“No,” Halladay said. “But I enjoyed it.” He laughed, but then the slight hint of compassion returned to his face and voice. “Look, kid, there are thousands of women who look that good on the internet that you can enjoy anytime you want, and they never argue with you.” He paused for a moment. “Well, almost that good. But the point is—”
“Shut up, Frank,” Jon said. “Just shut the fuck up.”
Halladay seemed more impressed than insulted, and his only response was a brief nod.
Jon scanned some articles about Dayfall on his phone for a minute or so, then brought up a new subject.
“Do you think—now that we know the whole chaos thing is fabricated, now that we know there won’t be any mass psychosis or atmospheric poison or whatever—do you think that the storm clearing the sky, and the sun coming out at six… all that might be wrong, too?”
“Naaah,” Halladay said, “that’s been said by a lot more than two experts, and people all over.”
“Yeah, seems to be the case.”
Jon texted Amira, asking her to give him her best guesses for the underground structures that the killers might be operating from. He knew that even a confession by the NYU professors about Render’s bribe might not be enough for the Mayor to discredit him before the referendum vote—they would really need to find one or more of the mercenaries and get them to talk. And arresting them tonight would keep them from any additional murders they were presumably planning to commit when the daylight arrived. So sooner or later, they would probably have to brave the underground, where their opponents had some serious home field advantage.
As if on cue, Amira texted him back and included a link to her version of the underground map, designed for him and Halladay to use on their phones if they needed to. He opened it and checked out the area around One Madison, where they were now arriving, and he wasn’t surprised to see that GS had constructed access points and passageways underneath both the newer skyscraper where Gareth Render lived and the older one nearby, where he worked, in the Met Life North Tower. He could move back and forth between the buildings without ever coming to the surface and worrying about being gawked at or stopped on the street by curious citizens.
Jon also noticed that there was a Below built under One Madison and another about a block away, and wondered if the killers might be using either of them. But he didn’t have more time to think about it, because they arrived at One Madison and parked two floors down in the garage next door. Before Jon exited the underground map on his phone, he noticed that the access point to the passageways was between the garage and the basement of the tower, and not far from where they’d left their car. He was tempted to use the GS key he had in his pocket to see if he could get to Render’s condo with it by entering the building that way, and confront the man, but he didn’t want to tip his hand that much yet, considering the lack of evidence they had at this point. So they went into the lobby, flashed their badges, and talked tough to the attendant at the main desk, to find out where in the building Gunther and Carter were living.
They found out that the two scholars shared the condo on the twelfth floor (listed under two barely disguised names), that the attendant had seen Gunther leave the lobby recently, and that he thought Carter was still in. So they called her from the desk and she somewhat reluctantly agreed to let them come up. Jon wondered if she knew she could have refused them and forced them to get a warrant, but either way he was relieved when she didn’t.
The twelfth floor was nothing compared to the penthouse at the top where Render lived, but it was still very nice, and definitely not something two NYU professors could ever afford on their own. Carter looked nervous as the cops entered, and Halladay immediately gave himself a tour of all the rooms, while Jon stayed with her and tried to greet her nicely and keep her as calm as possible.
“Going somewhere?” the big cop said as he returned to the living room from his tour. “Looks like you just started packing a suitcase in your bedroom.” He looked at Jon, who was the primary intended recipient of his comments. “But there’s nothing like that in your boyfriend’s room. Or maybe he’s not your boyfriend, since you’re not sharing a bedroom.”
“He’s my roommate,” she said. “Kind of a marriage of convenience.” This was another sign of her nervousness—offering more information than was necessary.
“I guess it makes sense,” Jon said, “that Render wouldn’t give you both a floor in this building. Even what you’re doing for him doesn’t rate that much cash value.”
“I…” Carter started, trying to act ignorant.
“We know he’s paying you and Gunther to fabricate, or exaggerate, the effects of Dayfall, and that he’s paying you with this place.”
“And we already talked to Gunther,” Halladay lied. “He confessed everything, so you might as well spill.”
“But…,” Carter stammered, trying to get her bearings, “he just went out for some food. How did you—?”
“We know you told Mayor King’s daughter,” Jon interrupted, playing good cop. “And how you’ve had conscience issues with hurting her mom like this. But that’s all over now…. You can just give us a brief testimony and we’ll handle the whole thing, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” Now it was Jon’s turn to shade the truth. “We can even keep it all under wraps so you can hold on to your jobs at NYU. The Mayor can use the evidence to get Render to drop out of the referendum vote, and no one would have to know about your involvement. I just need permission to film what you say.”
Jon actually pulled the phone out to provide some more power of suggestion.
“It’s not my job I’m worried about at this point, but my safety,” Carter said, “if the Gotham people find out I ratted on Render.” She seemed resolved now to being open with the two detectives, but not with anyone else yet. “I’ve thought this through pretty well, because I almost blew the whistle a few times. ’Cause I do feel bad about it.” She paused, making a final decision. “I’d have to be able to leave the city first, before I make a statement. Same for Gunther—he would have to go with me, too. I don’t want him to be in danger.”
“We could think about that,” Jon said, sensing Halladay shift uncomfortably next to him. “But let’s talk about what your testimony would be. Did Gar Render himself bribe you, or was it just a lieutenant?”
“No, it was him,” she answered. “He invited both of us here to this condo, showed it to us, and made the proposal while we were here. There was one other man with him, though, a skinny guy….”
“Nelson Gant?” Jon said. “His assistant?”
“Yes, that was him. He seemed uncomfortable the whole time.”
“Like he didn’t want Render to bribe you?”
“Yeah, I guess. He definitely didn’t seem to like the idea.”
“Hmph,” Jon grunted, glancing at Halladay and mulling another idea for bringing down the Gotham Security boss.
23
“Look,” Halladay said, moving closer to Carter in a threatening manner, “You might as well make your statement now. We have Gunther’s already, and if you don’t talk there’s no deal for you…. It’ll all be pinned on you if we prosecute.”
“But if you have Gunther’s and you’re not arresting me,” she responded, “then you’re not planning to do it. Just let us leave the city first, and then I’ll make a statement.”
“What makes you think Render can’t reach you outside the city?” Halladay asked.
“I don’t think he has that much reach, and before he finds out he’ll be in the process of being taken down by this stuff, right?”
“Would you reconsider doing it now?” Jon asked, waving Halladay off. “If we promise to keep your part quiet?”