"Whereabouts?"
Hood gave her the address.
"Nick and the others are in a hotel three blocks from there. I can send them to check it out."
"The FBI might not appreciate that."
"I don't care what the FBI appreciates," Elizabeth said. "We can get there quicker than they can. Time is a factor here."
"Go ahead and send them," Hood said. "I'll pass the word."
"I'll call you as soon as I know what they know," Elizabeth said. "I'll call them now."
She disconnected and called Nick.
"Yeah, Director."
"Where are you?"
"In the hotel, about to eat lunch."
"We know where the sign for the van was ordered," Elizabeth said. "It's a store about three blocks from where you are now. I want you to go there and talk to whoever took the order. Do it now."
"On my way," Nick said. He hung up.
The waiter set the plates with food down on the table. Nick stood and looked at the others.
"That was Harker. Let's go."
"What about the food?" Lamont asked.
"We'll eat later."
Nick took four twenties out of his wallet and tossed them on the table.
"That ought to cover it."
"For burgers and coffee?" Lamont said.
"It's New York."
Lamont picked up his burger and followed Nick and the others out of the hotel.
It only took a few minutes to walk to the store where the sign had been ordered. It was a narrow shop, crammed between a beauty parlor and a pizza joint. The aisles were loaded with tourist items. Cups with I Love New York printed on them, miniature statues of liberty, key rings with pictures of the Empire State building, stuffed animals, an endless array of souvenirs. They made their way to a counter in the back. A sign listed available services. One was copying keys. Another stated that custom signs could be made to order.
"Must be the right place," Ronnie said.
A sour-faced, dark-haired man about fifty years old stood behind the counter, watching them. Streaks of white showed in his hair. He needed a shave. A smell of stale smoke hung around him like a cloud. He looked nervous as he saw them approaching, his hand under the counter, ready to press an alarm. A name tag on his shirt identified him as Niko.
Nick showed him his gold badge. He only used it in situations like this. It wasn't the kind of thing he took with him into places like Pakistan.
"Are you the owner?" Nick asked.
"Nah, I just work here."
The accent was pure New York. Nick took out the FBI drawings made from Kowalski's description of Dayoud and the others. He laid them on the counter.
"We only want to ask you a few questions," Nick said. "You're not in any trouble. You recognize any of these people?"
Niko looked down at the drawings and back up again. "Nah, I ain't seen anybody like that."
"Look again," Nick said. There was an edge of steel in his voice. "Take your time. Really take your time. Be sure."
Niko looked at Nick, then at Lamont and the scar running across his face. He looked down again at the pictures.
"Maybe," Niko said. "Maybe this one."
He pointed at one of the pictures. Nick waited.
"Yeah, I remember. He ordered a big sign for his truck. A contractor sign. I sell a lot of those, but usually not that big. That's why I remember it."
Nick said, "Do you have an order slip for him?"
"Maybe, I don't know. If I do, it's in the back."
"You want to get it for me?"
Niko looked at the store. "I gotta keep an eye on things. Sometimes people try to steal stuff."
Selena smiled at him. "We'll watch the store for you. It would be a big help if you could find that slip."
"Yeah, okay, just be sure you look out for people grabbing stuff from that front rack, where the earrings and stuff are hanging."
"No problem," Lamont said. "Ronnie, come on up front with me."
"You don't have to worry," Selena said. "Nobody's going to mess with those two."
"The sooner you find that slip, the sooner we're out of here," Nick said.
"Yeah, yeah, okay."
A beaded curtain hung over a door behind the counter. Niko went through and disappeared into the back. Nick watched the strings of beads swaying after he was gone.
"You charmed him," Nick said.
"Better than scaring him, like you and Lamont," Selena said.
"Hope he finds that slip."
Ronnie and Lamont stood at the front of the store.
"I'm going next door for some pizza," Lamont said. "You want a slice?"
"Make sure it's got pepperoni," Ronnie said.
Lamont disappeared. Ronnie stood guard by the earrings.
Back at the counter, Nick and Selena waited. A minute later the beads parted. Niko came out with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Here ya go."
He handed the paper to Nick. It listed the size of the sign, what was to be written on it, and the cost. It had a phone number and an address. Nick recognized the number of the burner phone.
"You always get an address?" Nick asked.
"Yeah. The guy used a credit card. I ask for a photo ID. That was the address that was on it. The phone number was so I could let him know when the sign was ready."
Nick copied the information.
"Was anybody with him when he came in?"
"Nope, just him."
"Thanks," Nick said. "You've been a big help."
"Whatever," Niko said. "What did this guy do?"
"Let's just say he's a lousy contractor," Nick said.
"Nobody wants to do an honest day's work no more," Niko said.
Nick and Selena walked to the front, where Ronnie was standing guard.
"Where's Lamont?" Nick asked.
"He went next door for some pizza. Here he comes."
"Anybody want a slice?" Lamont said.
"You ever stop thinking about food?" Nick asked.
"I figured we had time. It was right next door. Besides, I like New York pizza. This is the only place you can get the real thing."
Nick stepped out and hailed a cab.
CHAPTER 51
The cab dropped them off across the street from the address on the order slip. They were in the heart of the Lower East Side. The building was a red brick tenement that had been built sometime around the end of the nineteenth century. A rusty fire escape climbed up one side of the building. The bricks were dark with years of city grime. A sign in a front window advertised an apartment for rent.
"You think these guys might actually be in there?" Ronnie asked.
"It's worth a shot," Nick said.
"Why would they use a real ID?" Lamont asked.
"They wouldn't," Nick said. "But this whole thing smells like a long-term government op. They had to have good IDs to rent a van. The woman at the museum was in place for months. Maybe an apartment was provided for them. Someone could have made up ID's to go with it."
"If they did, it was a pretty stupid mistake," Ronnie said.
"Iran is like everywhere else. Their intelligence agency is a huge bureaucracy. Anything's possible in a bureaucracy. I've seen Langley make dumb mistakes in the field. Why should Iran be any different?"
"How do you want to play it?" Ronnie said.
"We don't know what apartment they're in. We'll find the manager."
"If this dump has one," Ronnie said.
"There has to be someone to keep everything working."
They climbed a set of concrete steps to the entrance. The outside door opened into an entry foyer with brass mailboxes and doorbells. The floor of the entry was made of small black and white tiles in a check pattern. The foyer smelled faintly of urine.
Nick tried a second door leading into the building. It was locked.
"There's a bell marked manager," Selena said.
Nick pressed it. Next to the bells was a brass plate with a speaker grill. A voice crackled from the unit.