Last Chance to Die

27



As soon as Vail reached the other side, he took up a defensive position to cover Bursaw while he crossed the bridge. He checked his watch—almost eight o’clock. It was dark, but there was enough light from the roadways crisscrossing the island to follow the footpaths. Without a word the two men glanced at each other, Vail heading south and Bursaw north.

Vail walked a hundred feet and then stopped to listen. Since the only car in the lot besides Bursaw’s was the rental, Vail felt that Rellick had to be there waiting for someone to arrive. Possibly one of the Russians, so he could exchange the list he’d downloaded from the CIA files for a way out of the country and probably one last, very large payment. Rellick still had his phone on, so there was a good chance he was making calls or waiting for one. A gust of frigid wind came off the Potomac, and Vail waited for it to subside before he continued.

He was surprised at how rustic the park was. Except for the footpaths, some of which were endless three-foot-wide wooden planks, the ground was heavy with trees and undergrowth, creating more of a wooded setting than an urban park. There were very few evergreens, and the hardwoods were bare. The path he was on was dirt, and there were still leaves cluttering it. The lights from the surrounding cities allowed him to find his way south.

Off to his left, Vail could see a frozen pond. He took out his phone and made sure it was on. As he neared the southern end of the island, he could see the tall buildings of Arlington across the Potomac. There was another path off to the right, and it seemed to head toward the great dark shadow of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge as it passed overhead connecting D.C. to Arlington.

He thought he heard something and stopped. After thirty seconds the wind blew from the same direction where the suspected sound originated, and this time he recognized an indistinguishable voice. Vail thumbed the safety off his Glock and lightened his step, moving toward its source.

It seemed to be coming from the bridge’s underpass, a corridor of fifteen-foot-high off-white concrete walls that curved overhead. At the other end, Vail could see the lights of downtown Arlington reflected off the Potomac. He stopped again and listened. Now, because of the hum of the tires driving over the bridge, he seemed to be in some acoustical dead space, because the voice suddenly vanished. It was the perfect place for spies to meet on a winter night. Especially for Russians, who loved parks, the cold, and vodka.

At the midpoint of each of the walls were walk-in doors, probably leading to maintenance storage. Vail wondered if Rellick had somehow gotten into one of them to wait. He started toward the closest one with his weapon pointed at the other. When he reached the door, he tried the knob. It was locked.

All of a sudden, ahead of him, around the end of the concrete wall, he heard a man’s voice. “Call me back in five minutes, Tanner. . . . I’m not going to wait much longer. . . . Where else would I be?” Rellick walked around the corner and into view as he ended the call. Vail pointed the automatic at him. “That’s it, Rellick, FBI. Right there.”

The CIA agent raised his hands, still holding the phone. Glancing up at the lighted screen, Rellick pushed a couple of buttons and placed his finger on another, ready to press it. “Unless you want that list of European informants to be e-mailed to the Russian embassy, you’d better drop the gun.” He lowered his hands slowly but confidently.

“How do I know you’ve actually got it on your phone?” Vail asked.

“By now you know I’ve downloaded the list. And I would need a quick way to send it from anywhere, even here, if I got in a tight spot. So I put it on speed dial. I thought it would be better than a gun. Was I wrong?”

Vail knew by Rellick’s confidence that the list had to be on the phone. He dropped his gun on the ground. As soon as he did, Rellick drew a small revolver. “Now walk over here.”

Suddenly Vail felt his cell phone vibrate. It was probably Kate, ready to tell him that Rellick and his cell phone were under the bridge. Vail kept walking slowly, hoping to get close enough to make some kind of move. But when he was five feet away, Rellick said, “That’s close enough, on your knees. And put your hands in your pockets.” Vail did as he was told and wrapped his hand around his knife. But he knew that even if he could get it out in time and open it, Rellick would still be too far away. Rellick carefully cleared the screen on his phone and put it in his overcoat pocket.

“Meeting your handler here?” Vail asked.

“My handler?” Rellick burst out laughing. “My handler offered to get me to Moscow, where I’d be a hero. I’d rather live in a federal prison than in Russia. So I told him I wanted a million dollars for the list. With that much money, I can live fairly comfortably in South America.”

“So he says he’s bringing you a million dollars here? Tonight?”

“You sound skeptical.”

“The banks are closed, and I seriously doubt they keep that kind of cash at the embassy. I hope you didn’t tell him where the list was.” Rellick didn’t answer. “You did. Myles, I think Moscow and federal prison aren’t your only options. I’d consider the possibility of death. And not in that order.”

“Shut up,” Rellick said. “I’ve got to get out of here. That leaves only one option for you, and it isn’t Moscow or federal prison. Unless you can come up with a fourth option.” He raised his revolver. “No. Then death it is.” Vail took his hands halfway out of his pockets and got ready to charge him; he had nothing to lose.

A gun exploded, and it took an instant for Vail to realize that the shot had come from behind him. The CIA agent looked surprised, even indignant, that a bullet had wound up piercing his chest instead of Vail’s. Suddenly the hand holding his gun went limp, and the weapon dropped to the ground. He looked past Vail and tilted his head in confusion at the black man moving quickly toward him, ready to fire a second shot. Then he looked around as if wondering where he was and fell forward heavily, landing on his face. Bursaw snapped on his flashlight and moved past Vail, keeping his gun trained on Rellick in case another shot was needed.

It was then that Vail realized that his vibrating phone call with Rellick’s location had gone to Bursaw first.

“Do you think you waited long enough, Luke?”

Bursaw’s smile verged on laughter. “Remember that time you left me out in the cold and I got really sick?” He rolled over the body and holstered his weapon.

“Again with that. You know, at a certain point the need for revenge can become very unflattering.”

“Not when it’s you on your knees.”

“I hope we’re finally even.” Vail took Rellick’s cell phone out and made sure it was still on. Then he slipped it into his pocket. “No one needs to know that I’ve got this.”

“Because . . . ?”

“If we give it back to the CIA today, it’ll be worth a very nice thank-you. Give it back in a week and it will be . . .”

“Priceless,” Bursaw finished.

“Maybe that Ivy League education wasn’t wasted.” Vail called Kate on his phone. “Rellick’s dead.”

“Both you guys okay?”

“We’re fine.”

“Should I ask?”

“Actually, it was Luke who shot him. Can you call Metro Homicide or the Park Police, whoever’s jurisdiction this is?”

“Sure. Then I’m coming there.”

“I appreciate it, but we’re probably not going to be here very long. And you’re not out of the woods yet, so let’s not push it. When I find out where we’re going, I’ll let you know.”

“You’re sure?”

“Call Kalix and fill him in about what’s going on.” Vail hung up.

Bursaw was searching the body. He pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills, held them up for Vail to see, and then stuffed them back in the dead agent’s pocket. “He doesn’t have ID on him.”

Rellick’s phone rang. Vail took it out. “Excuse me a minute, I’ve got to talk to this Russian,” Vail said. He pushed the Talk button. “Yeah.”

The voice on the other end immediately became suspicious. “What is your name?” Vail knew the caller was asking for Rellick’s code name.

“Rumpelstiltskin.” The line went dead. Vail put the phone back in his pocket.

“You didn’t really think you were going to fool him, did you?”

“I wanted two things: to see if he had a Russian accent, which he did, and for his call to go through, so his number would be in the phone company’s computer.” Vail checked his watch and noted the time of the call.

Vail and Bursaw explained to the responding Park Police what had taken place on Roosevelt Island so that the crime-scene examination could be conducted. Then they followed a couple of their detectives to their investigative offices in southeast D.C. Once there, the two agents were taken to separate interview rooms. When Vail finished, it was a little after four in the morning. He found Kate waiting in the reception area. “Everything all right?” she asked after hugging him.

“I don’t think they handle as many homicides as Metro does, so their process was a little slower.”

“What did you tell them?”

“The truth—the other guy did it.” And then, without mentioning Rellick’s cell phone, Vail explained about how the rogue CIA agent had gotten the drop on him and Bursaw had shot him to save Vail’s life.

Just then Bursaw walked out. Kate gave him a hug, too. “They’re not keeping you?” she said, an impish grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.

He laughed. “Careful, I could tell them who you really are.” They left the building and started walking to the car. Bursaw said, “How about you, what’s your status? I see you’re out in public without a disguise.”

“As soon as I got hold of the Park Police, I called John. He had just met with the United States Attorney. He picked me up at your sister’s place and brought me here.”

“I hope you’re going to tell me we’re all off the hook,” Bursaw said.

“As far as I know, they never figured out who you were.”

“Thank God.”

Vail said, “How come you black guys are always complaining about how we all think you look alike until there’s a lineup?”

“Kate, did I ever tell you about the dead guy we found wearing a negligee in the doghouse and what Vail had to do to get a confession from his wife?”

Vail waved his hand back and forth. “I don’t think that’s pre-breakfast conversation.”

“I’m begging you, Luke, tell me,” Kate said. “What—”

Vail interrupted. “I believe you were about to tell us how we’re no longer in fugitive status.”

“Okay—for now. To answer your question, Luke, everyone is off the hook. John said he was a little worried when he went to see the United States Attorney. Remember, he played Assistant Director William A. Langston on the phone when he called him to spring me. But I guess he disguised his voice enough that the USA didn’t catch on. Anyway, John explained everything we found out about Rellick and his subsequent flight and how he tried to kill an agent. John said he huffed and puffed for a while but then decided that the evidence the CIA had gathered was convincing enough to drop the charges against me.”

“And Luke and I?”

“Like I said, they never pulled Luke up on the radar, but you were identified and kind of marked as the ringleader. He said the USA was reluctant to give a pass to a jailbreaker. But then John reminded him that the press would probably view my detention as a serious violation of my rights. And although he might try to mitigate that through some convenient interpretation of national-security protocol, it wouldn’t play well because that whole secrecy thing was created to catch the big fish, and since that was supposed to be me, it was no longer an excusable tactic. Finally he told him that I would seek no punitive action against his office if everything were dropped, against everyone. After weighing his liabilities for a few seconds, he agreed. On his way to get me, John called the director and brought him up to speed. He wants all of us in his office at nine A.M.”

Kate glanced at Vail, expecting him to offer an excuse as to why he wouldn’t be there. “You do know he’s probably going to thank you?” she said.

Vail just shrugged his shoulders, making her wonder what he was up to now.

After a predawn breakfast, Bursaw dropped Kate and Vail at his sister’s apartment. “Sure I can’t give you a ride?”

Kate said, “I want to clean up around here a little. We’ll get a cab.”

While Kate vacuumed, Vail packed up the files that had been taken from the Sixteenth Street off-site. Then he called a cab and fed the fish while they waited for it to arrive.

Once they were in the taxi, Kate asked, “Why are you going to the director’s meeting? You hate things like that.”

“Is that your real question, or do you want to know when I’m leaving?”

“Both, I guess.”

“I told Luke I’d help him with his case. That means I’m going to need credentials a little longer. Hopefully the director won’t mind giving me a couple of extra days.”

“Then off to Florida.”

“So far. Would you consider coming along?”

“I might be talked into it.”

“Sun, warm water, gallons of rum, and me. The good, the bad, and the ugly. You can claim an alcohol-induced state to excuse the inevitable regrets you’ll have afterward.”

She smiled absentmindedly. “You know the director is going to offer you the job again.”

“I suppose.”

“And?”

“I’ll listen.”

“And then turn him down.”

“Kate, we’ve been through this.”

Her eyes softened as she looked away from him. “Do you know what our problem is? Two people cannot get involved with each other, truly involved, without becoming vulnerable, and that is something you and I have guarded against our entire lives.” She smiled sadly. “Sorry, I was just hoping—you know. But no one understands better than Steve Vail how frivolous hope is.”

“Hope isn’t necessarily frivolous, but by inference it is a long shot,” he said. “Right now you’re still unsettled with all of this. Anybody would be. You may think you want things to be a little more permanent, but give it a couple of days. You go back to work, put up with me hanging around for a while, and then we’ll figure out where everything is going.”

She looked directly at him again and steadied her eyes against his gaze. “Right now I am feeling vulnerable, and for the first time in my life I’m not afraid of it. Maybe because I know that no matter what happens, you’ll be there. That’s a nice feeling.”

“I’m happy for you, Kate. I genuinely am. I don’t know if that’s a possibility for me.” He turned and watched out the window. She realized he was struggling to understand that kind of commitment.

“So, Vail,” she said, her voice now lightheartedly official in an effort to change the mood, “I’m curious. Are you satisfied that we got everybody? You seem distracted since John gave us the news.”

Vail turned back and gave her a small, courteous smile. “You know I’m never satisfied. I’m afraid that tomorrow I’ll find that chimney torn down again.”

“I know when you start thinking that way, there usually is someone else involved.”

“Does anything bother you about this case?”

“Do you mean other than me being thrown in prison?”

Vail laughed. “Yes, other than that.”

“We’ve talked about this before. Why did they kill all the double agents?”

“And our best guess was that they didn’t want to embarrass Moscow with revelations of Russia spying against the U.S. But then why didn’t they kill Rellick? He said they wanted to take him to Moscow because he had been exposed.”

“Did they?” she asked. “Maybe they were setting him up to kill him, too. They just didn’t know where he was.”

Vail thought about the list of CIA informants Rellick was trying to sell and conceded that maybe Kate was right, that they would have killed him once they had the information. “You’re probably right.”

“What difference does it make? All those who should go to hell are on their way. And you and I are talking about scuba diving.”

“We’ll see.”

“I really hope you’re talking about the scuba diving.”

When the cab pulled up to Kate’s apartment, she said, “Do you want to come in?” She knew he wouldn’t, because she could see he was still distracted. And she suspected that her talk about vulnerability was making him cautious.

“Thanks, Kate, but I’ve got some things I need to do.”

“Well, that’s certainly vague enough,” she said. “Tell me the truth, what are the chances of my seeing you at the director’s office tomorrow morning?”

“I don’t think I really belong there. You guys will be celebrating, and after Florida I’ll be back in Chicago scratching for work.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe the director would feel better about your turning him down if he could thank you in person?”

“He asked me to work on a case, not his feelings.”

“I hope you’re not planning on sneaking out of town tonight.”

“I told you, I’m going to help Luke for a couple of days—or at least until we run out the rest of those leads,” Vail said. “Why would you think I would do that? I came here to see you.”

“And you’ve seen me. All of me.”

“Let me just say in my defense, dating a jailbird isn’t all that easy.”

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “We prefer ‘ex-con.’ ”