Quantum

46

Nolan winced as the EMT extracted another metal fragment from his bloodstained cheek.

‘Good thing none of these hit you in the eye,’ the EMT said.

‘Just get ’em out and patch me up,’ Nolan replied, sitting impatiently on the ambulance’s chrome bumper.

A second ambulance pulled away from the crime scene, this one ferrying the bodies of the two Russians he had slain. Outside the perimeter the police had established, Sean Kilkenny leaned against his Explorer, waiting for his son.

Once the bodies were removed and the forensic techs finished photographing Nolan’s ML 320 in situ, the driver of a flatbed wrecker ran a steel cable around the SUV’s undercarriage and slowly began pulling the damaged vehicle up the ramp. The winch howled under the load, and the shredded tires alternated between flopping and dragging across the wrecker’s diamond-plate steel bed. Once the SUV was secured, the driver handed Ptashnik a receipt and drove off. Nolan watched until his truck disappeared from view.

‘I’ll bet your insurance company is going to love this,’ Ptashnik said.

Nolan glowered back in stony silence.

‘You’re right. Bad joke. Here.’ Ptashnik handed him the receipt. ‘We’re impounding your truck so we can collect evidence. The yard will call when we’re done with it.’

‘Are you done with me yet?’

‘Pretty much. I’ll be in touch if we need anything else.’

‘Can I have my pistol back?’

‘No, we have to hang on to that until we run this mess past the DA. Don’t worry about it, though. This was clearly self-defense, and you were attempting to prevent a kidnapping. There’s no way she’s gonna press charges against you for killing those two guys. Once the paperwork clears, I’ll release your weapon.’

‘Thanks. I see you got somebody from the phone company checking Kelsey’s line for a tap. Anybody working on my phone?’

‘The sheriff is out there right now with a line crew. Your phone should be clear in about an hour.’

‘Good.’

‘I’m finished,’ the EMT announced as he taped a dressing over the gouge on Nolan’s right shoulder. ‘Keep your wounds clean and have a doc look at ’em in a couple of days.’

Nolan nodded, then stood up. ‘I’m outta here. Call me if you hear anything about Kelsey and Elli.’

‘I will,’ Ptashnik promised.

Nolan walked over to where his father had waited for nearly two hours.

‘You okay, son?’ Sean asked.

‘I’m fine, Dad. Did you call Kelsey’s folks?’

Sean nodded gravely. ‘I hate being the bearer of bad news. These Russians, do you think they’ll—’

‘Kill Kelsey or Elli? God, I hope not, but their pattern to date suggests otherwise. They’re after the engagement ring Wolff gave to Elli.’

‘Why?’

‘Kelsey believes Wolff had the key to his cipher engraved on it. She told me this morning, and that’s how these fuckers found out! They tapped our phones, Dad.’

‘Nolan, it’s not your fault.’

‘I should have had the lines checked. We knew we had a leak when they took the notebooks. These people have been one step ahead of us all the way. We’ve got to find out who’s running this op if we’re going to have any chance of stopping ’em.’ Nolan took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. ‘Do you have your phone on you, Dad? I don’t trust mine right now.’

Sean reached into his Explorer and pulled a small digital phone from the center console.

‘Here you go.’

‘Thanks,’ Nolan replied as he began dialing a number.

‘Grin,’ the voice answered, as if it could be no one else.

‘Morning, Grin. It’s Nolan. Did you get that E-mail I sent you last night?’

‘Yeah, and I got two things for you. First, Ted Sandstrom called a little while ago sounding very excited. He said he replied to your E-mail, but he hadn’t heard back from you yet.’

‘What’s his message?’

‘He said the file you sent him was one of his.’

‘Good. What else you got for me?’

‘The ru in the sender’s E-mail address told me right off that the host server is in Russia. I tracked it back as far as a company in Moscow called VIO FinProm. I tried to tickle the sender’s name out of their E-mail server — to find out who a-v-v is — but the server was having none of it. I went in with a light touch, but they got pretty decent security. If you want, I can be a little less subtle.’

‘Let’s hold off on that for the moment,’ Nolan replied. ‘What I would like you to do is dig up whatever you can on this VIO FinProm.’

Nolan then told Grin about Kelsey’s theory and the kidnapping.

‘I’m sorry to hear that, my friend.’

‘Yeah, this thing has really gone into the shitter.’

‘I’ll get on this FinProm thing right away. If there is anything that I can do…’

Nolan smiled, knowing the offer amounted to carte-blanche access not only to Grin’s formidable hacking skills but to those of his inner circle of like-minded associates.

‘When the time comes, I’ll let you know. Also, could you page Cal Mosley for me? Have him call me on my dad’s phone.’

‘Consider it done.’

‘Thanks, Grin.’

Nolan ended the call. A few minutes later Mosley returned the page.

‘What’s happening, Nolan?’ Mosley asked.

‘Cal, in the words of my late mother, this whole mess is going to hell in a handbasket.’

Nolan then brought Mosley up to speed on everything that had happened that morning.

‘Was Kelsey able to confirm her theory about the ring?’

‘I don’t know. She was going to call me back once she had a chance to talk to Elli about it. She never made that second call.’

‘This thing is moving a little faster than I anticipated. Do you know if Elli had the ring with her?’

‘No, but I would have to assume that she would have kept it for sentimental reasons. I have no idea whether she brought it here or left it at home.’

‘Do you have an address?’

‘Not on me, though I can call you back with it once I get home.’

‘Fine. Once I have that, I’ll give the FBI a call and have them coordinate with the local cops to secure her house and give it the once-over. If Elli doesn’t have the ring with her, that’s likely to be their next stop. I’ll also see if we can’t do a bank search for any safety-deposit boxes where she might have some jewelry stashed.’

‘Cal, did you get that E-mail I forwarded to you?’

‘Yes. I passed it on to our technical staff; they’re working on it.’

‘Do you remember Grin, from the last time we worked together?’

‘Ponytail. Goatee. Yes, I remember him.’

‘I gave him that same message. We still don’t know who a-v-v is, but the E-mail was sent from a Russian company called VIO FinProm. That mean anything to you?’

‘Yes, it does. Let me pull some stuff together. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘You’ll see me tomorrow?’

‘I don’t like the way this thing is moving, and you’re where the action is. I’m bringing an associate of mine, too. A guy by the name of Bart Cooper. We’ll be on the first flight in the morning.’

‘I’ll be waiting for you.’