Fast and Loose

54

Jake Herman got to the house first. He found the junction box for the alarm system and disconnected it, then he picked the lock on the back door, went in, unlocked the other doors, and made himself some coffee in the kitchen. The phone rang, but it soon stopped.

He liked the house, particularly the study, and he made himself at home in there with the Washington Post and the New York Times, which he had picked up at the diner.

Macher, using a burner phone, called Jake’s cell from the road.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“At the house. Pretty nice.”

“I thought you’d been there before. We had the place under surveillance for a few days a while back.”

“Nope. I didn’t get that duty.”

“Did you disconnect the alarm?”

“I did.”

“What are you doing now?”

“Reading the papers and having some of our host’s coffee. There’s no food in the house, so if you’re planning to be here for a while, you’d better pick up some groceries.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. See you in an hour or so.” Macher hung up and turned into a shopping center, where there was a supermarket. Half an hour later he was back on the road with a trunk full of food and drink.

Stone was at his desk when Joan buzzed. “Ed Rawls for you on one.”

“Hello, Ed.”

“Morning, Stone. Anything unusual happening there?”

“Well, let’s see. In the middle of the night there was a gun battle in front of my house, and the perpetrator is in Bellevue with a couple of slugs in him. Turns out, he had planted a bomb outside before he was arrested, but we got that taken care of before it could go off.”

“Sounds like Macher.”

“Sounds exactly like Macher. The perp’s car was registered to his Virginia security company, and the Arlington police have searched his offices, looking for Jake Herman, his number one man, who was implicated by the shooter. Macher was in his office in Arlington, but he’s probably on the run by now.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Rawls said. “I got a call from the alarm system monitor for my Virginia house. Someone has disconnected the alarm.”

“I’ll call Dino and see that the local police are notified.”

“My house is in the country, and the local sheriff’s office is understaffed. They don’t think much of domestic alarm system calls, since nine out of ten are homeowners who have entered the wrong code or otherwise fucked it up.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

“I’m headed to Virginia this morning, anyway. It’s getting too cold for me in Maine. I was going to drive, but I think I’ll charter a light airplane from the Rockland airport. If I start now, I can be down there in, say, three hours.”

“You’d better go armed, if Jake Herman is in your house.”

“Where do you think Macher is?” Ed asked.

“No idea. I’ll see what Dino knows and get back to you.”

Stone dialed the number.

“Bacchetti.”

“It’s Stone. Can you get another fix on Macher’s cell phone?”

“Hang on.” Dino put him on hold for a minute, then came back. “He’s still in Virginia, but he’s moved south to a spot not far from the workplace of your buddy Lance Cabot.”

“That sounds like Ed Rawls’s house.”

“Is Ed down there?”

“No, but he’s headed that way. Thanks.” Stone hung up and called Rawls.

Rawls was packing when Stone called. “Hello?”

“Ed, Dino’s got a fix on Macher, and he’s at a location not far from Langley. That sound familiar?”

“You bet your sweet ass, it does. I gotta run.” He called the airport and ordered up their Cessna 182, then finished packing. He called a local cab to take him to the airport.

Stone called Dino.

“Bacchetti.”

“I just got a call from Ed Rawls. Somebody has disconnected the alarm at his house in Virginia. I told him about your hit on Macher’s phone, and he’s on the way down there. I don’t want him to walk in on them. Can you call the cop shop down there and get them to check the house?”

“Listen, I can’t call out the local gendarmerie in some Podunk place in another state, just because Ed Rawls has a hair up his ass. Does he have a security system?”

“Yes, and it went off this morning.”

“If they get an alarm anomaly, somebody’ll check it out. I’m not going to get involved.”

“Do the Arlington police know where Macher is now?”

“He was in his office an hour ago, when they left.”

“Okay, thanks.” Stone hung up and Googled Macher’s company, then called.

“EMServices,” a woman said.

“Erik Macher, please.”

“He’s out at the moment. Who’s calling?”

“A friend. When do you expect him back?”

“It may be a day or two, he said.”

“Thanks.” Stone hung up and called Rawls back.

“Rawls.”

“Macher’s office says he’s gone for a couple of days. Does he know about your house?”

“He certainly does. He had surveillance on it for several days.”

“What’s the nearest airport?”

“I’m flying into Manassas. They’re picking me up in half an hour to go to Islesboro Airport.”

“Tell you what, I’ll fly into Manassas, too. Meet me there.”

“Okay. Whoever lands first can just wait.”

“Right. Are you armed?”

“You bet your ass.”

“I’m not licensed down there.”

“The rural law tends to look kindly on that sort of thing if you’re licensed anywhere at all.”

“Okay, Ed, I’ll see you when I see you.” They hung up.

Stone buzzed Joan.

“Yes, boss?”

“I’ve got to go somewhere. Please call the airport and have the airplane brought up and refueled, pronto, and tell Fred I need a ride.”

“Will do.”

Stone hung up and went upstairs to pack a bag. Fred drove him to the airport, and he filed a flight plan for Manassas on the way. The airplane was on the ramp when he arrived; he did his usual preflight inspection, then ran through the cockpit checklist and got a clearance. That done, he started the engines, finished his checklist, and got permission to taxi. There were a few corporate jets ahead of him, and it took another half hour to get off the ground.

The flight time was a little over an hour, so he stayed fairly low, at 20,000 feet, instead of climbing to 41,000. It burned more fuel down there, but it saved time on ascent and descent. The weather was clear at both ends, so he anticipated no delays.