enough. Not for me. I can’t walk away from this yet.”

“No one’s asking you to walk away. We just need some help to reach the finish line.”

“That’s not how things work, and you know it. If we send the balloon up, London will parachute in a whole new team. They’ll replace both of us.”

“We don’t know that.”

“We do. It’s how things work. Like my friend Callum, in Edinburgh. Did I tell you about him?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Well, Callum’s ex-navy. And he was in bed one night, fast asleep, with his wife. Then a noise woke him up. It was coming from outside. He looked through the window, and saw four guys burgling his garage. So he called the police, right away. And do you know what they said?”

“No.”

“I can’t remember their exact words. But it was along the lines of ‘Tough luck, pal.’ They couldn’t have been less interested. So do you know what Callum did?”

“Went outside and shot the burglars?”

“Nearly right. He called the police back a few minutes later and pretended that’s what he’d done. And guess what? Four squad cars and an armed response unit were on his lawn inside four minutes.”

“That’s a lovely story, Richard. But it doesn’t mean we’d be replaced.”

“Of course it does. It just goes to show. People like the brass in London can put their hands on whatever resources they want, whenever they want. The preferences of people like us don’t count. Which may be OK with you—you never wanted this assignment in the first place. But it’s a major problem for me.”

“Why? You can’t bring Milton back. Finding the gas and stopping McIntyre is what counts. Your job is to make that happen as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

“David, please. There’s something you need to know about me. I’m old school. That doesn’t just mean I wear good suits and drink vintage champagne. It means I’m not an ‘end justifies the means’ type guy. It means I care about how the job is done, not just getting the right result. I care about the people I work with. And never, not once, have I turned my back on an obligation. I’ve never left a man
behind, and I’ve never left a score unsettled. And I’m not prepared to start now.”

I had nothing to say about that.

“So,” he said. “I’m asking you. For Milton’s sake. For my sake. Give me twenty-four hours?”

I didn’t respond.

“Please,” he said. “They’re only keeping me in overnight. We could meet at the office, first thing. Get our heads together. See if we can’t find a way to make this right.”

If there’s one thing the navy relies upon, it’s the ability to make plans.

I’ve been subject to literally thousands of them over the years. They make them in response to every conceivable situation. Some have worked well, so I’ve adapted them to other situations. Others have been shambolic, so I’ve abandoned them halfway through. You get to the point where you can tell from the first few lines whether they’re going to be any good. Sometimes you can even recognize who wrote them, from the style and layout and general approach. But there’s one thing I’ve noticed that applies to all plans, regardless of purpose or quality.

The danger or difficulty is always inversely proportional to the degree to which the author will be personally involved.

I’m no fan of mornings, but even so, Fothergill’s idea of early didn’t match mine. I’d been in his easy chair for a good half hour before
he finally showed his face. He was freshly shaved, his silver hair was glistening from the shower, and he was wearing an immaculate charcoal gray suit I hadn’t seen him in before. There was no sling to match this one, though. Just the standard-issue hospital one the medics had given him last night.

“Oh, David, there you are,” he said, when he’d stepped into the room and closed the door. “Sorry to keep you. The doctors were very sticky about letting me go. Seems they were worried about this burn on my hand. I talked them around in the end, but they wouldn’t back down till I’d let them change the bandages, at least. And then I had to pop home on my way over, to grab some fresh togs.”

“Did you grab any coffee, while you were there?” I said.

“No. Sorry. I wanted to get over here as quickly as possible, so we could get started.”

“OK, then. Let’s start. Thoughts?”

“Well, time is limited. So I think we should go for two birds, one stone. Tony, and the gas.”

“Good in theory. Any ideas for making that happen?”

“Yes. Start with Tony. Last night. He was pretty motivated to get his hands on the gas, wasn’t he? Acting like a pirate in the middle of a city street? Taking Milton’s life?”

“He was. But that seems to be his mode. He comes across as a fairly wholehearted kind of guy.”

“True. But my point is this: Why was getting the gas back so important? To want it so badly, he must really need it. For something specific. Something urgent.”

“OK. Seems reasonable.”

“So, tie that in with what he said about meeting his ‘friends’ again. By which I’m assuming he meant those guys from Myene.”

“You think he’d risk being involved with them again? After the state they had him in at the machine shop?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

Fothergill moved over to his favorite window and started to gaze out.

“I can’t tell you, exactly,” he said. “But it’s the only explanation that makes any kind of sense. Maybe it’s about the money.”

“You think he’s that greedy?” I said.

“It could be greed. Or something less straightforward, like a kind of revenge. Forcing them to buy back their own stuff.”

“That seems like a pretty convoluted kind of revenge. I don’t buy it.”

“Something else altogether, then. Like he thinks they won’t stop chasing him till he’s made good on what he owes them. But the point is this: It gives us a key advantage. It tells us where he’s going to be, and when.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’ll be meeting his buyers. Tonight.”

“Well, obviously. But where will he be meeting them? What time?”

Fothergill moved closer to me.

“I don’t know the specifics,” he said. “Not yet. But I know how to find out.”

“How?” I said.

“The IT guys. They’ve been in all night, working on it.”

“Working on what?”

“Those hard drives. They’re bound to dig something out of them. I bet they’ll have something for us pretty soon. Maybe this morning, even.”

“Was it just hard drives you gave them? Or crystal balls, too? ’Cause I don’t see how they’re going to find details of events that weren’t even dreamed of when you found all that stuff.”

“Sorry, David. I skipped ahead. I meant to say, what I’m looking
for from the IT guys is some way of getting hold of the buyers. That’s all we need.”

“How will that help?”

“This is what we do. We know they want as much gas as possible. That’s why they were prepared to buy from you, yesterday. So, we hook you up again.”

“So I meet them. String them along a little. What then?”

“Well, assuming you don’t kill any of them, you worm your way in. Gain their trust. Make your way along the chain till you come across Tony. Then you finish things.”

“All before tonight? Did they slip you some steroids, at that hospital?”

“I know. There’s a lot there. But let’s break it down. The first dependency is IT. If they can’t find some way to get in contact, we won’t have much chance.”

“Given the time pressure, make that no chance.”

“I guess you’re right. But that’s out of our hands, so let’s not worry about it. Let’s assume, for now anyway, that the eggheads come through. The next problem will be getting a meeting set up. We need it to be today. What do you think? Doable?”

“Maybe. Depends on where.”

“Let’s assume a hundred-mile radius of Chicago.”

“OK. Then we could probably persuade them.”

“I would think so, too. Maybe by unsettling them? Suggesting that McIntyre might not be able to deliver?”

“We could do that. Make them afraid to have all their eggs in his basket. Or offer a much lower price. Or promise to provide a regular, guaranteed future supply.”

“Good. I like it. One of those should work. So we’re looking pretty good. Why don’t I head downstairs for a minute and prod the IT guys. It’s all hanging on them, right now.”

“Hold on. What about the infiltration part? How’s that going to work?”

“It’ll be easy. A few people from their crew had seen you, but they’re all dead now, remember. So you should have no problems with being recognized.”

“I’m not concerned about recognition. I’m worried about getting under their skin before tonight. Going from total stranger to inner sanctum in a couple of hours is a lot to ask.”

“It would be—if it wasn’t for one thing.”

“What?”

“I have an idea. I’ve got that part all figured out.”

“Hallelujah. What are you thinking?”

“Something like this. We let these guys choose whatever location they feel comfortable with. You show up, as agreed. You make like you’re itching to get down to business. Then, a couple of other guys appear. Maybe they’re drunk. Maybe they’re just idiots. But either way, they try to pick a fight. They pull guns, knives, whatever. Things are about to get really nasty and—boom. You step in, risking life and limb for your new friends.”

“That’s not an idea. That’s straight from cliché central.”

“There are no marks for originality, David. Only effectiveness. And this works. I’ve seen it half a dozen times.”

“I guess it might not be a complete disaster, if it was staged just right. Where would these rent-a-goons come from?”

“Leave that to me. I have contacts. People who’d be happy to help.”

“I don’t care if they’re happy. I care if they’re good. ’Cause I don’t want some Keystone Kop fiasco.”

“Don’t worry. They’re excellent. I’ve used them before, a dozen times. No one will ever know they’re staging it.”

“So assuming you can get them in, and I pull it off. I then have
to convince the buyers to let me tag along when they hook up with Tony.”

“Right. But you could do that in your sleep, David. It’s more or less what you suggested before, with the Commissariat. Only more elegant. Food and drink for a guy like you, surely?”

“It’s next to impossible, is what it is.”

“Let’s be realistic. It’s not going to be easy. I know that. But it’s not out of the question, either. And here’s the thing—have you got a better idea?”

I didn’t answer.

“OK, then,” he said. “Right now this is the only plan that has legs. Shall I head downstairs? Turn the screw on our technical friends? See if we can get ourselves out of the starting gate?”

“I suppose you better,” I said. “I’m not thrilled with the idea. But we’ve got to do something. We need to get the gas back under wraps. And I want this business with McIntyre over and done with. I want to get back to some work that doesn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

Fothergill offered to send some coffee up for me, but I declined. There was no way of knowing how long he’d be gone. I guessed the IT guys wouldn’t make him all that welcome, but he also said there were loose ends to tie up from yesterday’s accident. That sounded pretty vague, but the chances still were that he was going to be a while. And with the prospect of meeting another set of buyers, dealing with the fake fight and possibly having to finish things with McIntyre, the last things I needed were random strangers and office small talk. I felt like I needed some time to myself. I needed somewhere peaceful to prepare. So I took one more look around his office, found nothing of interest, and made my way back to the hotel.

I picked up some coffee of my own so I’d have something to drink as I walked. I went for cappuccino again, since I’d missed breakfast. It took five minutes to reach the counter, and the line of customers at Starbucks kept growing steadily as I waited near the wall for the barista to weave her magic. There was nothing to do but stand back and watch the people coming in. It seemed like there was an endless stream of them, and that sparked another image in my head. I thought about the people who were so desperate to buy this gas. I’d neutralized two of them at the abandoned apartment. Three at the Ritz-Carlton. Two more at the machine shop in Gary. One at the Commissariat. Fothergill had accounted for another pair. And yet more kept on appearing. I couldn’t help wondering what would be next. Would the whole population of their little country end up coming after me before we were done?