Sukol waited but Beck said nothing. Beck wanted to let the man talk.
“Trust me. My best chance to walk away is if Stepanovich is dead. He’ll fucking shoot me the next time he sees me just because I’ve been with the enemy. I’ll tell you anything I can to help you kill that fucker. If you have any brains, you kill him the next time you see him. Just kill him. If he gets you, he’ll do shit to you you can’t imagine.”
Beck laid his head back against the brick pillar. He could feel dried mortar and paint flecks falling against the back of his neck. He waited a full minute before he spoke. It felt like ten minutes to Ahmet Sukol.
“Where can I find Markov?”
Sukol answered without a second’s hesitation, eager to prove his worth.
“You can’t. You never find him. Not possible. He never stays in one place for longer than one night. Maybe two. He has some apartments and businesses scattered around Far Rockaway, Brighton Beach, but he doesn’t use them much. He keeps clothes in these places. Things he needs. He stays in hotels. Usually Manhattan. He always moves around. Has a driver who fetches his clothes, picks him up, and brings him wherever he wants to go.”
“How does he work?”
“Cell phones and computer. Laptop. It’s all in his head. Or on his laptop.”
Ahmet waved his hands in front of him. “Or somewhere in the cloud. He doesn’t leave a paper trail. He sleeps at night, at daytime. Always with drugs he operates. Always moving. He’s not like any human you know.”
“How do you know this?”
“Everybody around him knows this. It’s not secret.”
“Why does Markov need someone like Stepanovich?”
“He uses Stepanovich for personal security. Markov is paranoid. He’s a drug freak. He lives in his own world. He thinks everybody is after him. Maybe it’s true.”
“How does he know a criminal like Stepanovich?”
“How do you think? He sold arms into Bosnia for years. He knew plenty of men like Stepanovich.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Not so long.”
“How do you know him?”
“Who? Stepanovich?”
“Yeah.”
“Mostly his reputation. He has a core of men who served with him. I didn’t know him in the wars. Besides them, he recruits whoever he needs. Like me. There are a lot of us around. Russians, Turks, Serbians.”
“Are there any warrants out for Markov in the U.S.?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. He seems safe in the U.S. I hear he runs a lot of arms for the U.S. military. Or the government. Your fucking government is arming half the world. They need guys like Markov.”
“Stepanovich isn’t going to protect Markov from a government.”
“You’d be surprised. Getting through Stepanovich isn’t easy. Gives Markov time to disappear. He’s the kind of guy that can walk out of a room, get on a plane, and be gone anywhere.
“But it’s not governments or police Markov worries about. It’s competitors. Business rivals. A maniac like Stepanovich discourages competition. Markov is always paying somebody for protection. Or bribing somebody.”
“Like Kolenka?”
“Yes. Kolenka is almost worse than Stepanovich. He will kill anybody. Very fast. He doesn’t care. Stepanovich will kill you, but he’ll torture you first and try to figure out ways to make pain. He lives on pain. Kolenka don’t waste time. With him you are dead before you know it.”
“How many men do you think Kolenka has?”
“I don’t know. The ones close to him have to be real Russian old-time thieves before he has anything to do with them.”
“What do you know about Kolenka?”
“Vory-v-Zakone. There’s a lot of bullshit built up about them, but Kolenka is real. You know about how it all started in the gulags.”
“Pretty much.”
“Well there aren’t many of the old ones left. But even without all the old stories, Ivan Kolenka is the real thing. He’s ruthless. He does crime up and down the East Coast. Lots of money from Ukraine. Some say even Chechen money. He has gambling money. Prostitution. He runs gasoline scams. Cigarettes. Extortion. He has construction companies. Restaurants. Crime and money. Crime and money. Anything. Robberies, insurance scams, murder, anything you can think of Kolenka will do it.”
“And Stepanovich? How many men does he control?”
“It goes up and down. He likes the ones out of his Serbian brigade. From the old times. But they come and go. Lot of them end up with immigration trouble. Maybe Stepanovich can call on six good ones. Maybe ten. Kolenka, maybe the same. Do they know how to find you?”
“Yes.”
Ahmet paused. “Then you had better run. They have many more men than you, I think.”
“Run where?”
Ahmet shrugged. “That’s for you to decide. Run far.”
“How will they come at us?”
“You think Kolenka will help Markov?”
“Yes.”
“Kolenka’s men will run the show. They don’t fuck around. They will surround you, burn your place down, shoot anybody who comes out. They will massacre you.
“If you don’t die and Stepanovich takes you, he will hurt you for days. Maybe weeks. Trust me. Better you take the bullet or burn to death. Better you run now. But maybe there’s no place they don’t find you.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“No. Not really. Are you going to fight them?”
“I’m not going to run.”
“Then do me one favor.”
“What?”
“Give somebody the key to this cell who can come let me out if you die.”
“Sure. One last question.”
“What?”
“Where can I find Kolenka?”
“I don’t know. I never have anything to do with him. I know he owns buildings in Little Russia. I don’t know where he sleeps.”
Beck slowly got to his feet.
“You want the lights down here on or off?”
Sukol answered quickly.
“On.”
Beck headed back toward the entrance to the basement.
“I’ll send some food down. Enough for a couple of days. One way or another, it should be all over by then.”
“And will you tell somebody about me?”
“Yes.”