Shoot Him If He Runs

23

Holly made sure her group was already seated for dinner when Bill Pepper and his wife arrived. They were placed three or four tables away, but the bright green linen jacket marked him well. He was in his late thirties, blondish hair, the very picture of the young American businessman.

Holly and the others talked through dinner about everything but why they were there-Robertson and the colonel. Holly was worried that even the tables might be bugged.

At nine-fifteen, Pepper rose from his chair and, ignoring them, walked out of the dining room toward the men’s room. Holly waited the prescribed minute, then headed for the ladies’. At the end of the hallway, past the restrooms, she opened a door with a big red “EXIT” sign over it and stepped into the parking lot. It took a moment for her eyes to become used to the darkness, then, a few yards away, the overhead light went on in a car, then went off again. She made her way to the white Avalon and got in. “I’m Holly Barker,” she said, offering her hand.

“Bill Pepper,” he said, shaking it.

“Is that a trade name?”

“Probably. What do you want to know?”

“Have you found out anything more about this Robertson? Or about Pemberton or Weatherby?”

“I think-and this isn’t official opinion yet, since not enough people at Langley agree-that Robertson, as he calls himself, is an Englishman named Barney Cox, who Scotland Yard believes is one of four men who robbed a shipment of money at Heathrow Airport about nine months ago. They got away with something over a hundred million pounds sterling.”

“I read about that in the papers; I didn’t know the police there had identified them.”

“‘Identified’ is too strong a word. All they know for sure is that Cox disappeared simultaneously with the robbery, and they only know that because his wife made a missing persons report a day later.”

“Did she have any information about the robbery?”

“No; all she knew was that her husband went to work one day and didn’t come back. They had been married for more than thirty years and had two grown children.”

“Did he have a criminal record?”

“No, he was an ordinary civilian; he sold computers to businesses. In fact, he was director of sales for his company.”

“Why do you think Robertson is Barney Cox?”

“Description, timing, money, and the fact that he says he’s retired from the computer business, which, if he is Cox, is a stupid thing to say.”

“Do you have any other possible identities in mind for him?”

“Well, I don’t think he’s the Lindbergh baby; did you have somebody else in mind?”

“Not really.”

“Then what are you doing in St. Marks?”

“I take it Lance didn’t tell you.”

“No, but he didn’t tell me not to ask, either.”

“Don’t ask.”

“Okay, sure.”

“And what you’ve just told me is as much as you have for thinking Robertson is Barney Cox?”

Pepper threw up his hands. “Lance told me to tell you what I know about him; that’s what I know and what I think. Oh, I forgot, he has a false identity, which is what Barney Cox would have, too. Anything else?”

“Tell me about Colonel Croft.”

“Ah, now there’s a piece of work. His real name is Maurice Benet, and he’s Haitian.”

“That explains the odd accent.”

“It explains a lot of things. When Benet was twenty, he was a captain in Papa Doc’s Tonton Macoutes. You know about them?”

“The Haitian secret police?”

“They were a happy band of murderers and torturers, whose main job was to scare the shit out of anybody who had a discouraging word to say about Papa Doc or his regime. They did this by kidnapping, torturing and murdering anybody who annoyed them, then delivering the mutilated corpse home to the family.”

“How did he end up in St. Marks?”

“When Baby Doc’s regime fell, Benet and a cohort of his escaped the island with a large bundle of various currencies and island-hopped for a while, ending up here, in the happy arms of Sir Winston Sutherland. Sutherland found a place in the police force for him and his buddy, and he’s been clawing his way up ever since. He’s been a little more restrained than when he was in Haiti, but he’s matured, I guess. He still scares the shit out of people, though.”

“How did you identify him?”

“I followed him into a bar and got his right index fingerprint off a bar glass. It’s confirmed; there’s no guessing about this guy.”

“Is he wanted anywhere?”

“Sure, he’s wanted in Haiti, but that place is such a mess they probably wouldn’t know what to do if he turned up on a street corner in Port-au-Prince.”

“How’d you get hold of Robertson’s application for buying a house?”

“I’ve been hacking into the government computers almost since I arrived here a year ago. I can find out just about anything you’d want to know, and a great deal you wouldn’t want to know.”

“I want to know if Colonel Croft has any real interest in our party.”

“If you’re here, he’s interested. I hope to God you didn’t yank out those bugs on your phones, because if you did, he’s going to be all over you.”

“I didn’t; they’re still in place; we’re just being careful what we say when we’re in the house.”

“I hear you’ve been up to Irene Foster’s.”

“Yes.”

“She’s probably bugged, too; did you say anything indiscreet there?”

“Certainly not, and I don’t think she’s bugged, because when Stone Barrington happened to mention to the colonel he’d heard that casinos were going to start opening here, Croft got tense. We heard about that from Irene’s buddy Harry Pitts at her house, and if she had been bugged, Croft would already have known about our conversations there.”

Pepper checked his watch. “I’ve got to get back,” he said. “If I stay any longer, my wife’s going to think I’m fucking you.”

Holly laughed. “She sounds like a suspicious woman; she must have cause.”

“Let’s not go into that.” He handed Holly a card. “That’s my satphone number; I’ve got one just like yours. Have you noticed that there’s a scrambler button on it?”

“Yes, but Lance hasn’t told me to use it.”

“When you call me, use it. You can reach me any day at twelve-thirty P.M. for five minutes. No other time.”

“Got it,” Holly said, tucking the card into her bra.

“Give me a minute before you go back to the restaurant.” He got out of the car and returned to the dining room.

Holly waited, then joined the others. Pepper was paying his check and leaving.

“Interesting?” Stone asked.

“I’ll tell you when we’re out of here,” she said.