‘I don’t know. How much time do we have?’
King stood. Darby let go of her belt as he came around the table. He stepped behind her and gripped the back of the chair.
60
Darby clamped down hard on her panic.
The pain, she told herself. Whatever happens, the pain can be managed and I can manage the pain, I CAN MAN–
King spun her around to a long, wide corridor of empty bays in various states of decay – an abandoned automotive garage, judging by the looks of it. King pushed her across the bumpy concrete floor. Some windows were boarded up. At the far end, to the left, she could make out what looked like a door. No one else was in here.
The chair stopped moving. She heard a door open behind her. King grabbed the back of her chair again and shoved her into another semi-dark room with a single window. The noisy wheels squeaked as they rolled across the floor. Darker in here but just as hot.
Her knees slammed against a wall. Her head rattled, the pain screaming again, and for a moment she thought her skull would explode from the sheer force of it.
King turned her around to face an empty wooden chair. It sat in the corner, covered by shadows. King took the chair – no, not King. Artie Pine.
‘Talk some sense into her, Artie,’ King said as he walked away, ‘or we’ll do it my way.’
Pine sat, the chair groaning beneath his enormous bulk. He had changed his clothes since she’d seen him at the hospital this morning. She couldn’t see his face – too many shadows – but she caught the slight rise in his chest, heard the quiet wheeze coming from his mouth.
A door slammed shut somewhere outside the room. The door is at the end of the corridor, she thought, wondering if that was the only way in and out of the bay.
Safe from Pine’s gaze, she gripped the belt again and started pulling.
‘For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry,’ Pine said in a quiet voice. ‘I didn’t want it to go down like this.’
She didn’t speak. Let him think I’m disoriented.
‘Who’s… that?’
‘It’s Artie.’
Darby licked her lips, giving the belt another hard tug. It caught on another trouser loop.
‘Artie, what… What are you doing here?’
‘You heard King. I’m trying to talk some sense into you.’ His voice was soft and kind. ‘Darby, these guys have invested a lot of time and energy into finding these tapes. If you don’t tell me where they are, then King is going to have a run at you. Trust me, you don’t want that.’
‘Are you on these tapes? Is that why you’re working with them?’
‘This isn’t one of those shitty Bond movies where I reveal all the secrets before you die.’
The buckle finally slid underneath the trouser loop. One more to go.
‘Tell me where Kendra’s hiding the tapes,’ he said, ‘or I’ll have to bring King back.’
‘Did you pull the trigger, Artie? Or did you set my father up? Which is it?’
Pine cleared his throat. ‘What did Ezekiel tell you?’
Buy some time.
‘He told me that Kendra found out about the FBI, how they set up a Federal agent as the head of the Irish mafia – Ben Masters. Is it true?’
He sighed. ‘We don’t have time for this.’
‘It’s a simple yes or no question.’
‘Yes. Yes, it’s true. The Feds planted one of their own agents as the head of the Irish mafia.’
‘A man who turned out to be a serial killer.’
‘Congrats, you connected all the dots.’
The buckle caught on the last trouser loop.
‘What about the Feds placing witnesses and informants inside witness protection and making them disappear?’
‘They never went inside witness protection,’ he said.
‘They just disappeared.’
‘Yes. Now –’
‘You set up my father, didn’t you?’
Pine didn’t answer.
‘Ezekiel told me my father had someone watching the hotel – someone he trusted,’ she said. ‘I’m assuming that person was you.’
‘I need to know where Kendra kept the tapes and notes. I need that evidence. We can’t afford to have it floating around out there. You can see why they’re anxious to find it.’
‘She didn’t tell Ezekiel where she kept the actual tapes, photos and assorted notes on Frank Sullivan – I mean, Ben Masters.’ The buckle was still caught on the last trouser loop. ‘That’s the God’s honest truth. I’d cross my heart, hope to die and all of that, but my hands are… well, you know.’
Pine stood.
Keep stalling him.
‘I know where the copies are.’ She bucked against the restraints, giving the belt another hard tug. Her head didn’t like the movements; bile shot up her throat. She kept tugging… tugging… there.
‘I’m listening,’ he said.
‘Give me a moment, my head… it’s hard to concentrate.’ She stretched her fingers, the rope biting into her wrists. She felt the belt buckle. ‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
Pine leaned sideways against the windowsill, his arms crossed over his chest. She grabbed the belt buckle and pulled the blade from its sheath.
‘I don’t know where she kept the actual tapes and files, but I know she carried copies.’ Darby drew out the words, trying to buy herself some time. ‘She kept copies of everything on a USB drive. Scanned documents. Audio files and pictures. I don’t know where the originals are.’
‘Did you see them? These scanned documents?’
‘I did. We’re talking dozens and dozens of items.’
The handle gripped between her fingers, she moved the blade around and started sawing through the rope binding her wrists.
‘What was on them?’ Pine asked, growing impatient.
‘You promise you’ll make it quick? I don’t think I can stand any more pain.’
Pine sat back in his chair and wheeled closer, his jowls jiggling. She could smell the cigar smoke as he placed his hands on her knees. ‘You have my word.’
‘You’ve got to answer some questions for me first. I think I deserve that.’
He sighed. ‘Make it quick.’
Darby felt the tension in a piece of rope snap in half. ‘How did they find Kendra?’
‘Wexler – Dr Wexler, the owner of the house. He called me, said Kendra had phoned him to ask if she could stay at his house for a couple of days.’
‘Why did Wexler call you?’
‘We… worked together. He performed certain emergency medical services for us when he lived in Charlestown. You can’t go to a hospital with a bullet or knife wound.’
‘How does Kendra know him?’
‘Wexler was her doctor in Charlestown. She kept seeing him when he moved to Belham.’
‘She just phoned him out of the blue?’
‘Yes. It was a stroke of luck.’
For you, Darby thought, working the blade and also wondering just how many people this group of Feds had on their payroll.
Coop’s words came back to her: These guys are slick. They never go to jail. They always have inside help.
‘Kendra couldn’t stay at a hotel,’ Pine said. ‘You can’t pay cash any more, you need a credit card. Kendra needed a place to stay for a few days, and she didn’t want to stay anywhere near Charlestown, so she decided to take a chance, tracked down Wexler and called him. He offered her the use of his house.’
‘And then took a sudden vacation so you could call your friends and set her up.’
‘Now it’s your turn.’
His phone rang. He answered it but didn’t talk.
She wiggled her right hand out from the rope, felt it slip across her fingers and drop to the floor. Shit. It’s dark in here so just hope Pine doesn’t see it. She went to work on her left hand, sawing quickly, the blade cutting and nicking the skin along her wrist, palm and fingers.