The Einstein Pursuit

28

Dial glanced at his watch and realized it was the middle of the night in Pittsburgh. Given Payne’s background and resources, there was no guarantee that he was stateside, but if he was, Dial knew the odds were pretty damn good he wasn’t calling to talk about baseball.

‘Just a second,’ Dial said into the phone as he excused himself from the lecture hall. ‘You haven’t even said a word yet, and I’m already dreading this call.’

‘Screw you, too.’

‘Sorry, it’s just—’

‘No,’ Payne teased, ‘I don’t want to hear an apology; it’s too late for that. I take time out of my busy schedule to see how your chin is doing, and you give me nothing but attitude.’

Dial couldn’t help but smile. Payne was referring to Dial’s most prominent feature; the finely chiseled lines of his chin gave him the look of a movie star rather than a detective, and Payne was always quick to give him shit about it.

‘The chin is fine — even after that sucker punch.’

‘Sorry, man, I couldn’t resist.’

‘It helps if you try.’

‘Good point. I’ll remember that the next time.’

‘Sadly, you said that the last time.’

Both men laughed at the exchange.

‘Well,’ Dial said, ‘if you’re at home, you’re either up awfully early or awfully late. That means you’re either in trouble or something is troubling you. Spill it.’

‘At home. Couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.’

‘Go on.’

‘Yesterday I got a call from a man who used to work for my father back in the sixties. This guy was a total stranger to me, but he called me out of the blue because he needed my help.’

‘Money problems?’

‘People problems.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Some people were after him.’

‘What kind of people?’

Payne cleared his throat. ‘Dead people.’

Dial raised his voice. ‘Jesus, Jon! I hope you mean he’s being haunted, because if you’re telling me that you killed some people and want my help, I’m going to hang up the damn phone.’

‘Not really your help, but …’

‘Let me guess,’ Dial said rhetorically, ‘they were all foreign nationals, and now you’ve got the makings of an international incident on your hands.’

‘Wait a second. Did DJ call you already?’

Dial growled into the phone. ‘Seriously, is there ever going to be a time you call just to say hello? Every time I hear from you, it’s to tell me about someone you killed.’

‘Not every time. Just most of the time.’

Dial didn’t find the statement funny.

Payne continued. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea where the gunmen came from. There’s a decent chance they were Americans.’

‘Then what does this have to do with me?’ Dial asked.

‘Maybe they weren’t foreigners, but the scientist who worked for my father is.’

Dial bristled at the word scientist. He sensed their two worlds were about to collide. ‘What’s his name?’

‘Dr Mattias Sahlberg. He was born and raised in Stockholm, but he’s been living in the States longer than I’ve been alive. I think there might be a connection between the gunmen who showed up yesterday and a bombing in his hometown the night before. Any chance you’ve got someone in Sweden who can fill me in on the case?’

‘Yeah … me.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m currently in Stockholm. I’ve been here since yesterday.’

‘You went personally? I didn’t think you were allowed to do that anymore.’

‘I’m not supposed to investigate, but I was assigned to this case.’

‘By whom? The director?’

‘Jon,’ Dial stressed, ‘this is bigger than we thought. Even before you told me about Sahlberg, I didn’t think this was random. Someone targeted these people.’

‘Why?’

‘That’s what we’re working on. The men you killed, what can you tell me about them?’

‘They were pros. These guys weren’t messing around.’

‘The attack in Stockholm was brutal but efficient. Very little wasted effort, with no loose ends. Sound familiar?’

‘Tough to say, since we took them out before they could finish their job. But they brought an arsenal when they went after Sahlberg. Weapon tech like I’ve never seen on the street.’

‘How so?’

‘Their pistols had biometric safeties — palm-print scanners to be precise. DJ thinks one of our sources might be able to give us some leads on the guns. If so, you’ll be the next to know.’

Dial wasn’t sure if Payne was referring to one of their military contacts or one of their criminal sources. He didn’t know, and frankly he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was whether Payne trusted them. If he did, that was good enough for Dial.

‘Speaking of contacts, do you know anyone who can rig explosives?’

Payne laughed. ‘I know a thousand people who can rig explosives, including myself. What exactly are you looking for?’

‘The design of the laboratory explosion was beautiful. It brought down the whole inner structure without collapsing the building. What’s more, they used the lab’s own chemical supply to ensure that no one survived. This wasn’t an amateur job. Whoever planned this has experience.’

‘You’re thinking military?’

‘Military. Government. Can’t be sure. But he certainly knew what he was doing.’

‘Any leads?’ Payne asked.

‘On the bomber?’

‘On anything.’

‘Not as many as I would like. I’m currently interviewing a bunch of scientists here in Stockholm. No one knows what was going on at the lab, but according to them, the people who were killed were at the top of their fields.’

‘If you can, send me their names. I’ll run them by Sahlberg and see what he says.’

‘You’ll have a list within the hour. In the meantime, see what he can tell you about a Dr Tomas Berglund.’

Payne jotted down the name. ‘Who’s he?’

‘He is the missing link in our investigation. Right now, we don’t know if he’s a suspect, a target, or merely the guy who owned the lab. Knowing my luck, he’s probably all three.’

‘Actually, I hope he is all three.’

‘Why do you say that?’

Payne grinned. ‘That’ll make it more fun to find the bastard.’