Night and Day (41 page)

“Sam and MaryAnn Klinger.”

“MaryAnn was the daughter’s name? I didn’t know that.”

“Who killed them?”

“Both were killed by that crazy son-of-a-bitch cop, Burt Martinez.” He shook his head.
“A terrible man. His heart is filled with an intense darkness.”

“Why were they killed?”

“Klinger and his wife had worked in the camp dispensary here while they were held in this camp,”
Grinaldi said. “Klinger knew the camp well. A couple of months ago, he started hanging
around, out on the road, watching the comings and goings. One night he even got inside the
fence, saw the patients while they were being exercised. The guards chased him off,
threatened him, but he kept coming back. I was worried he might be working for the police,
so I mentioned it to Kaiser. He sent Martinez to handle him.”

“Martinez works for Kaiser.”

Grinaldi laughed bitterly. “Kaiser owns Martinez. Martinez is his bloodson.”

“What about MaryAnn Klinger?”

“Carpenter was grooming her as a prospective employee. Pretty girl, they said. He’d
usually let an employee get comfortable with the surroundings and ambiance of the club for a
week or so before he turned them out for the customers.”

“Did she...”

Grinaldi shook his head. “No. Martinez had his eye on her from the time Carpenter
brought her in, and when he found out she was Sam Klinger’s daughter, he thought he could
use her to make Sam talk. He used one of the suction units I’d given to Kaiser and bled her
dry, a pint at a time, while her father watched.” He shrugged. “Surprisingly, it had no effect
on Sam, and Martinez eventually had to get his answers the old-fashioned way.”

“What the hell are suction units?”

Grinaldi looked away. “They’re designed to quickly and efficiently drain blood from a
human body. Came in handy during the war when there were a lot of mouths to feed.”

“Christ,” Jimmy muttered.

It was bad, but bad was becoming relative. “Why did Kaiser need...suction units?”

“As I said, our work here in the lab is very blood-intensive, Mr. Welles. The key to
treating severe brain injuries is human blood. Lots of it. We’ve found that if we can, for all
intents and purposes, overdose the vampire body with blood...”

I guess he saw my expression change again, and he fell silent. “Get to the point.” I said.

“Kaiser was able to make occasional deliveries of blood in bulk, stolen shipments, that
sort of thing. Other times, he delivered in smaller quantities. One day, he asked if I had
anything that would quickly drain the blood from a human body. I provided him with three
suction units.” He paused. “He promised me there would be no pain to the donors. I insisted
on that.”

“I’m sure you did,” I said. “One more name, and I think we’re done. Jedron Marsch.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know that name either.”

“Let me jog your memory. He was one of the refreshments at a party you had in
Carpenter’s. Frankie Dowling had a real interest in him.”

“Oh, yes, that was Martinez as well. Kaiser is a very unstable man, and he went crazy
when he found out that Dowling had invited me to that party. He didn’t want me in the club,
and he certainly didn’t want me and Dowling discussing business in front of human witnesses.
He even interrupted the party and dressed down Dowling in front of me. Terrible temper.
Terrible..”

“Kaiser’s face is scarred?”

“Oh yes,” Grinaldi said. “Happened before the war. He got in a scrap with some other
gangster, so I’m told.”

“Why was Joshua there?”

“Your information is very good,” he said. “I’d often visited the Red Hen Pub, and struck
up a friendship with the owners, Mickey Ponittzo and Jerry Cross. When Mickey heard I was
going to a private party at Carpenter’s, he suggested I bring a bodyguard. Said it would show
I was a serious, important man. He recommended Thomas, even paid his fee for the night.
Now, of course, I understand why.”

“What happened after Kaiser broke up the party?”

Grinaldi shrugged. “He had Dowling killed, of course. The bad judgement he showed by
inviting me to the party made him a liability. Then he called in Martinez and told him to get
rid of the witnesses. If this fellow Marsch was one of them, I presume Martinez killed him.”

I looked away. That was it. All the names, all the dead, all the reasons.

As a detective, I’d always felt some pleasure when I found out what happened and
brought a case to a close. This time, there was no pleasure. Maybe because the case wasn’t
quite closed yet.

I left him there, kneeling on the floor, and walked behind the counter. “How do you turn
this fucking thing off?”

“Toggle switch on the front,” he said. “Push it down, the machine will stop. All brain
function will cease within five minutes, including the automatic functions.”

I squatted down in front of the machine and stared into my partner’s lifeless eyes. He
blinked.

“So long, Joshua,” I whispered as I pressed the switch.

I stood and turned, raising the pistol. Grinaldi opened his mouth, but before he could
make a sound, I fired twice. Both shots hit him in the center of the chest. He rocked back
against the counter, then fell forward, face down.

I put the pistol away and took out the cell phone. Phillip Bain answered after two rings,
his voice thick with sleep.

“Welles,” I said. “Lou Carpenter killed Joshua. Would you contact Takeda and see that a
loose cordon is put up around Carpenter’s club immediately? I’ll be there in an hour or so.
We’ll move after sundown, when she’s on scene and her people are in place.” I paused. “Let
her know we might encounter some serious resistance. Have her bring whatever forces she
deems appropriate.”

“I’ll make the call right now,” Bain said.

“And have her contact Lieutenant Margolis here at Camp Delta-5. I think we’re going to
need some help getting out of the hospital.”

Chapter Thirty-six

“This is Takeda,” she said, her eyes glittering behind the heavy mask. “All units, all
units, final check.”

I couldn’t hear their responses coming through the earpiece she wore, but I didn’t have to.
I’d seen her people move in, slowly, quietly, for nearly four hours.

The Security Forces lieutenant who’d been behind the front desk at the Downtown police
station, Bristow, was already working when I got there. He’d set up a command post in a shoe
store two blocks south and one block west of Carpenter’s.

“We’re keeping a very low profile at this time, Mr. Welles,” he said, waving his hand
over a street plan spread out on top of a small display table. Piles of sneakers littered the floor
beneath the table.

“I’ve got troopers in plainclothes on the street at every intersection surrounding the club.
We’re trying to intercept as many of Carpenter’s human employees as possible, before they report to work, to cut down on collateral casualties when we go in after dark. Hopefully we’ll
stop at least one in three. I also have a strike team in an apartment across the street from the
club, but they’ll only go into action if something goes seriously wrong, or if Carpenter and
Kaiser attempt a breakout before the assault team is in place.”

“Sound like you’ve got it covered,” I said. I glanced at the twin bars on his collars. “By
the way, congratulations on the promotion, captain. I thought Captain Hill would be running
this operation.”

“Captain Hill isn’t with us anymore, sir,” Bristow said.

“That’s too bad.”

“Strict adherence to the intent of her orders is very important to Miss
Takeda,” he said. “You can get away with doing something that doesn’t strictly follow the letter
of her orders, as long as you follow the intent of those orders. Otherwise . . .” He paused. “If you’ll pardon the expression sir, she doesn’t fuck around.”

“I got that, captain.”

I’d dropped Jimmy off at his house on my way to Carpenter's. He’d wanted to come along, and he’d
argued the point from the time we left the camp. But this wasn’t his fight, and it was going to be
dangerous. The Downtown day shift needed a good watch commander a lot more than I
needed another gun. Takeda would make sure our firepower needs were covered.

I did give Daryl Northport a call while I was still on the road. I’d promised to keep him
in the loop, and since it looked like things were coming to a head, I thought he should know.
Of course, knowing wasn’t good enough for Daryl. He showed up about 20 minutes after I
did.

“This is Takeda,” she said from the seat beside me. “All units are in position, repeat, all
units are in position.” She raised her wristwatch to her face. “Standby for go order in five
minutes, repeat, go order in five minutes.”

She turned to me. “You’re sure you don’t want body armor?”

I looked at the heavy vest that protected her chest and back, and the kevlar helmet and
mask that covered her from the neck up, and shook my head. “No thanks,” I said. “Body
armor makes me sweat. I get hives.”

“I’ll take a some,” Daryl said from the seat behind us.

“You don’t need body armor, chief,” Takeda said. “You’re here purely as an observer.
You won’t be participating in the assault.”

“Now wait just a damn minute . . .” Daryl began.

“The only reason I didn’t have you removed when I arrived is because Mr. Welles and
Police Commissioner Napier requested that you be allowed to observe the operation,” she
said. “If that restriction is not to your liking, chief, you’re certainly free to go.”

Daryl sat back in the seat, arms folded across his chest.

I pulled out my pistol, ejected the clip that was missing the two rounds I’d put into Dr.
Grinaldi, and put in a new one.

“This is Takeda. One minute to go, I repeat, one minute, All units standby.”

The door of Carpenter’s club opened and two men stepped out. One of them was a tall
black guy, not quite basketball-player tall, but at least six-four or six-five. His height only
exaggerated the lack of height of the other man.

“Martinez,” I said.

“And Lou Fields,” Daryl said from the back seat.

“All units hold and await my order, repeat, hold and await my order.” Takeda looked at
me. “We’ll let them get clear of the perimeter and then take them down.”

I nodded.

Martinez and Fields didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. They stood on the
street, in front of the club, talking and glancing around. Martinez seemed especially
observant, slowly scanning the street from one side to the other.

The van that Takeda, Daryl, and I were in was fifty yards down the street from him.
When he finally got to us, Martinez stared for a long time, at least thirty seconds. Then he
turned to Fields, said something, and they both went back into the club.

“I believe you’ve been blown,” I said.

“This is Takeda,” she said. “All units, all units, the operation has been compromised, I
repeat, the operation has been compromised. Standby for further orders.”

“Your opinion?” she asked, turning to me.

“The longer we wait, the more time they’ll have to prepare,” I said.

“I concur, “ she said.

“Maybe talk to them, negotiate some kinda surrender,” Daryl said.

“There will be no surrender, chief,” Takeda said.

“I really think . . .” Daryl said.

Takeda looked back at the club. “All units, all units, we are go, repeat, we are go. Be
prepared for heavy resistance. Move out on my mark.”

She opened the van door, glanced over at me, and said, “Let’s move.”

As we walked, Takeda reached under her black leather duster and pulled out her sword.
She filled her left hand with a large automatic pistol from the holster on her belt. I hesitated,
then took out my pistol as well.

The door ahead of us opened and Takeda said, “This is Takeda. All units prepare to fire
on my order.”

The doorman stepped out onto the sidewalk, closing the door behind him. looked down
the street at us and waited. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to be armed. Maybe they hadn’t told
him what was going on.

We got closer.

“I’m afraid we don’t allow weapons in the club,” he called.

Closer.

“I can check them here at the door, if you like, and you can pick them up when you
leave.”

We reached him.

“Is there something I can do for you folks?” he asked, looking from me to Takeda’s
masked face.

Takeda casually backhanded him with the sword, the blade cutting deep into the side of
his neck, nearly severing his head. He went down on the sidewalk. She looked at him for a
moment, then thrust the sword into the middle of his back, just below the shoulder blades.

She pulled out the sword, and wiped the blade on the back of his jacket. “Strike teams
Alpha and Bravo, move into position, all other units standby.”