Whistleblower and Never Say Die (46 page)

Polowski rose to his feet. “Then we’re all set. Everyone’s got a place to go. Let’s do it.”

Outside, on a street rumbling with early-morning traffic, with their friends standing only a few yards away, Cathy and Victor said their goodbyes. It wasn’t the place for sentimental farewells. Perhaps that was all for the best. At least she could leave with some trace of dignity. At least she could avoid hearing, from his lips, the brutal truth. She would simply walk away and hold on to the fantasy that he loved
her. That in their brief time together she’d managed to work her way, just a little, into his heart.

“You’ll be all right?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. And you?”

“I’ll manage.” He thrust his hands in his pockets and looked off at a bus idling near the corner. “I’ll miss you,” he said. “But I know it doesn’t make sense for us to be together. Not under the circumstances.”

I would stay with you,
she thought.
Under any circumstances. If I only knew you wanted me.

“Anyway,” he said with a sigh, “I’ll let you know when things are safe again. When you can come home.”

“And then?”

“And then we’ll take it from there,” he said softly.

They kissed, a clumsy, polite kiss, all the more hurried because they knew their friends were watching. There was no passion here, only the cool, dry lips of a man saying goodbye. As they pulled apart, she saw his face blur away through the tears.

“Take care of yourself, Victor,” she said. Then, shoulders squared, she turned and walked toward Ollie and Milo.

“Is that it?” asked Ollie.

“That’s it.” Brusquely she rubbed her hand across her eyes. “I’m ready to go.”

“Tell me about Lily,” she said.

The first light of dawn was already streaking the sky as they drove past the boxy row homes of Pacifica, past the cliffs where sea waves crashed and gulls swooped and dove.

Ollie, his gaze on the road, asked, “What do you want to know?”

“What kind of woman was she?”

“She was a nice person,” said Ollie. “And brainy. Though she never went out of her way to impress people, she was probably the smartest one of all of us. Definitely brighter than Milo.”

“And a lot better-looking than Ollie,” piped a voice from the backseat.

“A real kind, real decent woman. When she and Gersh got married, I remember thinking, ‘he’s got himself a saint.’” He glanced at Cathy, suddenly noticing her silence. “Of course,” he added quickly, “not every man
wants
a saint. I know I’d be happier with a lady who can be a little goofy.” He flashed Cathy a grin. “Someone who might, say, crash a van through an electrified fence, just for kicks.”

It was a sweet thing to say, a comment designed to lift her spirits. It couldn’t take the edge off her pain.

She settled back and watched dawn lighten the sky. How she needed to get away! She thought about Mexico, about warm water and hot sand and the tang of fresh fish and lime. She would throw herself into working on that new film. Of course, Jack would be on the set, Jack with his latest sweetie pie in tow, but she could handle that now. Jack would never be able to hurt her again. She was beyond that now, beyond being hurt by any man.

The drive to Milo’s house seemed endless.

When at last they pulled up in the driveway, the dawn had already blossomed into a bright, cold morning. Milo climbed out and stood blinking in the sunshine.

“So, guys,” he said through the car window. “Guess here’s where we go our separate ways.” He looked at Cathy. “Mexico, right?”

She nodded. “Puerto Vallarta. What about you?”

“I’m gonna catch up with Ma in Florida. Maybe get a load of Disney World. Wanna come, Ollie?”

“Some other time. I’m going to go get some sleep.”

“Don’t know what you’re missing. Well, it’s been some adventure. I’m almost sorry it’s over.” Milo turned and headed up the walk to his house. On the front porch he waved and yelled, “See you around!” Then he vanished through the front door.

Ollie laughed. “Milo and his ma, together? Disney World’ll never be the same.” He reached for the ignition. “Next stop, the bus station. I’ve got just enough gas to get us there and—”

He didn’t get a chance to turn the key.

A gun barrel was thrust in the open car window. It came to rest squarely against Ollie’s temple.

“Get out, Dr. Wozniak,” said a voice.

Ollie’s reply came out in a bare croak. “What—what do you want?”

“Do it now.” The click of the hammer being cocked was all the coaxing Ollie needed.

“Okay, okay! I’m getting out!” Ollie scrambled out and backed away, his hands raised in surrender.

Cathy, too, started to climb out, but the gunman snapped, “Not you! You stay inside.”

“Look,” said Ollie. “You can have the damn car! You don’t need her—”

“But I do. Tell Mr. Holland I’ll be in contact. Regarding Ms. Weaver’s future.” He went around and opened the passenger door. “You, into the driver’s seat!” he commanded her.

“No. Please—”

The gun barrel dug into her neck. “Need I ask again?”

Trembling, she moved behind the wheel. Her knee brushed the car keys, still dangling from the ignition. The man slid in beside her. Though the gun barrel was still thrust against her neck, it was the man’s eyes she focused on. They were black, fathomless. If any spark of humanity lurked in those depths, she couldn’t see it.

“Start the engine,” he said.

“Where—where are we going?”

“For a drive. Somewhere scenic.”

Her thoughts were racing, seeking some means of escape, but she came up with nothing. That gun was insurmountable.

She turned on the ignition.

“Hey!” yelled Ollie, grabbing at the door. “You can’t do this!”

Cathy screamed, “Ollie, no!”

The gunman had already shifted his aim out the window.

“Let her go!” yelled Ollie. “Let her—”

The gun went off.

Ollie staggered backward, his face a mask of astonishment.

Cathy lunged at the gunman. Pure animal rage, fueled by the instinct to survive, sent her clawing first for his eyes. At the last split second he flinched away. Her nails scraped down his cheek, drawing blood. Before he could shift his aim, she grabbed his wrist, wrenching desperately for control of the gun. He held fast. Not with all her strength could she keep the gun at bay, keep the barrel from turning toward her.

It was the last image she registered: that black hole, slowly turning until it was pointed straight at her face.

Something lashed at her from the side. Pain exploded in her head, shattering the world into a thousand slivers of light.

They faded, one by one, into darkness.

“V
ictor’s here,” said Milo.

It seemed to take Ollie forever to register their presence. Victor fought the urge to shake him to consciousness, to drag the words out of his friend’s throat. He was forced to wait, the silence broken only by the hiss of oxygen, the gurgle of the suction tube. At last Ollie stirred and squinted through pain-glazed eyes at the three men standing beside his bed. “Gersh. I didn’t—couldn’t—” He stopped, exhausted by the effort just to talk.

“Easy, Ollie,” said Milo. “Take it slow.”

“Tried to stop him. Had a gun…” Ollie paused, gathering the strength to continue.

Victor listened fearfully for the next terrible words to come out. He was still in a state of disbelief, still hoping that what Milo had told him was one giant mistake, that Cathy was, at this very moment, on a bus somewhere to safety. Only two hours ago he’d been ready to board a plane for New Haven. Then he’d been handed a message at the United gate. It was addressed to passenger Sam Polowski, the name on his ticket. It had consisted of only three words:
Call Milo immediately.

Passenger “Sam Polowski” never did board the plane.

Two hours,
he thought in anguish. What have they done to her in those two long hours?

“This man—what did he look like?” asked Polowski.

“Didn’t see him very well. Dark hair. Face sort of…thin.”

“Tall? Short?”

“Tall.”

“He drove off in your car?”

Ollie nodded.

“What about Cathy?” Victor blurted out, his control shattered. “He—didn’t hurt her? She’s all right?”

There was a pause that, to Victor, seemed like an eternity in hell. Ollie’s gaze settled mournfully on Victor. “I don’t know.”

It was the best Victor could hope for.
I don’t know.
It left open the possibility that she was still alive.

Suddenly agitated, he began to pace the floor. “I know what he wants,” he said. “I know what I have to give him—”

“You can’t be serious,” said Polowski. “That’s our evidence! You can’t just hand it over—”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“You don’t even know how to contact him!”

“He’ll contact
me.
” He spun around and looked at Milo. “He must’ve been watching your house all this time. Waiting for one of us to turn up. That’s where he’ll call.”

“If he calls,” said Polowski.

“He will.” Victor touched his jacket pocket, where the two vials from Viratek still rested. “I have what he wants. He has what I want. I think we’re both ready to make a trade.”

The sun, glaring and relentless, was shining in her eyes. She tried to escape it, tried to close her lids tighter, to stop those rays from piercing through to her brain, but the light followed her.

“Wake up.
Wake up!
”

Icy water slapped her face. Cathy gasped awake, coughing, rivulets of water trickling from her hair. She struggled to make out the face hovering above her. At first all she saw was a dark oval against the blinding circle of light. Then the man moved away and she saw eyes like black agate, a slash of a mouth. A scream formed in her throat, to be instantly frozen by the cold barrel of a gun against her cheek.

“Not a sound,” he said. “Got that?”

In silent terror she nodded.

“Good.” The gun slid away from her cheek and was tucked under his jacket. “Sit up.”

She obeyed. Instantly the room began to spin. She sat clutching her aching head, the fear temporarily overshadowed by waves of pain and nausea. The spell lasted for only a few moments. Then, as the nausea faded, she became aware of a second man in the room, a large, broad-shouldered man she’d never before seen. He sat off in a corner, saying nothing, but watching her every move. The room itself was small and windowless. She couldn’t tell if it was day or night. The only furniture was a chair, a card table and the cot she was sitting on. The floor was a bare slab of concrete.
We’re in a basement,
she thought. She heard no other sounds, either outside or in the building. Were they still in Palo Alto? Or were they a hundred miles away?

The man in the chair crossed his arms and smiled. Under
different circumstances, she might have considered that smile a charming one. Now it struck her as frighteningly inhuman. “She seems awake enough,” he said. “Why don’t you proceed, Mr. Savitch?”

The man called Savitch loomed over her. “Where is he?”

“Who?” she said.

Her answer was met by a ringing slap to her cheek. She sprawled backwards on the cot.

“Try again,” he said, dragging her back up to a sitting position. “Where is Victor Holland?”

“I don’t know.”

“You were with him.”

“We—we split up.”

“Why?”

She touched her mouth. The sight of blood on her fingers shocked her temporarily into silence.

“Why?”

“He—” She bowed her head. Softly she said, “He didn’t want me around.”

Savitch let out a snort. “Got tired of you pretty quick, did he?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I guess he did.”

“I don’t know why.”

She shuddered as the man ran his finger down her cheek, her throat. He stopped at the top button of her blouse.
No,
she thought.
Not that.

To her relief, the man in the chair suddenly cut in. “This is getting us nowhere.”

Savitch turned to the other man. “You have another suggestion, Mr. Tyrone?”

“Yes. Let’s try using her in a different way.” Fearfully
Cathy watched as Tyrone moved to the card table and opened a satchel. “Since we can’t go to him,” he said, “we’ll have Holland come to us.” He turned and smiled at her. “With your help, of course.”

She stared at the cellular telephone he was holding. “I told you. I don’t know where he is.”

“I’m sure one of his friends will track him down.”

“He’s not stupid. He wouldn’t come for me—”

“You’re right. He’s not stupid.” Tyrone began to punch in a phone number. “But he’s a man of conscience. And that’s a flaw that’s every bit as fatal.” He paused, then said into the telephone, “Hello? Mr. Milo Lum? I want you to pass this message to Victor Holland for me. Tell him I have something of his. Something that won’t be around much longer…”

“It’s him!” hissed Milo. “He wants to make a deal.”

Victor shot to his feet. “Let me talk to him—”

“Wait!” Polowski grabbed his arm. “We have to take this slow. Think about what we’re—”

Victor pulled his arm free and snatched the receiver from Milo. “This is Holland,” he barked into the phone. “Where is she?”

The voice on the other end paused, a silence designed to emphasize just who held the upper hand. “She’s with me. She’s alive.”

“How do I know that?”

“You’ll have to take my word for it.”

“Word, hell! I want proof!”

Again there was a silence. Then, through the crackle of the line, came another voice, so tremulous, so afraid, it almost broke his heart. “Victor, it’s me.”

“Cathy?” He almost shouted with relief. “Cathy, are you all right?”

“I’m…fine.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know—I think—” She stopped. The silence was agonizing. “I can’t be sure.”

“He hasn’t hurt you?”

A pause. “No.”

She’s not telling me the truth,
he thought.
He’s done something to her…

“Cathy, I promise. You’ll be all right. I swear to you I’ll—”

“Let’s talk business.” The man was back on the line.

Victor gripped the receiver in fury. “If you hurt her, if you just touch her, I swear I’ll—”

“You’re hardly in a position to bargain.”

Victor felt a hand grasp his arm. He turned and met Polowski’s gaze.
Keep your head
was the message he saw.
Go along with him. Make a bargain. It’s the only way to buy time.

Nodding, Victor fought to regain control. When he spoke again, his voice was calm. “Okay. You want the vials, they’re yours.”

“Not good enough.”

“Then I’ll throw myself into the bargain. A trade. Is that acceptable?”

“Acceptable. You and the vials in exchange for her life.”

An anguished cry of
“No!”
pierced the dialogue. It was Cathy, somewhere in the background, shouting, “Don’t, Victor! They’re going to—”

Through the receiver, Victor heard the thud of a blow,
followed by soft moans of pain. All his control shattered. He was screaming now, cursing, begging, anything to make the man stop hurting her. The words ran together, making no sense. He couldn’t see straight, couldn’t think straight.

Again, Polowski took his arm, gave it a shake. Victor, breathing hard, stared at him through a gaze blurred by tears. Polowski’s eyes advised:
Make the deal. Go on.

Victor swallowed and closed his eyes.
Give me strength,
he thought. He managed to ask, “When do we make the exchange?”

“Tonight. At 2:00 a.m.”

“Where?”

“East Palo Alto. The old Saracen Theater.”

“But it’s closed. It’s been closed for—”

“It’ll be open. Just you, Holland. I spot anyone else and the first bullet has her name on it. Clear?”

“I want a guarantee! I want to know she’ll be—”

He was answered by silence. And then, seconds later, he heard a dial tone.

Slowly he hung up.

“Well? What’s the deal?” demanded Polowski.

“At 2:00 a.m. Saracen Theater.”

“Half an hour. That barely gives us time to set up a—”

“I’m going alone.”

Milo and Polowski stared at him. “Like hell,” said Polowski.

Victor grabbed his jacket from out of the closet. He gave the pocket a quick pat; the cigarette case was right where he’d left it. He turned and reached for the door.

“But, Gersh!” said Milo. “He’s gonna kill you!”

Victor paused in the doorway. “Probably,” he said softly. “But it’s Cathy’s only chance. And it’s a chance I have to take.”

“He won’t come,” said Cathy.

“Shut up,” Matt Tyrone snapped and shoved her forward.

As they moved down the glass-strewn alley behind the Saracen Theater, Cathy frantically searched her mind for some way to sabotage this fatal meeting. It
would
be fatal, not just for Victor, but for her, as well. The two men now escorting her through the darkness had no intention of letting her live. The best she could hope for was that Victor would survive. She had to do what she could to better his chances.

“He’s already got his evidence,” she said. “You think he’d give that up just for me?”

Tyrone glanced at Savitch. “What if she’s right?”

“Holland’s coming,” said Savitch. “I know how he thinks. He’s not going to leave the little woman behind.” Savitch gave Cathy’s cheek a deceptively gentle caress. “Not when he knows exactly what we’ll do to her.”

Cathy flinched away, repelled by his touch.
What if he really doesn’t come?
she thought.
What if he does the sensible thing and leaves me to die?

She wouldn’t blame him.

Tyrone gave her a push up the steps and into the building. “Inside. Move.”

“I can’t see,” she protested, feeling her way along a pitch-black passage. She stumbled over boxes, brushed past what felt like heavy drapes. “It’s too dark—”

“Then let there be light,” said a new voice.

The lights suddenly sprang on, so bright she was temporarily blinded. She raised her hand to shield her eyes. Through the glare she could make out a third man, looming before her. Beyond him, the floor seemed to drop away into a vast blackness.

They were standing on a theater stage. It was obvious no performer had trod these boards in years. Ragged curtains hung like cobwebs from the rafters. Panels of an old set, the ivy-hung battlements of a medieval castle, still leaned at a crazy tilt against the back wall, framed by a pair of mops.

Tyrone said, “Any problems, Dafoe?”

“None,” said the new man. “I’ve reconned the building. One door at the front, one backstage. The emergency side doors are padlocked. If we block both exits, he’s trapped.”

“I see the FBI deserves its fine reputation.”

Dafoe grinned and dipped his head. “I knew the Cowboy would want the very best.”

“Okay, Ms. Weaver.” Tyrone shoved Cathy forward, toward a chair placed directly under the spotlight. “Let’s put you right where he can see you. Center stage.”