“Next time we meet at the zoo,” she said, fighting off shivers, “in the nice, balmy rain forest. Let’s make this quick.”
“Fine by me. Which they were you talking about in your message? And what exactly do ‘they know’?”
“BOS Corporate Security. They know you haven’t always been Patrick Lloyd.”
I froze. That was my biggest fear since I’d agreed to this assignment.
It wasn’t a job I had gone looking for. Eight months earlier, Henning had contacted me on the premise that an inside view of BOS/Singapore could uncover millions-perhaps billions-for the victims of Cushman’s Ponzi scheme. That was a serious upside. The downside was obvious. Get fired. Get blacklisted in the industry. But there were even bigger risks.
“How do you know they’re onto me?”
“The assistant director of BOS security called one of our field agents in New York. They have some kind of relationship that goes back a few years. Our agent didn’t give up anything, but he was able to string out the conversation long enough to figure out that BOS is determined to find out who Patrick Lloyd really is.”
My head rolled back, and the winter sky suddenly seemed even darker. “Shit,” was all I could say. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Stick to our agreement.”
“Meaning what?”
“So long as BOS hasn’t fired you, I want you to stay put.”
“What happens when I’m called up to the executive suite to answer questions like ‘Who is Patrick Lloyd’?”
“You can’t tell them about me; you can’t tell them why you went to Singapore; you can’t tell them anything about our agreement.”
“So that’s your position-I’m on my own?”
“We have too many positives working for us to bail out now. We know that Lilly is in New York. She followed you from Singapore, just as I predicted she would. It shows that she’s desperate, and that she trusts you. Expect her to make contact with you anytime now.”
“She already has.”
“Good. How did that go?”
I hesitated a little too long.
Andie groaned. “Don’t tell me…”
“She spent the night.”
“Men are so weak.”
“Yes, but I’m all you’ve got. And even though we don’t see eye to eye on Lilly, I do have something useful to pass along to you.”
“Talk to me.”
I tugged at the collar of my sweater to reveal the powder burn on my neck.
“What is that?” she asked.
I wasn’t convinced of her ignorance, but I indulged her for a moment, telling her about the SUV in Times Square and the threats that had come with powder burns.
“You should have told me about this immediately.”
“I got a little distracted. That’s right when Lilly showed up.”
“That’s no excuse. Forensics could have gathered gunpowder, other trace evidence. You’ve washed it all away.”
“Yes, I’m doing fine, thank you. Very kind of you to ask.”
“Sorry. What happened to you was unnerving, I’m sure.”
“Lilly got the same threats in Singapore. And more.”
“ ‘More’ in what way?”
I essentially parroted Lilly’s description of the Treasury Department memo that the same thug had shoved in front of her face to refute her professed ignorance about Cushman. “Apparently someone inside Treasury has determined that the most promising lead on the location of the proceeds from the Cushman fraud is Lilly’s connection to Gerry Collins.”
“Who in Treasury?”
“I don’t have a name. Surely the memo isn’t news to you.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
I had expected the leak to surprise her; I had not expected any show of surprise as to the memo’s existence. “I find that hard to believe,” I said.
“Why would I lie?”
It was a question with many answers, but this wasn’t the first time I’d heard her complain about the lack of interagency cooperation. Still, I wasn’t sure I believed her.
“Let’s talk logistics for a minute,” I said. “Lilly and I have gotten death threats, and now the bank has its eye on me. This changes the game.”
“You’re in the business of making deals, Patrick. Changes in the game don’t change the deal.”
“Deals are rewritten all the time.”
“I’m not particularly motivated to rewrite this one.”
That was a fair point, but I didn’t belong on Wall Street if I couldn’t find some incentive. Fortunately, I had a few cards to play.
“I went to Central Prison this morning,” I said.
She glanced my way and folded her arms tightly. It was getting colder by the minute, and so was her tone. “That is a complete violation of our agreement. Tony Martin is off limits.”
“Technically, you’re right. But as of yesterday I got tired of playing by your rules.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to hop on an airplane and visit Tony Martin in violation of our agreement. Unless you have my direct authorization, anytime you contact anyone who had anything to do with Abe Cushman and Gerry Collins, you compromise the assignment. For obvious reasons, Tony Martin is absolutely out of bounds.”
I ignored the reprimand. “The warden told me that he passed away last night. My money says he’s still alive.”
“I can’t discuss that, Patrick.”
“You relocated him for protection, didn’t you? Created a phony death certificate for Tony Martin, may he rest in peace, and gave him another name?”
“Like I said: I can’t discuss it.”
“We need to talk about it,” I said. “I went to Raleigh because I’m more convinced than ever that the wrong man is sitting in jail for the murder of Gerry Collins.”
“Who put that idea in your head? Lilly?”
“I have a right to know the truth.”
“Your job is to investigate Lilly Scanlon. So far, she has managed to take you completely off your assignment, first by sleeping with you, and now by putting ideas in your head that the wrong man is sitting in jail.”
“What you just said is so inaccurate that you should have Tweeted it. My decision to go to Raleigh was my own.”
Her legs were shaking up and down-anything to stay warm-and watching her was enough to make me shiver.
“Okay,” she said, “I can’t discuss this with you, so we’re not discussing it. But if Tony Martin was innocent, then why did he plead guilty?”
“False confessions are more common than you folks in law enforcement like to admit.”
“Sure, it happens,” said Andie, “but in every case of false confession that I’m aware of, the prisoner later recanted his confession. Tony has never recanted his. In fact, if you were to ask him today, he’d tell you he killed Gerry Collins. Why do you suppose that is, Patrick?”
“I don’t know. But if you’re not willing to help me find out, maybe Lilly will.”
“Stop thinking of her as your ally. And stop playing homicide detective. Your theory makes no sense anyway. He pleaded guilty to murder and accepted a life sentence. How is that better than having it exposed that his name is really Tony Mandretti?”
“Being Tony Mandretti is a ticket to a slow, painful death. Especially when you have cancer and don’t have the energy to run. Spending the rest of your life in prison as Tony Martin and getting decent health care in your dying days is much preferable.”
“Tony Martin killed Gerry Collins. He lost his entire life savings in the Cushman fraud. His fingerprints were found in Gerry Collins’ car. He confessed to the crime. That’s why he copped a plea.”
“If the killer had simply pumped a bullet into the back of Collins’ head, your basic mob-style execution, maybe I’d be less skeptical. But Gerry Collins was murdered in a pretty unusual way, wouldn’t you say? Wire saw. Cuts through flesh and bone like they’re cardboard.”