Part 34 (2/2)

”Murder for hire, Gulliver?” Nyquist said. ”That's quite a gig you've gotten for yourself. How do your subjects contact you? Through a friend? Some sort of advertising? Or do you go to them and ask them if they want anyone killed?”

Illiyitch swallowed so hard his Adam's apple bobbed. ”I work for a security company. They wouldn't hire me if I had the kind of background you say.”

”I'll wager if we look at your Whitford Security records, we'll find them to be incomplete. And I'll wager that someone-maybe you-hacked into their systems and made sure your resume was at the top of some stack, already marked as one that was approved by whatever system they used.”

Nyquist sat down across from Illiyitch.

”Was that what was in that underground room at Whitford's house? His secure files? Or did you destroy the protection down there so that someone could access the information he stored there?” Illiyitch frowned at Nyquist. Romey raised her eyebrows. ”You want to tell me about that?” Nyquist asked. ”Or should we just put the case together on our own?” ”Someone's setting me up,” Illiyitch said without enough fear to be convincing.

Romey's eyes twinkled as she looked at Nyquist, but to her credit, she didn't smile. Instead, she tapped one of the images.

”Murder for hire. Amazing,” she said. ”Who hired you this time?” ”I want a lawyer,” Illiyitch said.

Romey raised her eyebrows as she looked at Nyquist. ”We must have hit a nerve. He hasn't asked for help until now.”

”Send for someone,” Nyquist said. ”But make sure it's someone good. Maybe your friends from WSX.” ”Where?” ”They've already got a criminal defense attorney working with your buddy Wagner,” Nyquist said.

”Who?” Illiyitch looked confused, and this time, his acting job had improved. He didn't seem to know who Nyquist was talking about.

”Tell us who to send for, and we'll do so,” Romey said.

”I got a guy in Gagarin Dome,” Illiyitch said. ”He handled my dad's estate. Maybe-”

”Stop playing,” Nyquist said. ”You'll need a good attorney, since we have a record of the murders you committed.”

”A record?” Illiyitch asked, further giving himself away.

Romey gave Nyquist a harsh glance. She had no idea what he was talking about because he was lying, and he hadn't told her what he was going to do. He hoped she'd play along.

And he hoped that the coroner had interpreted the evidence on the bodies correctly.

”You know,” Nyquist said, ”you made one serious mistake. You shouldn't have had your buddy-Lamfier, was that his name?-hold Bowles steady. You should have just shot him, then let her run. That's how most people would have done it. They'd shoot the bodyguard first, then go after the potential victim.”

Romey sank into a chair beside Nyquist. Because she didn't know where this was going, she focused on Illiyitch.

Nyquist appreciated that.

”You could've gotten her before she made it out of the Hunting Club's protected grounds. You're a good shot. She would have been terrified. It would have been over in a matter of seconds. And . . .”

Nyquist paused for effect. Illiyitch was watching him, a pulse throbbing in his neck. The man looked scared for the first time since Nyquist arrived.

”And,” Nyquist said again, ”we wouldn't have gotten a record of the kill. Your jammer took out all of the Hunting Club's cameras. That was good work. But you didn't take out Bowles's personal cameras. She had four on various parts of her body. You know, killing a reporter isn't easy. And she was looking at you the entire time.”

Color rose in Illiyitch's cheeks. Nyquist almost breathed a sigh of relief. The man had believed him. One more thing to thank Talia s.h.i.+ndo for. The girl had given Nyquist this idea. Even if it was a lie.

”If you give us the person who hired you,” Romey said, ”we can make sure your charges are reduced. We'll also make sure you go to a minimum-security facility, rather than maximum. We won't tell the judge about any of the other warrants, and we won't let the other jurisdictions know we have you.”

Illiyitch was watching both of them. The pulse visibly beating in his neck was going faster. ”That's a h.e.l.l of a deal,” Nyquist said. ”You'll probably get twenty years instead of consecutive life terms.”

”And you'll be in a facility that allows visitors, has great workout areas, and net capabilities. It'll be easy, at least compared to some of the prisons I've seen.” Romey smiled at him.

He looked at her, then at Nyquist.

”The deal is good for the next fifteen minutes,” Nyquist said. ”The longer you wait, the more we take off the table. Starting with the other warrants.”

Illiyitch bit his lower lip. ”I want a lawyer,” he said again.

”Who do we contact?” Romey asked.

”I want one before you take stuff off the table,” Illiyitch said.

”Fine,” Romey said. ”We'll video-conference you. Who do we contact?”

”What if . . .” Illiyitch was looking at Nyquist now. ”What if I don't have a name?”

”We'll find you a lawyer, then. Or let WSX do it.”

”No, no,” Illiyitch said. ”Of the person who hired me. What if all I have is some contact information?” His voice shook enough for that to be true.

”Why wouldn't you have a name?” Romey asked.

”I never ask,” Illiyitch said, admitting to all the murder-for-hire cases. ”I don't dare. It's better to get the a.s.signment and the money in my account and move on. Safer, too.”

”If you don't have a name, there's no deal,” Nyquist said.

”I have contact information,” Illiyitch said.

”If it leads to a person, then maybe we can do something,” Nyquist said. ”But contact information isn't the same as a name and a witness. You wouldn't be a good witness to contact information. It could be anyone using someone else's pa.s.swords and accounts.”

Illiyitch swore. ”I want to deal.” ”Then give us a name,” Nyquist said. ”I don't have one,” Illiyitch said. ”Just the contact information.”

Nyquist shook his head and stood. He headed out of the room. As he pulled the door open, he heard Romey say, ”Give me the name of your lawyer. We'll get him down here.”

Illiyitch answered, but Nyquist didn't hear the name. He didn't care. He let the door close behind him. He leaned against the wall until Romey came out.

”I believe him,” she said. Nyquist sighed. ”I'm hoping it's a tactic. Maybe we'll get a name after the lawyer comes.” ”You don't believe that, though, do you?” ”No names would make more sense on a murder-for-hire agreement,” Nyquist said. ”I know. Do you think the contact information will lead us to anyone?” Romey asked.

Nyquist shook his head. ”I was hoping we could wrap this up today, but we're not going to. We might never get the person who hired Illiyitch.”

”So what do you want to do? Rescind the deal?” ”Yeah,” Nyquist said. ”We gave it a time limit. We'll just act on that. Besides, it was contingent on a name.”

”At least we can give the press Illiyitch.”

”Without telling them it's murder for hire?”

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