The Bricklayer

TWENTY-EIGHT

THIS LOOKS NICE,” VAIL SAID.
“I hope you like Chinese.”
The restaurant was large and busy. The waiters spoke a minimum of English and the busboys none. The noise level was considerably higher than Sargasso’s. He wondered if Kate had reconsidered her offer and was sending him a message. She ordered a diet soft drink, apparently not wanting to test her resistance to both Vail and alcohol again. It was probably for the best anyway. If he should have the opportunity to take his shirt off later and she saw the bandage on his shoulder, a new round of trust disputes would be sparked.
“You’ve seen me eat. Do you think there’s anything I don’t like?”
“Somebody in the office suggested it,” Kate said. “So there really wasn’t anything out at that ranch? Maybe the garlic clue was supposed to take you in a different direction.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. It was left for a reason. If there was no trap at the ranch, then I don’t know.”
“Another one of life’s unsolved mysteries. How are the paper wars going at the office?”
“Mind-numbing. You owe us a few reports, you know.”
“302s are for court testimony. The last I knew dead men aren’t usually prosecuted. Or is the United States attorney’s office low on stats?” he asked.
“I don’t know about conviction rates, but they’re soon to be short one assistant USA.”
“Tye?”
“They’ve suspended her until the case can be reviewed. It isn’t looking good.”
“Aren’t they the courageous bunch. She was leaving anyhow. That was the reason for the article.”
“You like her, don’t you?” Vail shot her a look. “No, I mean as a person.”
“I didn’t hear anybody complaining when we needed a friendly legal face.”
The waiter came and they both ordered.
Kate said, “Have you thought any more about the director’s offer?”
“Yes, but I don’t know how seriously. I need to go back to Chicago and work for a while and see how everything feels. I’m not sure making a decision right now would be in anyone’s best interest.”
“When are you going back?”
Vail thought about being shot at. He wasn’t going to let that go. And he wasn’t going to tell Kate. “I’ll stick around for a couple of days. Make sure I didn’t leave any loose ends hanging. Mostly I’m doing it so I can ignore your orders that I do paperwork.”


THE EVENING ENDED matter-of-factly with Kate and Vail saying good night to each other as he got off the elevator one floor below hers. He guessed there would be no third attempt to roll that rock up the hill. He lay in bed trying to read. The night before had been perfect until Tye called. Tonight couldn’t have been any more ordinary. Last night they had tried to be two relatively normal people, looking for physical companionship. Tonight the real Kate and Steve showed up and proved they were who they were. And that last night’s little drama-comedy was a one-night-only engagement.
He tried reading the same paragraph again but became distracted by the image of her laughing over the white linen tablecloth at Sargasso’s, her hand absentmindedly caressing the wineglass, her skin flawless in the candlelight. He set the book down and turned off the light. He suspected it was going to be a night without much sleep.
After a few minutes of staring into the darkness, the phone rang. “Hello,” he answered quickly.
“Vail…” It was a male voice that he couldn’t quite identify.
“Yes.”
There was an unnatural laugh. “Sorry I missed you at the ranch today.”
Vail was speechless. It was the voice he had heard the day he killed Lee Salton—Victor Radek’s. “Apparently we’re both hard to kill.”
“We’ll see.” The voice now became amused. “Guess why I’m calling.”
“Well, there is a rumor going around that you’ve had a couple of financial setbacks. I could lend you a couple of bucks if you wanted to meet me.”
“You do get a quick read on people. I am calling about money, but I was thinking more like three million bucks.”
“I’ll have to go to an ATM, but okay. Where and when?”
“Actually I was thinking you could go to the FBI office and get it there.”
“The funny thing about that is the FBI actually thinks it’s theirs.”
“That’s why you’re going to have to steal it.”
“I hope you’ve got a plan B.”
“I’m sticking with plan A.” Vail then heard him say to someone in the room with him, “Say something.”
When there was no response, he heard a violent slap. Then, “Steve, I’m sorry.” It was Tye Delson.
Radek came back on the phone. “Do you still need a plan B?”
“No.”
“Good. Here’s the way it’s going to go. I’ll call you at midnight on your cell phone. Make sure you have the money by then. If you don’t…well, you know the rest of it. I’m going to put you over a few hurdles to make sure you’re following all the rules.”
“And those are?” Vail asked.
“No one knows about this. If you try to backdoor me, I’ll know. Ask yourself how I know what hotel you’re in, or that the money is still in L.A., or how I knew to grab your girlfriend here at her apartment. Also, I’ve set a number of obstacles along the course you’ll have to follow, so if anybody else from the FBI is involved…well, you know those clowns, they’ll stumble over them and cost the princess here her life. Then we’ll both have to start looking for a plan B, which for someone with my limited imagination starts with more bodies. Funny thing is I was going to be satisfied with just killing you this morning, and then I saw the article about the prosecutor.”
Vail suspected Radek was trying a little too hard to prove he had someone on the inside. He could have found out about Vail’s hotel from Tye or her cell phone. It had been only a couple of days since the recovery of the three million dollars, and with all that had been going on, it was a pretty safe bet the money would not have been taken back to Washington yet. As far as getting Tye’s home address, someone as streetwise as Radek would have no trouble conning a clerk or secretary from the USA’s office into giving it up, especially after her embarrassing article in the newspaper. Or he could actually have someone in the FBI feeding him information. Vail decided he couldn’t take the chance. Especially since Radek was right about the others stumbling through the exchange. The tunnel had proven that.
“I’ll be alone.”
“I know you will. You’re a loner. You could have called for help when we were following you that day, but you took Salton on by yourself. Same thing at the ranch this morning. If nobody else is around, you might get a chance to kill me, is that it?”
“You’ll have to admit, you do need killing.”
Radek brayed a cold, angry laugh. “I could make the same argument. You’ve been ruining the beauty of this operation since the tunnel. I should have killed you then, but now all I want is my money so I can get out of this stinking country.”
“It might be worth three million to get rid of you, but one question, the guy in the elevator.”
“Benny? He was one of my dummies from prison. We were all in his apartment when I sent the three of them to that building to kill you. After they left I took his toothbrush and put it in my apartment where you’d find it.”
“You have them take all the chances, and then you send them out to die. I can see why you don’t want anyone to know you’re still alive—they might somehow get the idea that you’re a coward.”
“Run your mouth one more time, Vail, and me and the princess here are going to start getting more friendly. I like them with a little more meat, but as a special consideration for everything you’ve cost me…”
“Okay, okay, I’ll get the money.”
“Midnight, hero. And no guns. Just your cell phone and a flashlight. And don’t waste your time trying to trace this phone.” Vail heard something heavy smash the phone just as the line went dead.


VAIL WALKED into Kate’s office carrying his suitcases, both empty. He tried the handle on the safe drawer. It was locked, which meant the money was still in there. She had said something about the accountants working a special and not being able to get to it for a few days. He dialed the combination and it opened. Two of the drawers were brimming with packs of hundred-dollar bills just the way he had stacked them. Quickly, he filled the suitcases.


VICTOR RADEK kneeled over a large sheet of steel plate. He had a welding mask on and was attaching the last of four metal rings to it. When he was finished, he turned off the hissing torch and heard the muffled complaints of a woman. They were coming from the baby monitor next to him. The transmitter unit was inside the sealed wooden box a few feet away. It was roughly the size of a small coffin. He got up and went over to the box, kicking it viciously. “This is the last time I’m going to tell you to shut up, and then I’m going to take a cutting torch to the box.” The monitor fell silent.
“I’ll tell you when to start moaning for help.”
He went over to the wall and pushed a button, which activated a crane that lifted the steel plate into the air. He nodded with satisfaction at the way the huge plane of metal was balanced.