Resnick found Wiseman alone in his room. The old man’s head was bandaged, a thick brace around his neck. He stared glassy-eyed at the detective until a glimmer of recognition showed.
“You’re the police officer who shops in our store,” he said slowly, evenly, his voice a hoarse whisper. “I remember you. My wife told me how you helped today. Thank you.”
“I thought I’d see your wife here.”
“Why do I need her here weeping?” he asked. “I sent her back to the store. Let her weep there.”
“I read the statement you gave the other officer.”
“I tripped,” he said stubbornly.
“We both know that’s not true, Mr. Wiseman.”
He shrugged as much as his neck brace would allow. “Old men trip sometimes.”
“It’s not right what Viktor Petrenko did to you. It’s not right what he has been doing to hundreds of other people like you. I need someone to talk to me so I can send that piece of garbage to prison.”
“If it were just me…” The old man’s voice broke off and his lips started to quiver. He looked away. When he could talk, he said, “My wife, Anna, we’ve been married fifty-two years. No, I am sorry, all I can say is that I tripped.”
Resnick laid a card with his contact information on the night stand next to the bed. “If you have a change of heart and are willing to tell me what happened, call me.”
The old man looked back at Resnick, his half-closed eyes holding steady on the detective. “Would you be able to protect my Anna?”
Resnick couldn’t answer him.
“That’s what I thought,” Wiseman said, letting his eyes close. “All I can tell you is that I tripped. Excuse me, please, I am very tired.”
Resnick stood watching the old man as he tried to think of something more to say. Eventually he gave up.
10
After leaving Gordon, Dan stopped off at Shrini’s apartment hoping to catch him at home and got lucky when Shrini buzzed him in.
“Hey, dude,” Shrini said, greeting him at the door. “I’m surprised to see you. I thought you were going to call.”
Dan closed the door behind him and told Shrini to get out the bottle of tequila that he knew his friend was keeping. “We’re celebrating, man. The two of us are going to be bank robbers. The next Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid.”
“All right, dude!” Shrini clapped. “Although I hope we have better luck than those two!”
Dan took a seat as Shrini searched for the tequila and a couple of clean glasses. He was amazed at how calm he felt. Almost as if he had had some kind of breakdown at Gordon’s and was now just numb to the whole idea of the robbery. Whatever it was, he was grateful for it.
Shrini had brought out the tequila, along with a lime and some salt. He poured the two of them shots. “So your friend, Joel, is going to be joining us?” Shrini asked.
“That’s right. Gordon’s on board also.” Dan cut a slice of lime, sucked it, and then swallowed down the shot, feeling the warmth explode in his stomach. He poured himself another one. “We do have a change in plan. Joel insisted that a friend of his be included.”
“You must be joking.”
“Sorry, man, I had no choice. This guy is going to be getting us untraceable guns. If I didn’t agree, Joel was out. Which meant the robbery was out.”
“Do you know this person?”
“I met him once years ago. Kind of a shifty individual.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I don’t either, but Joel insisted on it, both for the guns and that he have someone backing him up that he can trust. I can’t blame him.”
“No. This is unacceptable. We could have gotten guns elsewhere. We can’t be adding people that we don’t know. There is too much at stake.”
“I don’t like this either, but this is where we’re at. Look, we’ll all meet tomorrow to go over the plan. You’ll get a chance to meet Joel, we’ll both get a chance to meet his friend. If either of us feel uncomfortable we’ll call it quits.”
Shrini made a face as if he had swallowed something bitter. “This is just not right, dude.”
“I hear you, I really do. But what harm can it do just meeting tomorrow, see how we feel?”
“Okay, we’ll meet. But this truly pisses me off…” Shrini seemed to lose his train of thought as he stared at his friend. “Dude,” he said, grinning sourly. “You’ve got a shiner. What happened, someone punch you out?”
“One of your many girlfriends. She asked if I’d take a message for you and this is what she gave me.”
“Very funny. So what happened?”
“Nothing worth talking about. I’ll pick you up tomorrow a little before ten, then we’ll swing over, pick Gordon up and drive up to New Hampshire.”
“We’re meeting in New Hampshire? Where, at your friend Joel’s house?”
“Yeah, his place is secluded, as good a place as any for us to meet. You okay with that?”
“I guess so.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“What’s the hurry? We still have over three quarters of a bottle left.”
“Sorry, buddy, I’ve some things I need to do, you know, to prepare for next week.”
“I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you. I’m seriously thinking of backing out. Believe me, I’m not happy with your friend trying to take over.”
“Shrini, again, I don’t blame you. But just think it over. Ten minutes, that’s all it’s going to take us. We’ll be in and out of that bank so damn fast. Joel bringing his friend along isn’t going to change that.”
“But we don’t know him. We don’t know if he’ll talk afterwards.”
“You’re right. We don’t know him. But Joel does. And he’s not going to do anything that could fuck himself.”
Dan took another shot of tequila, felt it burn down his throat, then clapped Shrini on the back before leaving. Walking to his car he felt exhausted, bone-weary. He sat behind the wheel and closed his eyes for a few seconds’ rest. When he opened them again it was dark outside and he felt like he had swallowed a handful of sawdust. He had to sit for a minute before his eyes could adjust to the night. According to the clock in his car it was nine twenty-three.
He expected hell from Carol when he arrived home. Or maybe a freezer burn. Instead, he was surprised to see concern in her eyes as she met him at the door. Even more surprising, she showed him a weak smile.
“I was worried about you,” she told him as she took hold of his hand.
“This is embarrassing,” he said. “I stopped off to see Shrini and when I got back to my car I fell asleep. Just plain crashed. I didn’t wake up until ten minutes ago.”
She put her palm up against his forehead, trying to feel if he had a fever. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I think so. I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of months. I guess it all finally caught up with me.” He let out a short laugh. “I’m surprised no one in Shrini’s complex called the police on me. I was out of it for a good seven hours.”
“I have some good news,” Carol said. “You got a call for a possible job.”
Dan’s voice cracked when he tried asking who had called. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time getting his words out.
“I have his name written down. He’s going to try calling tomorrow morning at eight. Why don’t I make you something for dinner? How about some scrambled eggs with ham?”
“Sure.” Dan followed Carol into the kitchen and took a seat at the counter. He found the paper where Carol had written down the guy’s name. Martin Phillips. Dan didn’t know him. “Did he say anything about the job?”
“Only that they’re looking for a software security expert. You’re certainly that.” She wrinkled her nose for a second. “I almost forgot. Joel called around nine. He seemed upset that you weren’t home and said he’s going to try again at ten.”