“He looks like a doting grandpa out there. Amazing.”
She laughed. “He seems more taken with my daughter than he is with me, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t let his attitude bother you. He just wants to handle the situation in the way he thinks best.”
She looked at me. “Do you think I’m a fool, Lincoln?”
“For trying to run on your own?” I shrugged. “I don’t know, Julie. I’d like to work things out so you didn’t have to run at all. But I don’t see that happening. If you stay in town, you’re taking a huge risk. In general, I’d advise you to let the professionals help you hide, but Wayne was a professional, and you seem to think he had things pretty well planned.”
“He did.”
“Do you have enough money?”
She smiled. “We’ve got plenty of money. Wayne put all our money into an offshore account, and then he put some of Hubbard’s money into it as well. It was Hubbard’s payoff for Wayne keeping his mouth shut.”
I didn’t ask how much money it was. It was probably quite a lot. I yawned, and Julie frowned.
“You still haven’t slept, have you?”
I shook my head.
“Go inside and lie down,” she ordered. “Your partner is here to keep us safe. You need to sleep.”
I started to object but then thought better of it. I did need sleep, and as long as Joe was here there was no point in continuing to exhaust myself. I told Julie I’d take a nap, and then I went down to talk to Joe.
“I’m going to grab a few hours of sleep,” I said. “Think you can keep them safe while I do?”
“Can’t do a much worse job than you have,” he said. “Go sleep. When you wake up, I’ll drive back into the city and see if I can arrange a meeting with Belov.”
I went inside and lay down on a narrow, musty bed. The door was closed, but the sounds of Julie’s voice and Betsy’s laugh were with me as I fell asleep.
When I woke again the room was dark. I rolled onto my side and looked at the window, saw nothing but shadows outside. I looked at my watch. Almost seven. I’d slept for nearly six hours. I climbed out of the bed, pulled my pants and T-shirt back on, and went into the living room. Joe, Julie, and Betsy were sitting at the small square table in the kitchen with a pile of playing cards in front of them.
“Hi, Lincoln!” Betsy waved at me. “We’re playing Go Fish. Wanna play?”
I looked at Joe. “Go Fish?”
He grunted. “It’s more intense than I expected.”
“I keep beating him,” Betsy said, and Joe shot her a sour look that made her laugh. I caught Julie’s eye and grinned. Joe Pritchard and his new best friend Betsy. How adorable.
I sat in the living room while they finished their game, and then Joe came out to join me.
“About time you got up, Sleeping Beauty. I was running out of games to play with the kid. If you’d slept any longer, I was going to teach her how to clean a handgun.”
“Lovely.”
“I’m going to head back to the city now,” he said. “It’s going to take some time to get in touch with Belov. When I do reach him, he may want to meet with us immediately, or he may want to do it tomorrow.”
“Try for tomorrow,” I said. “I don’t want to leave Julie and Betsy alone.”
“Okay. But with a guy like Belov, there’s no dictating the schedule. If he says to meet him at midnight at home plate in Jacobs Field, we’re going to meet him at midnight at home plate in Jacobs Field. Understand?”
“Yeah. Hey, did Gellino leave any food in this dump?” My brain might have taken six hours off, but my stomach hadn’t forgotten that my last meal had been nearly ten hours earlier.
“Not much, but Lois Lane is bringing food with her.”
“She is?”
“Yeah, she called while you were asleep, and I answered your phone. She said she made copies of the tapes, and she’ll be out here in about twenty minutes. I told her to be sure no one’s following her. I’m not expecting anyone will be, but it doesn’t hurt to watch your back.”
Joe left, and Amy arrived shortly after. She brought a pizza with her, which made Betsy’s day. I carried wood in from the pile under the deck and started a fire, and the four of us sat beside it, eating the pizza and playing silly card games. The night before, I’d been exchanging gunfire with professional killers and dangling from a seventh-floor balcony; now I was chaperoning a Girl Scout slumber party. The varied experiences of a professional detective. And to think, some men are car salesmen or accountants. What a bore.
Amy left around nine, and I promised to call her the next morning with more information on our plans and when she could run the story. At ten, Joe called.
“If you’ve got a copy of the tape, I’ve got Belov,” he said.
“Amy brought them by. When and where do we meet Belov?”
“Tomorrow morning. And you’ll love the place.”
“Where?”
“Inside Tower City Mall, next to the fountain.”
“You’re kidding me. The city’s most dangerous gangster wants to meet us in the mall?”
“Uh-huh. My guess is we won’t stay there long, though. He probably wants to start in a public place so he can be sure we aren’t setting him up. Once we show, I imagine his thugs will send us elsewhere to meet him.”
“Great. You know our last meeting like this didn’t go so well.” I closed my eyes and saw that red dot on Hartwick’s chest again.
“Yeah. But in this case, if anyone dies, it’ll probably be us.”
“A comfort,” I said, “that’s what you are.”
“Speaking of comfort, I just got a call from Tim Eggers. You’re wanted for questioning by police in South Carolina, and now our old friends at CPD would love to chat with you, as well.”
“They can wait.”
“Uh-huh. The good news is, the Russians must have taken the body with them, because the South Carolina cops have no idea anyone was killed.”
“That is good news.”
“Thought you’d like it. We’re supposed to meet Belov at nine. You want to leave the woman and girl alone, or should I call Kinkaid?”
I thought about it. “I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “Why don’t you bring John Weston out?”
“Weston? Why the hell would I do that?”
“We are still working for him,” I said, “although in all the chaos that’s been kind of easy to forget. Julie wants to see him again before she pulls her vanishing act, so tomorrow morning will be as good a time as any.”
“Okay, I’ll call Weston tomorrow morning and drive him out. The old man’s going to be beside himself. Once we’ve met with Belov, we need to get Julie to some sort of police presence. Any ideas on who that should be?”
“Yes,” I said. “James Sellers told me there was a prosecutor who had handled quite a few cases with the Russians. I think she’d probably be the best bet. Once we’ve met with Belov, I’ll get in touch with her.”
“Okay. I’ll be out to the cottage tomorrow around eight, hopefully with Old Man Weston riding beside me.”
“Was that your partner?” Julie asked, stepping out onto the deck after I’d hung up with Joe.
“Yes.” I told her about our meeting with Belov and what we hoped it would accomplish. “He’s a dangerous, powerful man,” I said. “If he doesn’t want you to be harmed, it could mean a lot.”
“I plan to be far, far away from all of them anyhow.”
“I know, Julie, but it can’t hurt to have Belov on our side. He’s the man in charge.”
She sat down on the picnic table and motioned for me to join her. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt that said myrtle beach, and she had the sleeves pulled down over her hands, trying to keep warm. I’d finally pulled a jacket on over my T-shirt. The night air was cool and fresh, laden with the scent of pine needles.