The Silenced

Chapter 28

Charlotte Street was in one of those quaint London neighborhoods that made tourists wish they lived in the city. Its centerpiece was the Charlotte Street Hotel. Combining an older London façade with a contemporary, warm interior, the hotel was an upscale place that didn’t make you feel like you had to be wearing a tuxedo just to use the elevator. Quinn had been inside once before. Not as a guest. On a job. And though he had had little time to look around, what he saw of the place as he removed a body from an upstairs suite had impressed him.

Quinn spent thirty minutes walking the rest of the street, checking alternative routes in and out, and reacquainting himself with the neighborhood. Besides the hotel, Charlotte Street was lined with four- and five-story buildings with offices and flats on the upper floors, restaurants and shops on the ground level.

Cars were parked in most of the available spots, but actual traffic was light due to the way this part of Soho was laid out. Charlotte Street was a one-way road ending at Percy Street, where traffic that needed to continue south would have to go west first, then turn left on Rathbone Place. To make things even more confusing, the northern section of Rathbone took a jog to the west before heading north again and paralleling Charlotte. Quinn considered the complicated layout an asset; in his business, the more escape options, the better.

Once he was satisfied, he sat at a table outside a coffee shop a half block away. He’d ordered a cup of the house blend, black, but he had yet to take a sip when the cab carrying Orlando arrived.

As she got out, she subtly scanned the neighborhood, then pulled her bag out of the back seat and tipped the cabbie. The moment he drove off, she retrieved her cell phone. Quinn’s own phone was sitting on the table. He picked it up just as it started to ring.

“You here?” she asked.

“Just having a coffee down the street.”

“Caffè Nero?” As always, she had researched where she was going. Quinn guessed she probably knew the names of all the businesses in the area.

“Like you didn’t know that already.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She picked up her bag with her free hand. “Bring me a latte.”

The flat was on the second floor. The door was open a crack, so Quinn nudged it with his hip and stepped across the threshold. Orlando stood just inside, looking fresh despite the transatlantic flight. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a pair of glasses, rectangular in shape and framed in blood-red plastic.

She looked at him for a moment, then reached up and touched his face.

The warmth of her skin temporarily pushed away all thoughts of Wills’s death, of the Russian woman, of the danger facing both his sister and his mother. He leaned forward and kissed her with more love and tenderness than he’d ever felt for anyone else in his life.

She moved into him, her body pressing against his, letting him know she was there, that she loved him, too.

“Come inside,” she whispered. “Unless you want to give the neighbors a show.”

He smiled again, then stepped into the apartment, Orlando closing the door behind him.

“Is that my coffee?” she asked.

Quinn had almost forgotten he’d been holding the cup. But even as he’d been hugging her, he’d kept it upright, spilling nothing.

“Thanks,” she said as he handed it to her.

She raised it to her mouth, testing its temperature. When she seemed satisfied, she took a drink. As she did, Quinn plopped down on a chair in the living room and took a look around.

Besides the utilitarian armchair he was in, there was a well-worn couch, two cloth-covered cubes that served as either ottomans or coffee tables, and a shelving unit with a TV and various knickknacks spread around. As far as exits, other than the front door, there were two: a hallway to the left, and a doorway leading to a small kitchen on the right.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Orlando asked.

He did another scan of the room.

She sat on the couch. “You’re stalling.”

“I’m not stalling. I’m trying to get my thoughts in order.”

“You’ve had thirty minutes to get them in order while you waited for me.”

“Wills is dead.”

Ever the pro, there was no change in her expression. “What happened?”

“Shot. This morning.”

“You know this for sure?”

“I was kneeling next to him when he died.” He told her about the assassin, Wills’s attempted last words, and finally the Russian.

“That’s not all,” he said.

“There’s more?”

“She mentioned the name Palavin,” he said. “She thought I knew where he was, and demanded I tell her.”

“Did she say why she was looking for him?”

Quinn shook his head. “I didn’t have a lot of time to press the point. But I don’t think she wanted to use the information to drop in for tea. She doesn’t like him. And by ‘not like’ I meant she seems to hate him.” He paused. “I know I told you to put him on the back burner, but maybe you should see what else you can find out about him.”

“Absolutely.”

“There was something else,” Quinn said. “Mercer was there, too. He was getting into a cab on the street near where Wills’s man had been shot.”

“Mercer? The guy from Maine?”

“According to Wills, Mercer was working directly for him. He’d also been on the Los Angeles gig. He must have been part of Wills’s protection.”

“Didn’t do a very good job,” she said.

“No, he didn’t.”

She mulled it over, then said, “What about the woman? You sure you lost her? No chance she followed you here?”

Quinn frowned. It was a question he’d often asked, usually of Nate. “No one followed me.”

“Let’s step back. Why were you meeting with Wills in the first place?”

There was so much she’d missed while she’d been getting Quinn’s mom settled, then flying to Europe. Quinn explained to her what had happened in Paris, and about the photo Julien had shown him that had to have been taken by Annabel Taplin.

“That’s why I came to London,” he said. “Last night I arranged a face-to-face with Wills for this morning so I could ask for his help. I thought he could use his contacts to get me in touch with the right people at MI6. We were supposed to meet at the park.”

“Do you think you were a target, too?”

“No. He was killed several minutes before the time we’d agreed to meet.”

“The Russian woman? You think she was the one who wanted him dead?”

“She tried to stop the hit. Almost succeeded, too. She seemed even more upset with Wills’s death than I was.”

Orlando’s brow wrinkled in the way it did when she was trying to figure something out. But when she let out an exasperated expulsion of air, Quinn knew she had no more answers than he did.

“Mom emailed me,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “I take it everything went well.”

“It did,” she said. “She took to Steven right away. I think the only thing we have to worry about is if he eats so much he’s too lethargic to notice anything.”

Quinn surprised himself by laughing a little. “I know my mother. That’s actually a possibility. Larson and Nolan?”

“They’re in position outside the farm, ready to move if your mom goes out. They’re taking shifts so that the house is watched around the clock.”

“Thank you,” he said. The words seemed inadequate.

She looked at him for a moment, smiling, then she pulled out her computer and booted it up. “I take it Nate and Julien are keeping a watch on Liz’s place?”

“Better than that. Nate’s actually staying with her.”

“Staying with her?”

“I stepped out of the room for a few minutes, and by the time I came back, he had her asking him if he wanted to sleep on her couch.”

“Really?” she said, her eyebrow raised.

“Really.”

“Good for him. Told you he’s almost ready.”

“He is.”

She gave Quinn a mischievous smile. “What if he doesn’t stay on the couch?”

“That is not an option.”

“Why not? They’re close enough in age, and your sister’s cute, and smart, too. What’s she studying again?”

“I don’t even want to think about this.”

“Art history, wasn’t it? Didn’t Nate study history in school? Seems like there’d be some common ground there.”

“Stop it,” Quinn said.

“You’re no fun,” she said, scowling.

Her computer chimed. She looked down at her screen, then clicked on something.

“It’s a message from Romy,” she said. Romy specialized in information gathering and worked out of Eastern Europe. “She says someone’s been asking about you.”

“The same person who was looking into my background?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. It was a direct inquiry, asking about you by name.” Orlando looked up. “She says the guy doing the asking is a Russian based out of Moscow.”

“He have a name?”

“Goes by Stepka.”

“Never heard of him. You?”

“No.”

“He’s in Moscow now?”

“Apparently.”

“Do we have someone there who can pay him a visit?”

“I think I can arrange that.”

“Do it. And if he—” His phone vibrated, stopping him.

But there was no name on his display, only BLOCKED. He held it out to Orlando.

“I thought the software update you gave me was supposed to decode blocked numbers.”

“It is.” She frowned. “Give it to me.”

He handed her the phone. Without punching the Accept button, she accessed the virtual keypad and began typing. When the vibrating ceased, she looked up. “The program should have been able to figure it out.”

“Maybe you need to start thinking about writing an update.”

“Go to hell,” she said, but Quinn knew as soon as she had a little free time, updating was exactly what she’d do.

As Orlando handed the phone back to him, it buzzed again, indicating a voice message. Quinn pushed the button to play the message, and switched it to speaker so they could both hear.

Nothing at first, then a voice: male, older, with an accent that seemed almost English, but not quite. “I will call you back in ten minutes. Please do answer your phone.”

Quinn played the message again.

“Do you recognize him?” Orlando asked.

“No.”

She then held out her hand. “Give it to me again.”

As she began scrolling through different displays, Quinn asked, “What are you doing?”

She frowned at him. “The software I installed, which you’ve already pointed out needs an update, includes the ability to record both sides of a conversation. I just haven’t activated it yet.”

“And why not?”

“We talk a lot. The last thing I need is for you to record one of our conversations, then throw something I say back in my face.” She tapped the screen one more time, then sat back. “Okay, it’s ready.”

“Does your phone have this capability?”

“Of course.”

“And it’s active, I assume.” She smiled.

He took the phone from her. “I want you to keep this function active on my phone.”

“We’ll see.”

Precisely ten minutes after the first call, Quinn’s phone began to vibrate again.

“Do I need to do anything?” Quinn asked.

“Just hit Accept. It records automatically.”

Quinn did as she instructed, then raised the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Is this Mr. Quinn?” It was the same voice from the message.

“Who is this?”

“What are your plans in regards to the project you are doing for David Wills?”

Quinn paused. “I don’t know any David Wills.”

Orlando looked at him, the brow over her left eye arched.

“We both know that’s not true,” the caller said. “You have five seconds to tell me who you are, or I’m hanging up.”

Nothing for three seconds, then, “Have you read A Burnt-Out Case lately?”

Quinn said nothing. He also didn’t hang up.

Some organizations created code phrases for when the legitimacy of a third party needed to be established. A Burnt-Out Case was the one given to Quinn by Wills when they first started working together.

“Do I have your attention now?” the man asked.

“Who are you?” Quinn said.

“You can call me Mr. Smith. The job you are doing for David Wills is actually for me. I’m his client.”

“Hang on for a moment,” Quinn said. He punched the Hold key and looked at Orlando. “It’s the client. The one with the body in the wall.”

“You’re kidding.”

“He knows Wills’s code phrase.”

“What does he want?”

“Wondering the same thing myself.” Quinn took the call off hold. “Mr. Smith. You may be David’s client, but you’re not mine. He’s the one who hired me, so he’s the one I work for.”

“I see no distinction between the fact that David hired you and I hired him.”

“I do.”

“Please, Mr. Quinn,” the caller said, his tone now conciliatory. “I’m not trying to go around David’s back. You see, certain circumstances have arisen that have made it necessary for me to contact you directly.”

“What circumstances?”

“I’m sorry to say David is dead,” Mr. Smith said.

“Dead?” Quinn said, acting surprised.

“Apparently he was shot.”

“When?”

“This morning.”

“By whom?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Quinn. Do you?”

“I have no idea,” Quinn said. Could this guy really have found out about Wills’s death already? It was plausible. Mercer, if he was indeed working for Wills, would have informed Wills’s organization, and then they might have begun notifying clients to assure them that current operations were not compromised. Plausible, but the timeline was tight.

“I thought as much, but it is good to hear. The reason I’m calling you is to make sure you’re planning on completing the job. You’ve already been paid, and nicely, I might add. I only ask that once you have the package in your possession, you consider calling me. I would like to dispose of it myself. But if you are not comfortable with that, I understand. Fair?”

“Yeah, see, that’s not the way it works. First I verify what you’re telling me about Wills is true. If it is, then I immediately remove myself, putting as much distance between me and anyone connected with Wills as possible.

Including you. So if your information’s good, you’ll have to find someone else. I’m done.”

Dead air for a moment, then, “What?”

“Done,” Quinn said. “No longer on the job.”

“You’ve been hired for the task. I expect you to carry it out. Mr. Quinn, maybe we should meet in person. We can discuss this—”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Per my standard agreement, in the case that my client is killed, I can terminate my involvement at my discretion. You can be sure I’ll be exercising that clause.”

“Mr. Quinn, that is not an opt—”

Quinn disconnected the call.

“Are you sure that was such a good idea?” Orlando asked.

Quinn’s phone began to vibrate again. BLOCKED on the display.

He pushed the button rejecting the call.

“We have more important things to worry about than a body in a wall,” Quinn said. “We’re off.”