“Just how connected is Covert-One? What you’re able to accomplish is astonishing.”
“Do you need anything else?” Klein neatly dodged the question.
“To find Smith. Do you know where he is?”
“He’s gone dark. I have little doubt that he is alive, however. A recent police transmission indicated that they had discovered one man dead in a building near the High Line. It wasn’t Smith.”
Russell didn’t bother to ask why Klein was focusing on one dead person in one particular building in New York City. She assumed that he had his reasons.
“And Nolan?”
“Presumably with Smith.”
“And not dead.”
“Not yet.”
“That’s ominous.”
“She’s at most risk. A civilian with the bad judgment to have stolen from Dattar. Her continued existence is not assured.”
Russell started coughing. She knew that once she started, it would be almost impossible to stop. She gagged and choked while Klein listened on the other end of the phone.
“Are you all right?” Klein said.
“I think whatever is in those coolers was used on me.”
“How contagious is it?”
“Apparently no one’s entirely sure. It doesn’t seem to be easily transmitted between people, but they don’t know how it’s contracted. I need a place to rest and I want to speak to a scientist named Ohnara again. He said he’d be here, in New York, for a conference. In Midtown. Which reminds me, I need one more thing. Ohnara’s a colleague of Smith’s who checked into a suspicious swab on my refrigerator. I think he needs to run further tests.”
“I presume they will be costly?”
“Perhaps. The paperwork I’ll need to fill out at the CIA would take several days and possibly tip off our mole. I was hoping you could speed things through for me. I guess I don’t need to say that I have a vested interest in this. I’m told my chances of beating this thing aren’t great.”
“I’ll authorize it as quickly as possible. Are you armed?”
“I have some CIA-issued weapons,” Russell said. “Why?”
“Something tells me you’re going to need them.”
34
Dattar stepped onto a Gulfstream jet bound for New York’s JFK and settled in the first seat. Flush with Amir’s cash and supplied with a new passport and identity, he now knew that he would have to oversee the return of his money and the release of the weapon himself. Depending on intermediaries never worked. He felt the plane begin to bump along the runway and the video about flight security began to play. His in-flight phone rang.
“You lied to me,” Khalil said.
Dattar sat up. “What are you talking about?”
“You have no money. The woman took it all.”
Dattar’s mind raced. “You’re wrong. I have money. Other money. You think she got it all? She did not.”
“Then pay me. Now. And the fee just went up because of your lies. I want double.”
“Absolutely not. You haven’t accomplished anything that I hired you to do. Smith is alive and I presume Howell is as well.”
“You either pay me double, or I’ll have her transfer it all to me.”
Dattar’s rage exploded and he stood.
“That money is mine!”
“Double. Now.”
Dattar began to pace. Rajiid watched him from a neighboring seat and Dattar thought he saw something close to derision in his eyes. All these problems were chipping away at Rajiid’s respect. Dattar took a deep breath to calm himself. He needed to appear as though he was in control, and pacing and screaming would not do.
“Is she in your control?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“Not until you pay me.”
What a lying bastard, Dattar thought. He didn’t have her.
“I don’t pay you until you prove you have her. Put her next to you and call me from the computer. Turn on the webcam. When I see her, I’ll transfer half the money.”
“I do nothing until the money is transferred.”
“It seems that we’re at an impasse.”
Khalil hung up.
Dattar sat back down. He needed to move quickly. If Khalil had discovered Dattar’s secret, others might have as well. He stared out the window. The airplane couldn’t move fast enough.
Smith woke when a bar of sunlight shot through the white wooden shutters on the bedroom window. Nolan slept next to him on her side. He slid off the bed and padded into the bathroom. A quick look in the mirror gave him some hope. The haggard look he’d been sporting had eased a bit, though the bandages on his arm and the morning beard made him appear disreputable. He noticed that the gauze was stained a reddish brown color from dried blood, so at least he wasn’t actively bleeding anymore. He switched on the shower and stepped under the warm water, relishing it. He wet the gauze in order to be sure that it wouldn’t stick to the wound and then unwound it in the shower. He took care to cleanse the wound gently. When he was finished, he used his teeth to hold one end of a clean piece of gauze while he rewrapped the wound. He tied a decent knot on the field dressing, wrapped a towel around his middle, and headed to the kitchen.
The house was well provisioned with shelf-stable food and drinks. Smith was interested to see that the pantry contained UHT boxed milk, the type normally found in Europe that could be stored indefinitely without refrigeration. It gave Smith a small clue about the nationality of the house’s owner.
He placed a coffee pod in a maker and checked in three cabinets until he found cups. He placed one under the spout and pressed the start button. From upstairs he heard the sound of a bath being drawn. While the coffee cup filled, Smith rooted around in the kitchen drawers, looking for a telephone book in order to find a big box store where he could purchase a prepaid phone. His search turned up nothing. Apparently phone books were too low tech for the house’s owner. He heard footsteps and Nolan walked into the kitchen.
She wore oversized men’s gray sweatpants topped with a large white undershirt, also a man’s. She smiled at him and Smith was glad to see that it was one of her first real smiles, not a half effort. He smiled back. She walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
“Nice outfit,” she said.
“It never occurred to me that there would be clothes available for our use. Those look like they’d fit me a whole lot better than you. Want to switch?”
“Sure. There are some other choices up there, but most look too small for you. First, though, that coffee smells delicious.”
He pulled out a kitchen chair for her. “I’ll make you some. Take a seat.”
She settled into the chair, pulled her feet up and wrapped her arms around her knees. Smith noticed that the position had the advantage of keeping the most injured part of her back from touching the furniture. The coffee cup filled and he placed it in front of her. “Milk or sugar?”
She shook her head and took a sip. She eyed his bandage. “A new dressing? Looks a little rough. Want me to fix it?”
He nodded. “I needed a shower and I didn’t want to wake you.” She began to rise and he waved her back into her seat. “Doesn’t have to be now. Finish your drink.” He opened the pantry door. “This place is well stocked. What kind of person needs a house like this and accepts kilodollars for payment?”
Nolan’s eyes held a knowing look. “People like us.”
Smith held his cup up in a toast. “Touché.” He swallowed the rest of his coffee and placed the cup in the sink. “I’m headed out in search of a prepaid phone.”
She nodded. “I’ll let you wear these clothes. I threw ours in the washing machine and now they’re drying. By the time you get back they’ll be clean. Although that shirt of yours will still have a tear in the sleeve.”