Unfinished Business, page 14
part #17 of Sam Prichard Series
“No problem,” Sam said. “Ron can arrange that, I'm sure. Denny, Jade, why don’t you go on and get with them now, make sure you got something set up for tomorrow.”
“Righto, mate,” Denny said. “Ready, love?” He held out a hand to Jade.
Jade giggled. “I’d be delighted, Mr. Cortlandt,” she said, accepting it. Denny pulled her gently to her feet and they walked out the door together.
“And that brings us to you, Sam,” Ken said. “Given that Reynard is dead because of you, Gabby is likely to be watching for you to make an appearance. I think that…”
“If you think I'm not going to be there…” Sam began, but Ken held up a hand to cut him off.
“I'm saying we should be careful,” Ken said. “I wasn’t about to say anything about not letting you be present. What is necessary is to make it impossible for Gabby to spot you. Now, considering my experience in clandestine operations, I'm confident we can accomplish that goal.”
Ken’s famous shark tooth smile made Sam grin. “And just what do you have in mind?”
“Why, Sam,” Ken said. “I think it’s time you sat down and took it easy.”
* * * * *
John Morton’s phone rang, and he looked over at Darren. “Caller ID says it’s a restricted number,” he said.
“Answer it,” Darren said. “Don’t let on that I'm with you.”
Morton put the phone to his ear, holding it slightly away so that Darren could listen in. “Hello?”
The familiar distorted voice came through the line. “Tomorrow morning, you will meet with Benjamin Hickam at his hotel at nine AM. He will propose a merger between your two companies, and you will agree. He has all of the paperwork prepared for you. Tomorrow afternoon, when you take the stage, you will invite Mr. Hickam to join you and make a public announcement of the merger. Be sure to make it clear to everyone watching that you are happy about the merger. Once your announcement is made public and reaches the news media, Ms. Porter will be released unharmed. She will call you at that point and tell you where to pick her up. Do you understand?”
“I want to talk to Annie,” Morton said, as Darren had instructed him to do. “I'll do whatever you say, but I want to know that she's alive and unhurt.”
“She's fine. Do as you are told and she will remain that way. You are not in any position to make demands, so it would be unwise to try to disobey.” The line went dead.
“Well,” Morton said to Darren, “Sam is right. That is what they want, the merger.” He shook his head. “You know the funny thing? We almost accomplished it last year, and I was actually planning to bring the idea up again during this convention. I was going to speak to Hickam about it while we were here, until all this happened.”
“That’s been the whole reason behind everything that’s happened,” Darren said. “Your girlfriend’s brother must have figured out that attacking your company would make it stronger, which would make the merger more attractive to Starbright, and leave both companies worth much more than they already are. And since he planned to be in absolute control of your company, he might very well have come out on top of both.”
“You know what else?” Morton asked. “Sam was right; I almost think that voice sounds familiar, now that I think it might be someone who works for me.”
“It’s likely that it’s someone you know. Let me call Sam and tell him about this.” Darren picked up his own phone and dialed Sam.
“Prichard,” Sam said as he answered.
“It’s Darren. John just got the call we were expecting. He’s supposed to meet with Hickam tomorrow morning at nine at Hickam’s hotel. According to the caller, Hickam has all the documents ready to go to start the process of merging the two companies.”
“He played it out okay?” Sam asked.
“Just the way I coached him. He asked to speak to Annie, but was told that he was in no position to make demands. That is exactly what I expected, so he agreed to do what they want.”
“Excellent. If everything goes according to plan, Summer may be with Hickam when they meet. If she is, she can record the entire conversation for evidence, even if you do not get to go in with him. Tell him to go ahead and agree to the merger, but not to worry; we’ll be able to prove that it was done under duress so that it won’t go through.”
“We’ve already had that conversation, and he's on board. How are things on your end?”
Sam chuckled. “Well, an old friend of mine showed up to help out,” he said. “Did you ever hear about Ken Long?”
“Ken Long? Didn’t he go rogue for a while?”
“Yes, but it was so that he could protect our country; long story, I'll tell you sometime. He knocked on my door an hour and a half ago, said Harry called him and told him to get up here, and insisted on being involved in the case. Turns out he’s tried to nail Reynard and his organization before, back in the day, and he's not going to miss a chance to bring the bastard down.”
“Well, the more the merrier,” Darren said with a chuckle of his own. “Any chance he knows who Gabby is?”
“No, afraid not,” Sam said. “For tonight, I want you to stay with Morton and watch for anything unusual. I almost get the feeling there’s something we're missing, I just can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“No problem,” Darren said. “I'll let you know if I catch anything that might be important.”
They said goodbye, and Sam filled Ken in. The older man nodded.
“It’s all going as you expected,” Ken said. “What did you mean about missing something? Right now, it seems to me you’ve got it all figured out.”
“I know, it looks that way,” Sam said. “I'm just not a hundred percent certain.” He shrugged. “I just wish I knew who our mystery caller is.”
“You said it’s a woman,” Ken said, “but you don’t think it’s Gabby, herself?”
Sam shrugged. “Walter thinks there’s still someone involved that we haven’t identified,” he said. “I can’t help thinking there’s someone else I should have thought of as a suspect, but I can’t figure out who it would be.”
“Well, if I know you, you’ll figure it out. For now, let’s think about how to let you be at the convention without Gabby knowing you’re there. I have an idea along that line, but we’ll need to locate a few items.”
“Okay,” Sam said. “Now you are making me nervous. What kind of items?”
“Sam, in clandestine work we learned that there are three types of invisible men. The first is those you expect to see, because nobody pays attention to them. This is the very reason that so many criminals use disguises such as delivery men or utility men; a familiar uniform tends to make someone go unnoticed. The second sort is a person who has been seen many times before, but that generally requires having someone in deep cover for a period of time before you need them. The third kind is the person who appears completely harmless, such as someone who is very young, very old, or very ill. My plan is to place you into that third category.”
“Oh, really?” Sam asked. “And may I ask how you intend to accomplish that? Very young is out of the question, so I'm guessing you are going for very old or very ill. Right?”
“Close enough,” Ken said. “Sam, we need a wheelchair, an oxygen tank, and a nurse.”
“A wheelchair… Ken, you gotta be kidding. You want to make me an invalid?”
“Well, not for real,” Ken said. “I just want anyone who sees you to think you must be, so they won’t pay any attention. Now, I thought of using Ms. Miller as the nurse, but she’ll be more valuable with Mr. Cortlandt. We can’t use a real nurse, obviously, because we do not want to put a civilian in danger. Can Windlass produce somebody? A female operative, perhaps?”
“I'm sure they can,” Sam said. He let out a sigh. “Let me give Ron a call.”
Ron turned the matter over to Rob Feinstein, who called Sam back a moment later.
“Hey, Sam,” said the deep voice. “Ron says you need a girl to pose as a nurse?”
“That’s the idea, Rob,” Sam said. “Got somebody who might fill the bill?”
“I do,” Rob said. “Stacy Stepanov. She was the girl I loaned you last week, remember? When your girl got done with her, I told her to fly on out here so that we could put her to work. She’s actually worked as a nurse in the past, so she’ll know how to pull it off.”
“Good,” Sam said. “How soon can she get over here to the Marriott?”
“I'll have her there in an hour. That work okay?”
“That should be fine. Thanks, Rob, I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” Rob said. “Glad to be of service.”
Sam relayed the information to Ken, who turned to the only other people in the room. “Mr. Riley, Ms. Dawson,” he said. “I understand that you are actually a news team, but could I prevail upon you to go and do a bit of shopping for us?”
Wendy smiled brightly. “Sure,” she said. “What do you need?”
“We need a wheelchair with an oxygen tank,” Ken said. “Oh, and some loose clothing for Sam. He’ll want a suit, but it needs to be about two sizes too big. We’ll also need you to pick up a nurse’s uniform, but we’ll have to call you with the size when the young lady arrives.”
Sam gave Wendy a credit card, and she and Harvey took off out the door. Once they were gone, Sam turned to Ken.
“Okay, we're alone, now,” Sam said. “You want to tell me what the hell you are really doing here?”
“I already did, Sam,” Ken said. “This organization of Reynard’s. One of the many untold stories of my life is about the day Reynard managed to kill a defector I was bringing back from Russia. Sam, he sent somebody right in to the safe house we were using to stage the withdrawal, an hour before we were scheduled to leave. They cut my defector’s throat while I was sound asleep in the next room. I spent the next two years trying to track them down, and there is no way in hell I'm not going to be present when I know one of their people is going to be at a specific location.”
“You know, Ken,” Sam said, “Reynard was using other people to do his dirty work on this. How do you know they won’t send one of their patented bald guy, skinny girl teams to kill Morton?”
“Because Morton is the principal target. Reynard often used surrogates for his peripheral targets, but never on the principal. Whoever’s handling this, Gabby or whoever, is going to want to make that shot personally, and we're going to be there when they do. I don’t care who manages to take them out, but I damn well want to be there when it happens.”
“I guess I can understand that,” Sam said. “Just don’t put yourself directly in harm’s way, Ken. I know you’re tough, but you are also getting old. You can direct the whole operation for all I care, but I don’t want anything bad happening to you. Got that?”
“Sam, you can relax,” Ken said. “After all, what are the odds that I would be the one to actually come face to face with the killer?”
“How many times have I worked with you in the past?” Sam asked. “You forget, Ken, I've seen just how stubborn and ruthless you can be. I don’t want to see you make your last stand on this case.”
“You won’t, Sam. Despite my enthusiasm, I'm old enough to know that I'm not up to competing with you young folks. I'm here to help, not be a hero.”
Sam nodded. “Good. Don’t forget that.”
11
Summer called Hickam as she left Sam’s room, and he had seemed quite concerned when he answered the phone.
“Cynthia? Is everything okay?”
“Well, we got everything worked out,” she said. “My only problem now is wondering whether you can get me that hot again. Good grief, Ben, I've been squirming since the moment I left you.”
Hickam gave a relieved chuckle. “Believe me, I know what you mean,” he said. “I spent the entire bloody afternoon trying to convince myself you were not a dream. Will I be seeing you again this evening?”
“I just left the damn lawyers, and I'm on the way back to you, now. I'm starving, Ben, so let’s have some dinner, shall we?”
“That sounds delightful,” Hickam said. “And, perhaps afterward, we might resume that exciting conversation?”
Summer giggled. “Oh, baby,” she said. “I sure as the dickens hope so. Did you think of a few more things to get me hot with?”
“I suspect there might be one or two ideas that crossed my mind,” Hickam said. “But I can’t help remembering that you mentioned a few even darker secrets of your own.”
She giggled again. “Oh, yes,” she said. “I take it our little sharing game turns you on, too?”
“In ways I never thought possible before meeting you,” Hickam said. “I suspect I should willingly create new secrets, if it permitted me to continue enjoying your company.”
Summer gave a little gasp. “Really? Now, that’s something I never really thought about before. Maybe we can find a way to make a few together, would that excite you?”
“You excite me, my dear,” Hickam said. “Probably far more than my heart can take, but I'm certainly willing to find out.”
“Ooh, baby,” she said, her voice low and sultry. “You might be the man of my dreams. Where should we go for dinner? I really am starving.”
“The hotel has a five-star restaurant,” Hickam said. “I'm sure it should be to our mutual satisfaction, and then we do not have nearly as far to go to get back to my room.”
“Baby,” Summer said, “I think I have a better idea. I mean, they do have room service in that hotel, right?”
“Oh, yes,” Hickam said. “Would you prefer to order in?”
“I'll be there in about forty-five minutes,” she replied. “Why don’t you go ahead and order dinner for us, and I'll bring a bottle of champagne.”
“I’d be delighted to,” Hickam said. “Would you like me to read off the menu to you, so you can make a choice?”
“No, just order me anything with beef. Is champagne all right, or would you prefer something else?”
“Champagne will be fine,” Hickam said, “but I could always order a bottle from the wine cellar.”
“No, let me pick it up,” Summer said. “I'm sort of partial to a particular vintage, and there’s not a hotel in the world that carries it. I know where to get it, though, and it’s right on the way.”
“Well, don’t let it slow you down, my dear. I would happily drink American beer with you, and I can’t honestly stand the stuff.”
She giggled again. “I'll be there before you know it,” she said. “Remember, beef.”
She cut off the call as she stepped out of the elevator, then walked into the restaurant. The hostess looked up and Summer asked, “What’s the rarest champagne you have in stock?”
The hosted consulted a wine list. “I think that would be Krug Clos du Mesnil 2000,” she said. “Apparently it was specially ordered for someone, but never got used. We’ve only got one bottle.”
“Perfect,” Summer said. She handed over a credit card. “I need to take it with me.”
* * * * *
Indie was in her kitchen cooking dinner when Karen Parks knocked on her door. She’d been called out to help with a domestic disturbance investigation, but the whole thing was pretty well resolved by the time she got there. She had stood around for a few minutes acting like a supervisor for the two younger detectives that were handling it, and then signed off on their reports and started to head for home, then thought about Indie and decided to drop by.
“Something smells awfully good,” she said. “You know, Indie, you really are a terrific cook. Sam doesn’t know how lucky he is in that regard.”
“There’s plenty, Karen,” Indie said, “if you’d like to stay for dinner. To be honest, I could use some grown-up conversation for a little while.”
“Sure, I’d love to,” Karen said. “I really just wanted to see how you are doing, you know, after what happened the other day. I do not ever want to have to give Sam news like that again. He likes me, but he would probably shoot me if something happened to you on my watch.”
“No he wouldn’t,” Indie said. “But he probably would try to make your life miserable for a while. And speaking of Sam making somebody’s life miserable, I've always been curious why the two of you never ended up together. I mean, you’ve been close friends for a long time, I know that, and I'm not suggesting there should have been anything more. I'm just curious why it never happened.”
Karen looked her in the eye. “You want the truth? Well, I tried, once. Sam used to come and crash on my couch when we were working late, after his first wife left. One night I decided to make a play, and he very politely and very professionally put me in my place. He made it clear he thought of me as a partner and friend, but nothing more than that, and we even managed to stay partners. Usually, something like that will bust up a good team, but Sam was too stubborn to let go. He acted like it never happened, so I did, too. We worked together for another two years after that, and we stayed friends ever since.”
“Yeah, I kind of suspected something like that,” Indie said. “I asked Sam about it once, but all he would say was that he could never handle being married to another cop, because he’d be afraid of the midnight phone call.”
Karen nodded. “Every cop’s spouse is afraid of that phone call,” she said. “Even if it really is another cop, and maybe even more so. My late husband was a detective, you know.”
Indie nodded. “So, anyway,” she said quickly, “I was thinking about what to make for dinner and decided to make some lasagna. Hope that’s all right.”
“Lasagna? Honey, that’s not only all right, that’s my favorite food in the entire world. I can’t wait.”
* * * * *
The International Internet Video Conference was scheduled to begin the following morning at eight AM, so Ron Thomas and Jeff Donaldson were working on Sunday afternoon. They were actually just wandering through the Javits Center checking with the various security personnel they had assigned to run the operation, but they fully understood that the responsibility for keeping all of these people safe, including some of the world leaders who would be attending, was on them as the owners of the company. They weren’t about to let anyone think they were shirking their duties, so they had been putting in fourteen- and sixteen-hour days since they arrived early the week before.
