Last Chance to Die

35



The surveillance squad’s off-site had been carefully selected. The neighborhood was a mix of residential and commercial properties. The building was tucked away, down a side street. The front entrance to the building bore no sign to identify it. A driveway skirted the property, and in the back there was a parking lot containing a half-dozen cars.

The technical agent who met Kate and Vail there was a good fifty pounds overweight, but he slid under the back end of Vail’s car without difficulty. Almost immediately he pulled himself back out holding a small black box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. He handed it to Kate and spoke with a quick, professional authority. “Held in place with magnets. You can buy these anywhere. Companies use them to keep an eye on their vehicles, parents to discreetly watch their teenagers, suspicious wives to check on husbands, just about anything.”

“How is it monitored?” Kate asked.

“If you have a cell phone with a screen, you can load the software into it and you’re ready to go. If not, a laptop works even better.” He climbed under Kate’s car and spent almost ten minutes inspecting it before reemerging. “You’re clean,” he told her.

“Can you set up my phone so I can monitor it?” Vail asked.

“I don’t have the software for this brand. When Kate called, she just said it involved GPS trackers, so I brought a couple.” He opened his case and took out a rectangular box that was half the size of the one he had removed. “This was made to our specifications. No connections, no antennas. You can put it in a glove compartment or anywhere else. It’s extremely sensitive and tracks in real time. It works on a special network the government uses, so it can’t be intercepted.” The tech agent then took two cell phones out of his case. “With these you can follow the transmitter.” He turned on the phones and walked them through the device’s operation.

After he left, Kate held up the cell phone he’d given her and said, “Did you have something in mind with these?”

“Not at the moment, but you know how boys need their toys. We find them reassuring. If I’d had this on the enemy’s car last night, I probably wouldn’t have had to go swimming.”

Vail handed the LCS’s device back to the tech agent. “Put it back under my car.” Kate looked at him questioningly. “I’ll leave it at the off-site and we’ll drive yours. If we turn it off, they’ll know we found it.”

After dropping off Vail’s car, they drove to Radkay’s bank in northwest D.C. When they arrived, Kate went in with the altered release forms while Vail called the radio room and had them query what kind of cars Raymond Radkay drove. There was only one—a Jaguar XKR. Vail didn’t know much about luxury cars, but he had always coveted the Jaguar XKE, first manufactured in the sixties, an exquisite piece of sculpture that also happened to be an automobile. He occasionally checked on the Jaguar’s new models to see if the manufacturer had come to its senses and started building the sleek torpedo again.

According to the rest of Radkay’s FBI background investigation, he was a computer engineer with Matrix-Linx International and made sixty-eight thousand dollars a year. Give or take a few options, that was about the cost of the XKR. Vail asked the radio-room operator to determine when it was first registered. A few seconds later, he was told that the vehicle was first registered, apparently new, last June, two months after Radkay’s co-worker, Maurice Gaston, had disappeared into the Nevada sunset.

Kate came out and got in. “Since last June he’s had a couple of eight- to nine-thousand-dollar deposits in his checking account. He also started renting a safe-deposit box six months ago.”

“The LCS must have handouts telling these guys what to do with their money. He also bought a sixty-thousand-dollar car last June.”

“I guess we should get a court order for the box,” Kate said.

“Actually, with you so blatantly altering that release form, it all becomes fruit of the poisonous tree.”

“You did this on purpose so we’d have no choice but to go and confront him, didn’t you?”

“You give me too much credit. It doesn’t really matter if we get into that box. The most he’s going to have in there is unexplained cash. That hardly makes him a spy. Don’t forget that when we found incriminating evidence in a box before, Calculus had left it for us. We’ve got to get our hands on this guy and turn him.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“I’ll let him know that all I have to do is get that GPS the Lithuanians are tracking me with to within a hundred yards of him and he’s dead. The choice is relatively simple: a little time in prison for spying or forever in the great darkness beyond. We’ll get Luke and go out to his house tonight.”

“So that’s your master plan? You’re going to threaten his life.”

“I’m a man of limited imagination.”

It was dark before the three agents got to Raymond Radkay’s home in Coral Hills, Maryland. Bursaw drove his car, and Kate and Vail rode together in hers.

Radkay’s house was at the end of a cul-de-sac in a new housing development. Although there were several others under construction, his was the only one that had been completed. Vail pulled over in front of one of the partially built residences. “The lights are on, so it looks like he’s home,” Vail said on the radio.

Bursaw asked, “So how do you want to do this?”

“You and Kate wait in your car. I think this will go better if I talk to him alone. I don’t want him to get the feeling we have to gang up on him to get his cooperation. See if you can find a discreet place to watch from. Let me know if you see anyone coming our way.”

“This house behind me has the garage roughed in. I’ll pull in there.” Kate got out of Vail’s car and into Bursaw’s.

Vail pulled into Radkay’s driveway and got out, watching the windows. He walked up the stairs and rang the bell. After a few seconds, a man in his late thirties opened the door. “Can I help you?”

“Raymond Radkay?”

“Yes.”

Vail opened his credentials with a certain amount of authority, indicating that everything Radkay was about to be asked was merely a formality—the FBI already knew the answers.

“Come in.” The engineer stepped back uneasily, and Vail could see that he suspected the reason for the visit.

They went into the living room, and Vail took a seat on the couch while Radkay sat down on a recliner opposite him. “Does this have anything to do with my security clearance?”

Vail laughed condescendingly. “Come on, Ray. The weapons information passed along. The only question I have is how much you knew about Maurice Gaston’s murder.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Jag, the safe-deposit box, this house. We know about you and the Russians. And the Lithuanians,” Vail bluffed. “Your reaction right now—it’s obvious you realize why I’m here. I’m not going to waste my time. I’m giving you a chance to talk to me before we come back for you, and then it’ll be too late.” Radkay remained silent, and Vail could see the cold logic of an engineer taking over, analyzing his options. “If you tell us about the Lithuanians, we can make your life a whole lot simpler. There’s a big difference between passing along a little technology for a few bucks and being an accessory to murder.”

Radkay said, “Would it do any good for me to ask for a lawyer?”

“I don’t think you were involved in the murder, but do what you want. If you call a lawyer, he’s going to instruct me to leave.” Vail stood up. “And when I do, so does this offer. Then we’ll lump you in with the Lithuanians and you can defend yourself on the murder charges.”

“Okay, okay. What do you want to know?”

Vail sat back down. “First, tell me how you were recruited.”

“I was approached at my apartment one night. They offered me a hundred thousand dollars if I accepted. It was paid the next day, and I was told there would be plenty more. Two days later I gave them a dozen documents, mostly technical data and schematics. As soon as I did, they demanded to know when I could get more. I knew then that I had made the mistake of my life. They told me that they had video recordings of our exchanges, and if that wasn’t convincing enough, they asked me if I wanted to end up like Maury Gaston. I had never associated his disappearance with what I was doing. I knew right then he was dead. It scared the hell out of me. After that their demands were relentless. Believe it or not, I’m relieved. When you introduced yourself, I knew that one way or the other the nightmare was over.”

“It may not be as bad as you think. You have one very large bargaining chip at your disposal—we’re going to need your testimony.”

“Testify? Against them? I told you, they’re crazy.”

“The only other option is prison.”

Radkay stood up. “I need to think. And a drink.” The engineer went over to a hutch and opened the upper cabinet. “There is a third option you know,” he said, his voice suddenly cold, mechanical. “I could just run.” When Vail saw that there were no liquor bottles in the compartment that Radkay was reaching into, he jumped to his feet. As soon as the revolver came out, Vail dove behind the couch and drew his automatic.

Radkay turned and fired, hitting the cushion that Vail had been sitting against. He started to run toward the back door. Vail poked his head above the couch, and Radkay fired again. This time the bullet penetrated the padding and barely missed Vail. “I’ve got people in back,” he lied. “And I parked my car so you couldn’t get out.”

Radkay glanced through the window he was standing next to and saw it was true about the car. “Then I guess I’ll have to take yours.” He started toward Vail and fired another round.

Vail realized he had no other choice now. He stood straight up and fired once, hitting Radkay in the chest. The engineer went down, and Vail hurried over to him. Radkay gurgled briefly, and then his head fell to the side, his eyes still open and blank in death.

The front door flew open, and Kate and Bursaw rushed in with their guns drawn. “You okay?” Bursaw asked.

“Yes, but it looks like I just did the Lithuanians a favor.”

Kate looked at the body and let her weapon drop to her side. “He was our last chance.”

“He may be dead, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still help us.” Vail went into the kitchen and picked up Radkay’s phone on the desk, dialing Kate’s cell phone. When it began to ring, he said, “What does the caller ID say?”

“R. Radkay,” she said. “With the phone number.”

“I’ll be right back.” Vail went out to his car and brought back his briefcase. Shuffling through its contents, he found the business card Alex Zogas had given him for the Lithuanian Chess Society. He also took out the two GPS tracker phones the technical agent had given him and handed them to Kate and Bursaw.

After holding a finger to his lips, he dialed the LCS number into Radkay’s phone. “Is Alex there? This is his guy from Matrix-Linx.” Then, in a whiny voice, Vail said, “Well, tell him that the FBI was at my bank today. Tell him I’m freaking out and need him to call me right away.” Vail hung up.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked.

Vail grabbed Radkay’s body under the arms and dragged him inside the room that was farthest from the front door. “Making lemonade.”