The Night Detectives

36

The call came a little after eight p.m. Only one person had called me on the cheap phone I had bought in El Centro.

“Time’s up, Doctor Mapstone.”

“For you,” I said. “You escaped once, you won’t again.”

“Did you ever serve in the military? In combat?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t understand anything. I gave you a chance to serve your country by giving me the list of Scarlett’s clients. I appealed to your patriotism. I appealed to your intellectual side. But, no. You refused to obey my orders. You refused to negotiate.”

“I’m really sorry about that.”

“If you had served in combat, you would know that a soldier can’t let his rage get the better of him. It can overwhelm discipline and training. Effectiveness. So I have to push you with some clearer incentives. I’ve researched you, Doctor Mapstone. I’m going to kill everyone you love. Then I’m going to kill you. And then I’m going to bring the war where it belongs, right here to America.”

“Keep talking, General,” I said. “The trace is working.”

There was no trace.

He laughed as if a private joke had been shared between friends.

“I’m going to start with your first wife, Patricia.” He read out an address in La Jolla. It was Patty’s address. “I know you’re in San Diego. If you come alone and bring the client list, then I’ll let her live. I might even be willing to let you live. But you have to come within the next hour. You won’t find her there. If I’m satisfied you’re alone, I’ll call and give you instructions. No cops. No bullshit. This is your last chance to negotiate.”

Then I was only holding a useless plastic object to my ear, hearing nothing.