She fixed Captain Barkley with a sniper rifle gaze. And she kept mum. He said reluctantly, “I guess it’ll work.”
“I’ve got the whole set orchestrated.” Gabby dug through her purse. Kepler noticed a roll of yarn, blue and green. He remembered she relaxed by knitting. It seemed strange at first but he wasted time on Angry Birds and Sudoku and, yes, watching golf. She extracted a single sheet of paper and put it on the table in front of them. “This’s the script, day by day, starting this afternoon. Memorize it now. It gets shredded before I leave. There’ll be variations and improvisations but I’ll text you as plans change.”
The three men eased forward and read.
— Dets. Kepler and Surani contact Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon re: Charles Prescott fleeing city.
— Confidential Informant Joseph contacts Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon about kidnapping of daughter (Sarah), extorting Det. McNamara to provide “October List” and $.
— McNamara and Reardon attempt to find October List and $.
— With assistance of Det. Elena Rodriguez, Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon obtain access to Manhattan set location, “Prescott Investments.” Locate October List.
— At said location, Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon are confronted by Dets. Kepler and Surani but manage to smuggle October List out of Prescott Investments. Adds to credibility of its importance. Clues given to Subject Reardon about possible financial scam.
— Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon remain undercover, attempting to find $, while appearing to negotiate with C.I. Joseph, as the “kidnapper.”
— Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon attempt to find money at townhouse of Charles Prescott’s lover, Upper East Side. Intercepted by Dets. Kepler and Surani and Patrol Officer using fictional name Fred Stanford Chapman. Stage shooting of Chapman. Det. McNamara and Subject Reardon flee. Det. McNamara feigns injury in escape.
— If he hasn’t done so already, Subject Reardon will probably contact partners, Andrew and Sam, under guise of helping Det. McNamara secure release of daughter.
— Subject Reardon and either/or Andrew and Sam meet with CI Joseph, with intent to engage in conspiracy to defraud and murder Detective McNamara. CI or site of meeting will be wired. CI will relay location information to Det. McNamara.
— Tactical takedown of Reardon, Andrew and Sam by Emergency Service.
Barkley was obviously impressed, though he tried not to show it. “Man. It is a script.”
She said matter-of-factly, “With people like Reardon, you don’t improvise.”
He kills families...
Kepler asked, “You’re sure Reardon’ll run with you?”
“He’ll come along. I’ll make sure of it.”
“How’re you going to snag him?”
“Every Friday afternoon he swims at Battery Park Health Club—”
“Or plays racquetball or tennis,” Kepler pointed out fast.
She swiveled toward him. “The only reason to join that particular club is for tennis or the pool. My datamining shows he’s never paid for court time or bought balls. Ergo, he swims.”
I stand corrected. And she speaks Greek. Or was it Latin? What a woman. The other team was looking more and more interesting.
“After that he goes to Limoncello’s for drinks.”
“What’s Limoncello’s?”
“Restaurant on the harbor.” Gabby was getting pretty proficient at talking to Kepler while not looking at him. She continued to Barkley, “He generally has scotch or red wine. I’ll have some small bottles of each with me. I’ll see what he’s drinking and go to the ladies’ room, spill some on my sleeve. Make him think he’s stained my blouse. I’ll take it from there.”
On reflection, Kepler was thinking, Gabby might not be the best woman in the world to date.
“What do you mean that you ‘feign injury’?” Surani asked, tapping the script.
“I’ll have to seem vulnerable. To make Reardon believe I’m no threat. I’ll probably fall then bite the inside of my cheek — to make it look like I’m bleeding from a broken rib and ruptured lung. Also, it seems Reardon’s a bit of a sadist. My being in pain’ll be a turn-on.”
“You’d be armed?” Surani asked.
“How can I be? I’m an office manager of an investment company.” A glance at the script she’d written.
“A wire then,” Kepler offered.
Gabby said, “No.” Frowning as if infinitely perplexed he didn’t get it.
Surani said, “We’ve got some good gadgets from the tech department, Gabriela, surveillance gear, I mean. We’ve got a GPS and mike in a cigarette lighter—”
“You’d give me a cigarette lighter when I don’t smoke? What’s Reardon going to do with that?”
“I’m just saying. Something.”
“No. No wires. And no third-party surveillance either. You two and everybody... keep your distance. I can’t take any chances that Reardon’ll tip to the set. That’s the biggest danger. He hasn’t survived this long by being careless. Now read the script until you’ve got it memorized.”
She pushed the page forward and, like students in front of a stern teacher, Surani and Kepler did as she instructed. When they’d nodded, Gabby swept everything up and walked to a shredder. She plugged the unit in and made confetti. Then she slung her purse over her shoulder. She said to the detectives, “I’ll email you more details tonight. Intercept us on the corner near my apartment around ten or eleven.”
Surani recited, “ ‘Detectives Kepler and Surani contact Detective McNamara and Subject Reardon re: Charles Prescott fleeing city.’ ”
Her first and only smile. “Good.”
Kepler said, “One thing?”
Gabby regarded him seriously. “Yes?”
“Your CI, this Joseph. You trust him?”
“Pretty much I do.”
“Pretty much,” Kepler echoed. “Okay, Joseph’s boss? Sedutto? He’s trouble; you know that. Is there any chance Joseph’s running you? I mean, maybe he’s thinking that Reardon’s a source for some big money. And he’ll take you out too when he gets what he needs.”
The best confidential informants were morally always just an inch away from the perps they were embedded with.
Would Gabby be pissed off that he’d questioned her judgment in trusting this Joseph?
But she said only, “I appreciate that, Brad. But I’ve assessed the risk and it’s acceptable. Not much we can do about that.”
Then she was gone.
“Well, that’s one hell of a gal,” Barkley said.
A noun that neither Kepler nor his partner wanted to go anywhere near.
The captain then said, “I want eyes and ears on her.”
“But,” Surani pointed out, “she said no surveillance.”
“I don’t care what she said. I want to know everything she says and where she goes and who she sees. Twenty-four seven. This’s too dangerous to leave her spinning in the wind. Get on that now.”