Mortal Faults

44

“Who was that?” Andrea asked. “Why did you say you were at the library?”

“It’s not important.” Abby slipped the phone back into her purse and kept walking. “Just a pal of mine, playing games.”

She knew what was going on. By now Tess must have linked her to Dylan Garrick. Presumably she was looking to bring her in for questioning. Tess could determine Abby’s general whereabouts with the cell phone’s signal, but she wouldn’t be able to zero in on her exact location. The library was across the street from the Brayton Hotel-close enough, Abby thought, for government work.

When Tess failed to find her, she and her fellow feds-Abby assumed she was working with her colleagues at this point-would search the area. They might find the Miata, but maybe not, or at least not right away. She’d made Andrea park in an alley near the Brayton rather than in the hotel’s underground garage. The garage was too obvious a place to stash the car, and in a situation like this, when meeting a man like Reynolds, it was best never to be obvious.

Things were little complicated, but she could handle it-or die trying.

She guided Andrea toward the hotel entrance, trying to think good thoughts.

There was no way for Michaelson to keep Tess off the arrest squad. She had to be in place in order to draw Abby into view.

“We’ll settle matters when you get back,” the ADIC growled.

“Great, Dick. Something for me to look forward to.”

Tess took out the red Kojak light carried by all Bureau cars and mounted it on her dashboard, then made her way to Abby’s condo building at high speed. The sun in her rearview mirror was a brassy ball of glare. Still more than two hours till sunset. By the time the sun went down, Abby would probably be in custody-and then she would rarely see the sun again.

The trip didn’t take long. As it turned out, Abby lived only a few blocks from the federal building, a fact that struck Tess as somehow ironic. In the condominium tower’s curving driveway she met up with Hauser and six other agents, among them Crandall. The rest of Hauser’s people were still upstairs going through Abby’s things.

Crandall and two men Tess didn’t know crowded into her car, while Hauser and the other four took a second Bureau sedan. Ordinarily they would have worn raid jackets for an arrest, but in this case they wanted to keep a low profile once they arrived downtown. With red lights flashing, they cut down to Olympic and sped east, sticking to surface streets because the freeway was jammed.

By now everyone was miked up, and conversation between the two cars was possible on a scrambled tac frequency. In the backseat of Tess’s car, someone had brought up a map of the library on his laptop. “There are three entrances to the main lobby-Fifth Street, Hope Street, Flower Street. If Sinclair tries to run, we won’t know which exit to cover.”

“We can cover them all,” Tess said.

“No time,” Hauser said over Tess’s earpiece. “We’re barely going to make there on time as it is. And the damn library closes at six.”

Crandall frowned. “You don’t think she’s setting us up, do you?”

“I don’t think so,” Tess said quietly. “But I can’t be sure.”

Hauser’s voice grated in her ear. “She can’t be sure. Terrific.”

Abby sat Andrea down on a sofa near the registration desk in the lobby of the Brayton Hotel. Andrea gazed around, blinking at the spacious expense of saltillo tile, the great potted palms and indoor koi pond.

When was the last time she’d ventured into a hotel, any hotel? Before her institutionalization, probably. That was twenty years ago.

“Okay, kiddo,” Abby said. “Focus. This is where I reveal my master plan.”

“Which is?”

“You’re going to help me out. And with luck, I’m going to help you out. We’re like two baboons picking nits off each other. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

“I don’t follow.”

Abby didn’t blame her. She wasn’t sure she followed herself. She got like this in the minutes before a potentially explosive situation. She talked too much and made little sense. It could be disconcerting to others. Heck, it could be disconcerting to her.

With effort she pulled herself together. “Here’s the thing. I’m going to sit over there.” She pointed at a scattering of tables and armchairs almost dead center on the lobby floor. “You’ll sit close, but out of sight. Behind that plant, I think.”

“That’s a tree. A palm tree.”

“Tree, plant, whatever. It’s green, it has chlorophyll, and it provides better cover than, say, carpet moss. Or Kate Moss, for that matter. From my table you’ll be invisible, I think. Let’s test it out.”

She placed Andrea at the hidden table and inspected the result.

“It works. You’re totally concealed. Unless the tree starts molting, we’ll be fine.”

“Trees don’t molt.”

“Even better.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You’ll be eavesdropping on a conversation I’m about to have. At a certain point you’ll emerge from the greenery and confront the other party. Shock value is what we’re going for.”

“Shock value,” Andrea echoed blankly.

“Amazing how a little honest surprise can penetrate someone’s defenses. See, look at this.” Abby produced an item from her purse. “Microcassette recorder. Not as handy as a garlic genius, but you can’t have everything. Normally I use it for dictation. Note to self, that kind of thing. Tonight I’m using it as a clandestine recording device. I’m going to get the conversation on tape.”

“The conversation with…?” Then Andrea understood. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Not him.”

“In the very flesh. He’s coming here at six.”

“But… why?”

“He thinks I’m planning to betray you to him.” Abby held up a reassuring hand. “Just a ruse. There’s no betrayal.”

“Jack… coming here…”

“I told him I’d tell him where to find you. In exchange, I get a pile of money. But what Jack doesn’t know is, I’m not all that materialistic. Money can’t buy happiness, or at least not enough happiness to tempt me.”

The information finally penetrated. “He expects you to deliver me to him?”

“Right.”

“He’ll be furious when he finds out you lied.”

“Good. Anger is another way of lowering a person’s defenses. Angry people tend to blurt things out. I’m hoping J.R. will do a lot of world-class blurting tonight.”

“J.R. That’s funny.” Andrea had a faraway look. “I called him that once. He hated it. He didn’t want to be a villain on a prime time soap.”

“But he ended up as one, anyway. A villain, that is. He hasn’t made it to prime time yet.”

“I still don’t get it, Abby. What can he possibly say? You think he’ll admit to sending those gunmen to my house?”

“That-and maybe some other things. All you need to do is listen. At the right moment, step out from behind the foliage and confront him.”

“What’s the right moment?”

“You’ll know. Trust your instincts. Whenever it happens, it’ll scare the bejeezus out of him. He hasn’t been up close and personal with you in twenty years. He’s not expecting to see you now.”

“But he wants me dead.”

“I know it.”

“If he sees me-”

“There’s nothing he can do. Not here. Look around you. We’re in a very public place. The lobby of a five-star hotel.”

Andrea nodded slowly, not quite believing it. “What do you want me to say to him?”

“Anything you like.”

“I don’t have any idea-after all these years-my mind’s a blank.”

“It won’t be. You’ll find the words. You’ll have plenty to say to the distinguished congressman, believe me.”

Andrea looked away. “You should have told me what I was getting into.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“I might not have.”

“Well, you’re here now. This will all work out for the best.” Abby put a hand on her arm. “You still trust me, right?”

“I trust you.” Andrea smiled, a startling sight on her pale, serious face. “You’re completely crazy, of course, but I do trust you.”

Abby smiled back. “Nicest thing I’ve heard all day.”

The agent in the backseat of Tess’s car was still reviewing files on his laptop. “There are security stations at the lobby entrances. Metal detectors. To go in armed, you’ll have to show your Bureau ID.”

Tess wasn’t going to do that. “If I start flashing my creds, Abby will notice, and she’ll know I’m carrying. That’ll be enough to tip her off.”

“Well, you can’t be unarmed,” Hauser said over the air.

“Sure I can. Remember, she can’t bring a gun inside, either.”

“How sure are you she can’t sneak a weapon past security?”

Tess, who was quite certain Abby could outwit any library rent-a-cop, didn’t answer directly. “She’s not going to take me out, for God’s sake.”

“Even if she thinks you’ve betrayed her?” Hauser pressed. “She took out Garrick for shooting at her, and that was just business. With you, it’s personal.”

“She won’t shoot me,” Tess insisted, hoping she was right.

“We’ll send a man after you to watch your back.”

“Abby can make a Bureau agent without even trying. Anyone you send in will be spotted immediately. I’m going in alone.”

“I think, Agent McCallum, you’ve forfeited the right to work solo in this organization.”

“We don’t have any choice about it. Either I go in alone or Abby will be spooked for sure.”

“Maybe you want to be alone with her so you can pass on a warning.”

“If I’d wanted to warn her, I could have phoned her at any time.”

Hauser drew an audible breath. “All right. We’ll play it your way. But you won’t be making the arrest alone.”

“You’re right about that.” Tess almost laughed. Taking down Abby single-handedly was the last thing she wanted to try. “I’ll wear my radio under my jacket. When I want you to move, I’ll use a code phrase. I’ll say…”

“Yes?”

“I’ll say The Godfather. She’s always talking about that movie. You hear The Godfather, you move.”

“ The Godfather.” Hauser grunted. “Let’s just hope this doesn’t end up like Sonny at the tollbooth.”

Tess didn’t get the reference and didn’t particularly want to. It sounded bad.

This whole thing sounded bad. But it had to be done. She just kept telling herself that. It had to be done.