The Bricklayer

TWENTY-ONE

THE ASAC IN MINNEAPOLIS CALLED KATE BACK IN LESS THAN AN in the jury-rigged flamethrower had a former agent as its head of security, and he was able to access their computer records from home, since it was after five o’clock. She wrote down the information and thanked the ASAC. “The tank was sold to Outside Zsport Company, 2121 South Alameda in L.A. I’ll call and make sure they’re still open.” After a short conversation, she hung up. “They close at ten p.m.”
“It’s not far.”
“Did you wonder about how they were financing all this? I mean the apartment, the house on Spring Street, everything?”
“I was until you said they never recovered the money from Radek’s armored-car robberies.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” she said. “The total haul was almost a million and a half.”
“Apparently, even criminals have figured out that it takes money to make money.”
The traffic was light and it took only twenty minutes to get to the sports store. “I’ll go find out where we’re going next.”
She watched him walk inside and felt a rush of anticipation. To distract herself she started scanning through the FM stations on the radio. By the time she found one she liked, he was getting back in the car. “Amazing how fast they can find something when it’s closing time.” He started the car and, after checking a map, made a U-turn.
“Where are we going?”
“West Seventh Street. They sell those tanks for paint-balling. The name the buyer used was Thomas Carson, with this address.” He handed her a slip of paper.
“Think the name’s a phony?”
“If it isn’t, it’d be the first one. Why don’t you call someone at the office anyhow and have them check indices. Also ask them if there’s an employee by that name. Just in case.”
Kate called the Los Angeles office and was told that no one by the name of Thomas Carson worked there, and indices also failed to find any record of it. “Nothing,” she said after hanging up. “I hope that doesn’t mean the address is no good.”
“So far, every time we have run into an alias, the address has been good. If it is this time, you know what that means.”
Kate said, “You think this is an ambush?”
“I’m hoping so.” The surprised look on her face asked the question. “Because we’re not going to get any closer if it isn’t. Unless you’ve discovered a way to make an omelet without breaking eggs.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I’m starting to wonder if there is such a thing as an omelet.”


THE WEST SEVENTH STREET address was in a commercial neighborhood that in recent years had begun to be gentrified. The structure was a seventy-five-year-old office building and was thirteen stories, taking up a city block. Neglect and the hydrocarbons of Los Angeles’s automobile culture had left the structure stained and unappealing. But apparently someone had recognized not only the subtle architectural qualities of the building but also its easily alterable construction and dimensions and was spending several million dollars rejuvenating it. The stone pediments that accented the top two floors had been sandblasted back to their original spotless beige. The upper-floor windows had been removed, and the spaces were now covered with heavy-gauge clear plastic awaiting energy-saving replacements. Scaffolding hung from thin cables a hundred feet long. A heavy tarplike material surrounded the three lower floors to keep debris from falling. A temporary walkway with a protective overhead had been constructed along the sidewalks that surround the building. “This is different,” Vail said.
“Different how?”
“The prison and the tunnel were abandoned sites. This building’s being rehabbed.”
“It’s nice to see that the Pentad’s found a more glass-half-full place to try to kill you.”
“Not me, darlin’, us.” Vail turned the corner. “Let’s see if we can find the construction entrance. We’ll set up on it for a while and see what happens.”
Vail drove slowly around the building. It was a little after 10 p.m. and there was little traffic. Kate was leaning forward searching the enormous structure through the windshield. “Is that it down at the end of the building?” she asked.
“Unpainted plywood doors with a padlock on it. Looks like it, but let’s drive all the way around and see if there is any other way in.”
As they drove by, Kate could see the door had been pried open and left slightly ajar. “Looks like someone is already here.”
“Let’s get an eye on it and see if anyone else shows up.”
He parked the car as far away as he could while still being able to see the door. Both of them slouched down in the seat. For the next half hour they watched the building. Occasionally a car drove by, but none stopped. Then a man on foot rounded the corner and, under the shadows of the protective overhead, slipped into the building through the jimmied door. “Did you get a look at him? Was it Radek?” Kate asked.
“I couldn’t tell.”
“I know you’re not going to agree, but maybe it’s time to call for some help. I know that means Kaulcrick. But if we’re looking at the big finish here, will it matter?”
“That’s still a fairly good-sized if.”
“Maybe they’ve got the money hidden in there, or they’re in there splitting it up so they can run.”
“I don’t know what’s in there, but I know they wouldn’t leave a trail to the money.”
“So do we wait, or do we call in the cavalry?”
“Unfortunately, we have no choice. The two of us can’t surround this place.”
“What do I tell Don?”
“I suppose you’ve got to tell him the truth. Just minimize it by telling him we didn’t know if Radek was involved for sure until we discovered his car, which—without any bomb squad details—led us here. And now that we know that Radek’s probably involved, we didn’t want to try to arrest him until he got here.”
“That’s pretty thin,” she said.
“Then tell him we didn’t want him involved because we thought he’d screw it up.”
“Much better.” She dialed Kaulcrick’s cell and, when he answered, explained how they had identified Radek as a possible leader of the Pentad and then found his car and the booby trap, which led them to the building they now sat watching. Vail could tell by the long pauses during which Kate listened that the assistant director wasn’t buying their “stumbling” across another member of the Pentad crew.
When she hung up, Vail asked, “I’m guessing he didn’t take it like a man?”
“I think you actually have to be a man to take it like a man. He’s getting ahold of the SAC, every available agent, SWAT, and I think he said something about the Marines. And of course he said under no circumstances are we to do anything until he gets here.”
“With that kind of call-out, we’ll be lucky if they’re here in an hour.”
“I’m guessing it’ll be closer to two.”
“No LAPD?”
“I don’t think he wants anyone stealing what’s left of the thunder.”
She looked over at Vail and could see he had shifted gears. “I don’t like sitting here waiting,” he said. “They’re not going to stay in there forever.”
“If I have to hold you at gunpoint, we’re not going in there until everyone gets here.” Then recognizing that look in his eyes, she said, “Steve, I’m begging you, don’t.”
Vail put his head back and closed his eyes. “Okay, then you’ve got first watch.”
She studied him as he sat there. His breathing slowed and she could tell he was already half asleep. She just shook her head in wonder.
For the next fifteen minutes, she busied herself with writing down the license plate numbers of passing cars. She knew it was an exercise in futility, but she hoped it would help the time pass. Then a full-size sedan pulled up to the construction door, a blue light flashing on its dashboard. She nudged Vail. “Is that an agent?”
Vail put the monocular up to his eye. “I don’t recognize him, but that doesn’t mean much. It does look like a BU car.”
A man in a suit and tie got out and, after turning off the light and drawing his weapon, carefully opened the construction door and slipped inside. She said, “Damn! Someone must have put out an ‘agents need assistance’ call at this address. We have to stop him.” Vail got out quickly and went to the trunk.
Kate hurried after him. He took out magazines and put them in his jacket pockets. “What are you doing?”
“Either someone at the office put out the wrong information or whoever’s inside found a way to lure an agent in there. They knew we’d see him and chase after him. He’s bait for us.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Are you willing to take that chance? Call the office and let them know. When they get here, you can follow me in.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Wait until somebody else gets here.”
“You did hear yourself use the word ‘bait,’ didn’t you? I won’t allow you to go alone.”
Vail stared at her for a second before a short burst of laughter escaped from his mouth. “Then you’d better make that call quick.” As she took extra magazines herself, he shoved a flashlight in his back pocket. They started walking toward the building. She dialed the office. In a low tone, she explained the situation and that every available agent should proceed to the West Seventh Avenue address immediately.
They reached the door and Vail said, “When we get inside don’t say anything or move around. Just stand there and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. There should be enough light coming in off the street for us to be able to see. If you’re going to shoot, make sure of your target. A construction job this big should have a night watchman.”
“You’re not going to use the flashlight?”
“We’ll be enough of a target.” They stepped inside, and he eased the door shut as they both listened.
Kate said, “What now?”
“If that guy was an agent, we just have to listen. Are you familiar with the expression ‘Ride to the sound of gunfire’?”
“Who said that?”
“Custer.” He turned and walked toward two dots of white light across the darkness.
“Very reassuring.”
“Stay directly behind me.”
As he suspected, the two tiny circles of light were the Up and Down buttons for an elevator. He pushed Up. “How do we know what floor?”
Vail said, “They’ll find a way to let us know.”
“Again, reassuring.”
The elevator came and they got in. Vail pushed the buttons to all the floors and then drew his automatic. Reaching up, he used the muzzle to break the single lightbulb and the car went dark. Kate took her gun from the holster and wrapped both hands around it. He said, “Don’t hold it with both hands. It makes it too hard to maneuver. You’re probably going to be ducking a lot sooner than you’ll be shooting.”
The car jolted to a stop and then swayed back and forth slightly as the doors to the second floor started to open. As soon as they were wide enough, a body in a gray uniform fell through the opening. It was tied to an eight-foot-long two-by-six to give the corpse enough rigidity to lean against the door. The handle of a large screwdriver was sticking out of the guard’s chest. Vail checked his throat for a pulse. “I’m going to guess they know we’re here.”
Kate stared down at the body. The brutality with which he had been killed and displayed released a panicked surge of adrenaline through her bloodstream. In the dark, quiet surroundings, it seemed dreamlike, vivid but not real, something that would surely go away if she closed her eyes for just a second or two.
Vail grabbed her roughly by the arm. “You’re going to need to focus, otherwise you’re a liability.” He picked up the body, carried it out of the elevator, and laid it down with a surprising gentleness.
Kate shook her head as if trying to come out of a deep sleep. “I’m here, I’m here.”
“Good,” Vail said, pressing the button to close the elevator doors.
“You don’t think they’re on this floor?” Kate asked.
“They’re going to be closer to the top.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s their MO to wear us out before we get to…”
“The Little Big Horn?”
“Close enough.”
As the doors opened at each floor, she caught herself holding her breath. With each stop, she understood the odds were increasing dramatically that the next time the doors opened, they would be waiting. Then she realized she was letting happen exactly what Vail had warned her against—the group psyching her out. But how was it possible not to be intimidated by this? She glanced over at Vail, who appeared as matter-of-fact as usual.
Whether it was Vail’s composure or fear’s tendency to eventually diminish itself through logic, by the time the doors opened on the eleventh floor, the terror she felt was at a level only high enough to give her a combative edge. She stared into the darkness, ready. Again there was nothing. As the doors started to close, Vail grabbed one of them and pulled it open. “What!” she whispered.
“Smell it?”
She started to say no, but then she did recognize something. “Garlic?”
“Overpowering garlic.”
“So?”
“That means someone had their dinner up here. Which means they’ve been here for a while.”
“Waiting for us?”
“Once Radek found that car gone, he knew that it would only be a matter of time until we worked our way here.”
“Can you explain to me how you know that?”
“Not now, dear.”
She regripped her automatic. “Are we getting off?”
“Let’s go up one more floor.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the garlic isn’t intentional.” He let go of the door and it closed. “These people have played with our minds so much that logic has become a handicap. We just have to go with instinct and hope we can react quickly enough when the time comes.”
“Wasn’t that Custer’s plan?”
“And it worked every time but one.”
The door opened on the twelfth floor. Vail and Kate could see an office straight ahead at the far end. A single light illuminated its half-glass walls. The man they had seen exiting the automobile with the flashing blue light and enter the building sat in a chair facing them. His mouth was gagged and his hands were pulled back behind him and immobile. He spotted them and started nodding his head furiously. Vail let the doors close without getting off. “What are you doing?” Kate asked.
He took out his lock-back knife. Opening it, he handed it to her. “Be careful, it’s like a razor. You go to him slowly, and I mean slowly. I’m going to walk backward right behind you. Once you get to him, cut him loose.”
“Do you think they’re here or down a floor?”
“I wish I could tell you a floor down.” He pushed the button and the doors opened. Vail grabbed Kate by the arm, pulling her into the relative darkness. She felt his back against her. She tried to slip her finger onto the trigger but realized she was gripping her gun too tightly. She loosened her grip until it felt more familiar. With the knife in her left hand, she started toward the gagged man. Vail followed gently against her back.
After a few steps, she remembered the garlic and tried to see if the odor was present, but she couldn’t smell it. In fact, she couldn’t smell anything, not the mustiness of the building or the distinct smells of construction and its crews. Apparently, her sense of smell had shut down. She hoped that the myth about the loss of one sense increasing the others was true. She turned her head to one side and then to the other trying to see into the darkness surrounding them.
Now she was close enough to see the man’s eyes. Although his mouth was covered she tried to recognize him from around the office. He didn’t look familiar. She watched his eyes closely, thinking that if the others were around, he would signal her by shifting them in their direction, but they were locked on her.
Once she got through the office door, she moved quickly to him. Vail stood in the doorway searching the black stillness behind them. She held the knife up to indicate to the man that she was going to free his hands when she noticed that his feet weren’t bound to the chair.
He burst upright and she could now see his hands were free. In his right hand was a revolver. Instinctively she slashed at the hand with the knife in her left hand. The sharp blade tore through the tendons and muscles of his wrist, paralyzing his hand. She felt the sickening resistance as steel struck bone. The gun now hung precariously, dangling from his useless trigger finger, which was caught in the guard.
He started to transfer it to his left hand, but Kate’s right hand was faster. She shoved her automatic against his chest and pulled the trigger twice. He fell to the floor dead.
A burst of automatic-weapons fire raked the office, exploding the windows. Kate felt something slam into her. She spun to the floor and felt the coolness of blood escaping from her side. At the same time, Vail dove to the floor, firing a single shot over her head, putting out the desk lamp. Everything went black. She heard him crawling to her through the shattered glass.
“Are you hit?” he asked in her ear.
“I think so. My side,” she said a little louder than she wanted to.
He slid a little closer and gently put his hand up under her blouse, his fingertips immediately finding the entry wound. Although it stung a great deal, she was reassured by Vail’s hand exploring it. She felt him reach back, identifying the exit hole. “It’s through and through. The bleeding isn’t bad. Looks like it may have bounced off a rib.” He took out his handkerchief and opened it. “Just keep this pressed against both holes.”
She did as instructed, and as with any traumatic wound, her touch made it less threatening.
Vail dragged the dead man over to the wall and leaned him against it on his side. He then pulled Kate over and had her lie next to the body. “That’s an assault rifle. It’ll shoot right through this wall, but I don’t think it’ll get through him too, so stay right here.” He handed her the flashlight and took a coin out of his pocket. “When you hear this quarter land out there, stick your arm straight up and snap the flashlight on and off over the top of the wall. Then pull your arm down even faster.”
Silently Vail maneuvered back to the corner of the office and stood up invisibly in the deep shadows. Kate held her breath, not wanting to miss the sound of the quarter hitting the floor. She understood it was her job to draw fire. It seemed like it was taking Vail forever, and at the same time she hoped she’d never hear the coin land.
But then the quarter struck something metallic. She held the light straight up, even rising from behind the corpse to ensure that the light went over the bottom half of the wall. She snapped it on and off and then pulled herself close behind the body. Immediately automatic fire raked the wall. She felt at least two rounds thud into the body in front of her. Then, illuminated by the flashes of his Glock as he fired three times, Kate saw Vail’s face, stoic, workmanlike, as if he were at the range. She heard a body fall, and then there was nothing but more of the black, horrid silence. She waited a few seconds before asking in a strained whisper, “Is that it?”
“One more,” he answered.
Had Vail seen another man during the exchange? Kate thought back. The door had been jimmied when they arrived, meaning someone was already inside. They had then watched two more arrive, including the “agent.” Two of them were now dead.
Vail took a quick step out of the shadows and dove through the shattered office window. Three gunshots skidded after him. During the brief bursts of light, he was able to locate the gunman and the obstacles that lay between them. He still couldn’t tell whether it was Radek. The shooter was barricaded behind a large wheelbarrow used to haul cement. Vail doubted that one of his rounds would pierce it, especially because of its curved surfaces. But he had spotted something immediately off to the gunman’s left side, a steel beam exposed by the construction work. He needed to get another look at it to confirm the angles of its surfaces. He decided on a position to move to and fired another burst in the general direction of the last gunman to keep his head down.
Once there, he fired again, moving behind a three-foot-high pile of drywall and at the same time noting the steel beam’s details. He was now in a better position for what he was going to attempt.
In the vague blue light coming in the windows, he could see exactly where the beam was and the angle of its surfaces in relation to the final gunman. Quietly, he slid a full magazine into his Glock and stepped from behind the Sheetrock pile. Standing up tall, he took a two-handed grip on the Glock and sighted it on the beam. He started firing slowly, watching the sparking impact of each round on the steel beam, adjusting his aim slightly after each one. The slugs ricocheted closer and closer to the man’s position. Finally one hit him, causing him to grunt deeply. Somewhere in the torso or legs, Vail judged. He moved his point of aim higher on the beam, and the gunman, realizing he had nowhere to go, reached his hand up over the wheelbarrow and fired blindly, trying to get Vail to stop shooting. Vail took aim at his hand and fired one round, striking either the hand or the arm. He stepped back behind the drywall stack and shoved another magazine into his automatic. The sound of sirens racing toward them now penetrated the building. For once, the troops had arrived at the right time.
He knew that with his quarry wounded, he could simply walk toward him and shoot intermittently until he was safely over him, then take him into custody if he chose to surrender. If not, killing him was not a disagreeable alternative. Vail took a single step and then heard a shotgun racking a shell into the chamber. He turned and dove back behind the drywall. The gunman fired three blasts and then Vail could hear him moving toward the elevator. He started to look over the stack of building material when another explosion of double-aught buck slammed into the front edge of Vail’s concealment.
The elevator opened and Vail stood up to fire. He caught a glimpse of the man dragging his bleeding leg into it and fired one more shot into the car just before the doors closed. Vail didn’t know if he had hit him. He considered looking for the stairs, but by now the building was surrounded. And running around with a gun in his hand didn’t seem like a good idea. More important, Kate needed attention. Her wound hadn’t looked bad, but he had examined it in the dark. He hurried over to her. “He’s gone,” he told her.
Kate stood up, still pressing Vail’s handkerchief to her side. He took the flashlight from her and checked the wound. “Will I live?” she said, forcing a smile.
He dabbed at the wounds analytically and then had her again hold the handkerchief against them. “Unfortunately, deputy assistant directors are not that easy to kill.”
Suddenly the floor shook with an explosion. Vail shined the light over at the elevator. Dust and debris billowed out from the crack between its doors. Kate said, “I guess that was meant for us. Good thing you never pressed the Down button.” She looked for a reaction from Vail, but his mind was once again racing ahead.