46
NIC KEPT ME BLINDFOLDED until I was inside. When he shut the door, it made a steely echo. He pulled off the blindfold, and I could see that it was an old machinists’ shop. The equipment to reshape and refine steel into tools remained in place.
Near the entrance, the shop was crammed with boxes and pallets along two walls. I could smell the tang of curry and the yeasty aroma of spilled beer. A metal table, scattered with papers, stood in the center of the room. Windows, smeared with dust, let in a slant of brownish light.
Two men—twins—stood on either side of me. One was armed with a Glock, the other with an assault rifle. Both had dead eyes. One was shaved bald, the other had scant reddish hair. Smiles with cruel mouths.
“These are the twins,” Nic said, as if I hadn’t noticed they shared the same scowling face.
The twins searched me for weapons and wire. They found nothing; they too missed the little transmitter in my shirt collar.
I looked to see if any of these guys sported the same Novem Soles tattoo as the killer in my apartment. No, no sign of it. So maybe Nic and the twins were just hirelings.
Sitting at the table was the dyed-blond man I’d seen on the videos. Piet. The trafficker.
He was taller than me, six-six, wide shoulders, narrow hips, the curve of powerful arms under his sleeves. He looked like a guy who’d fight with gusto. His nose had been broken in the past, and he had eyes like two dots of oil. Cold and unyielding. Under the iced eyes and the twisted hook of nose he wore a smile twisted with malice. I had a sense that smile had been the last thing seen by many people. He was the kind of guy, I guessed, who thought cruelty was funny.
And yes, he had a little sword. A wakizashi. It sat on the desk and gleamed in the faint light.
There was no sign of the scarred man.
I smiled back at Piet.
“I understand you can help us, Mr. Samson,” he said in English.
“I’m sure I can.”
He got up and walked around me. I doubt I looked forbidding. Old jeans, worn shoes, an old gray jacket. Mila had bought my clothes secondhand, clipped out all the labels. I looked like I was neatly dressed but desperate. I met his gaze but then I let my eyes drop. Let him think he was the alpha.
“So. I have fifty parcels I need to get inside the United States. They cannot be discovered; they cannot be seized. I need them there in ten days. They must arrive together; they must not be separated during shipping. At the same time, I want the most secure cover for them imaginable. How would you do this?”
“How big are the parcels?”
“Less than a meter across, a meter long.”
There were fifty of them? Okay. “And heavy?”
“No. Five kilos.”
“Then I’d probably disguise them as leaded crystal glassware from Poland. Mark it as fragile, but it explains the weight. You could also do frozen fish.” I shrugged. “If the goods can be packed in ice without harm, then it’s a good call.” This was standard smuggling tradecraft. “Or electronics from Finland. They ship tons of cell phones and related equipment. If it’s electronic goods, then that would simplify the camouflage in case it’s X-rayed. Or an easy route is counterfeit cigarettes. Fake British or French or Turkish brands.” One out of three cigarettes smoked in Canada today is counterfeit. It’s big business.
“I want you to make sure it’s not X-rayed.”
“I have a contact in Rotterdam who could make sure the container’s not singled out.” I was lying, but it didn’t matter.
“And what about dealing with American customs?”
“I have a friend on the customs staff in New York. He has three children currently in college and grad school, so he has large bills. He’s rather open to not inspecting whatever I say.”
“And where would you get the appropriate export documentation, and the packaging, and the manifests from a legitimate manufacturer?” Piet asked.
“Well, before I give away all my trade secrets, I’d like my money first,” I said.
Piet stared at me. “Why did you come to Amsterdam?”
“I came for the waters,” I said.
“Ha!” Piet said. “One of my favorite movies. Casablanca.”
I used a line from Bogart’s character, the bar owner Rick Blaine, when he is asked to explain his presence in the intrigue-filled city. I smiled. “I needed a change.”
“You were based where?”
“Prague and Croatia. I stayed there after I got out of the army. I liked the country.” I looked at Nic, then back at the smile. “What’s in the fifty packages?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Where’s Edward?” Nic asked suddenly. After all, my performance was supposed to convince Piet’s boss that Piet was untrustworthy, more trouble than asset, and Piet appeared to be alone. There was no one to convince. Edward. Edward was the scarred man. Edward. I let the name roll around in my brain. Edward. The man with the question mark close to his eye who’d taken my wife.
“Edward isn’t here,” Piet said. “Left it up to me to take the measure of this man.”
“This man ended up in a bar fight last night defending your good name,” I said, “and I don’t even know you.”
“Yeah, interesting, that. Thanks for the good turn. Not really used to altruism.”
“I was looking for you,” I said.
“You and the Turk both,” he said.
“Popularity is a curse,” I said. “But I wasn’t really looking for you until the Turk started threatening you. That was an opportunity for me and I took it. But I hope you don’t have more loudmouths around here.”
Piet glanced at Nic. Then back at me. “I’d like to hear what you heard the Turkish gentleman say last night.”
“The Turk was talking to one of his friends at the bar before Nic here showed up.”
“You speak Turkish?”
“Enough. I used to run goods down to Istanbul. Excess Russian ordnance bound for Africa, mostly. The Turk said he had arranged to smuggle something to America for you. And that he was going to get you to give up some woman you have, in exchange for the smuggling going smoothly.” I watched his face as I laid down the trump. Nic wasn’t so good an actor; he jerked his head toward me at this unexpected twist.
“Some woman,” Piet repeated.
“Yes. He was going to guarantee that whatever you were smuggling wasn’t harmed, wasn’t captured by the cops, if he got some woman who’s with you. Yasmin?” I shrugged. “I may not have the name right.”
He didn’t blink. But his hand, curled into a fist, unfolded, fingers close to the wakizashi sword. Like its weight called to him. Then he made his hand a fist again. “And that was all?”
“Yes.”
“And on that basis, you fight for the honor of my name?” He laughed.
“No. I thought you might not want him screwing up your deal. I need a job. I didn’t realize until later that what I heard might be valuable to me.” I shrugged. “You can’t use his route to America now. But you could use mine. I’m guessing, if you’re using the Turk, it’s because you don’t have a regular route into America.”
“But we don’t know you.”
“You want my creds? Ask Petrova in Kiev about me. Ask Djuki in Athens about me.” I threw out the name of two traffickers.
“Petrova is dead,” Piet said.
“I hadn’t heard.”
“Last month. She was shot by a rival.”
“Oh. Too late to send flowers, I guess.”
Now Piet flicked a smile, like he was tossing a card to me, sure my hand would crash. “Djuki went missing a few months ago.”
“He’s probably hiding.” The fact I knew their names was not cred enough. I didn’t expect it to be. “Or he’s in China, running Gucci and Ralph Lauren counterfeiting action.”
“And if I could reach him, I’d hire him over you. Him at least I know. You could just be cleaning up the mess left behind,” Piet said. “You could work for the same people as the Turk.”
“That’s a theory.”
“What did you work on with Djuki?”
“Girls from Moldova and Ukraine, shipped to Israel and to Edinburgh and Toronto. I moved guns from Albania and Uzbekistan to Mexico. I shipped in fake cigs and fake Windows software from China to Canada and the U.S., mostly Houston and New York.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You moved girls with Djuki?”
“Yeah. Twice. You find him in China, you can ask him about me.” I shrugged. Djuki wasn’t hiding; he was dead. He was a Greek trafficker who’d been turned by the Company, spilled information on his routes and methodologies for a hefty sum and immunity, and then been killed when he tried to vanish after the Company put him back out in the field to serve as an informant. Djuki was scum. I’d met him once or twice, and the Company had entrusted me to put out the word he’d gone to China to work deals on that side.
“Where’s his scar?” Piet asked.
And my mind went blank.