The Hit

Chapter





61





THE CAR WAS PARKED OUTSIDE of a grill pub across from a bank. It was late, the darkness deep and broken only by the exterior light of the building.

There were only four other cars in the parking lot. One car’s lights came on as the owner hit the unlock button on her key fob.

She walked toward the car, staggering slightly. She had had more to drink than she probably should have. But she lived close by and was confident she could navigate the roads to her home safely.

She climbed into the car and closed the door behind her. She started to put the key in the ignition when a hand clamped over her mouth.

Her right hand went to her purse, to retrieve the pistol she kept there. But another hand encircled her wrist and held it inches from the purse.

The passenger door opened and the woman climbed in.

She had her gun pointed at the driver’s head.

The woman with the gun was Jessica Reel.

The woman in the driver’s seat did not seem to recognize her. She started, though, when the man’s voice from the backseat said, “I might need you to sew me up again, Doc. The tracking device in the sutures got broken.”

In the rearview mirror Karin Meenan looked at Will Robie.

He said, “Start the car. Then we’ll tell you where to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” said Meenan.

Reel pulled the hammer back on her gun.

“Then she’s going to put a bullet in your head right now,” said Robie.

Meenan glanced at Reel, who was staring directly at her. The look in the woman’s features was clear. She wanted to pull the trigger. She was hoping for any chance, any opportunity provided by Meenan, to do so.

Meenan started the car, put it in gear, and drove off. Robie directed her to a dilapidated motel about five miles away. They parked in the rear and Reel and Robie bookended Meenan as they walked to their room.

Robie closed the door behind them and directed Meenan to sit on the bed.

She stared up at them. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, Robie. You’re in a lot of trouble. You’ve kidnapped me at gunpoint.”

Robie sat in a chair and seemed not to have heard her. Reel stood with her back to the door and her gun pointed at her.

Meenan snapped, “Who the hell are you?”

“You know who she is,” said Robie calmly.

Meenan turned to look at him.

“And you might want to watch your drinking and driving,” noted Robie. “Two beers and a shot of tequila. You’re officially shit-faced. That could cost you your clearance and your job.”

“You were watching me?”

“No, we just happened on you by accident. I feel so lucky right now, I’m going to play the Lotto.”

“You’re cracking jokes?” she snapped. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’re going to prison for this.”

“Is that the same bar where you met Roy West?” Robie asked.

“I never met Roy West at a bar. He was briefly a patient of mine. I already told you that.”

“You want to reconsider that answer?”

“Why should I?”

Robie slipped a photo from his pocket. “I had a friend at the FBI pull this off the surveillance camera from the bank across the street from the bar.”

He held it up. On the image were Roy West and Meenan getting into her car.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. So I had a drink with Roy West. So what?”

Robie slipped off his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeve, revealing where the sutures had been.

“I took out these and the ones you put in my leg. Pretty ingenious stuff. Communication filaments and an internal power source disguised basically as stitches. GPS locator. Satellite up- and downlink. Probably electronically lit me up like the Eiffel Tower at night. The agency has really made great strides in the surveillance business.”

Meenan looked at Reel. “Robie, if that is Jessica Reel you should be arresting her. Or killing her. She’s the enemy. Not me.”

“Who told you to put those sutures in me?” asked Robie. “Sam Kent?”

Meenan made no reaction to this.

“Howard Decker,” said Reel.

Again, no reaction from Meenan. She kept her gaze on the far wall.

“Somebody else up high,” Robie barked.

Now, there was the barest of flinches from Meenan. But it was enough.

She must have realized that she had given herself away. She looked at Robie with an ugly expression. “You have no chance.”

“I was about to say the same thing to you.”

This came from Reel, who had placed her muzzle against the back of Meenan’s head.

The doctor looked at Robie with pleading eyes. “You’re just going to let her murder me?”

Robie’s look was impassive. “I don’t know, Doc. People have been trying to murder us. Why should you be any different?”

“But...but you’re one of us.”

“One of us? I don’t really know what that means anymore.”

“Please, Robie, please.”

“I’m not sure what to do with you, Doc. Can’t really let you go.”

Meenan was crying now. “I won’t say anything. I swear to God.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” said Robie.

He glanced at Reel. “What do you think?”

Meenan shrieked, “Don’t ask her! She’s crazy! She’s a traitor!”

Reel looked at Robie. “Okay?”

“Okay by me.”

“No!” screamed Meenan.

Reel dropped her muzzle to the base of Meenan’s neck and pulled the trigger.