Part 31 (1/2)

”But what gave her away?” she said. ”In the first place? That's what I want to know. I mean, she only lasted two days. And that was nine whole weeks before they broke into the computer.”

”What background story did you give her?”

”The usual, for this kind of work. Unmarried, unattached, no family, no roots. Like you, except you didn't have to fake it.”

I nodded slowly. A good-looking thirty-year-old woman who would never be missed. A huge temptation for guys like Paulie or Angel Doll. Maybe irresistible. A fun thing to have around. And the rest of their crew might be even worse. Like Harley, for instance.

He didn't strike me as much of an advertis.e.m.e.nt for the benefits of civilization.

”Maybe nothing gave her away,” I said. ”Maybe she just went missing, you know, like women do. Lots of women go missing. Young women especially. Single, unattached women. Happens all the time. Thousands a year.”

”But you found the room they were keeping her in.”

”All those missing women have to be somewhere. They're only missing as far as the rest of us are concerned. They know where they are, and the men who took them know where they are.”

She looked at me. ”You think it's like that?”

”Could be.”

”Will she be OK?”

”I don't know,” I said. ”I hope so.”

”Will they keep her alive?”

”I think they want to keep her alive. Because they don't know she's a federal agent. They think she's just a woman.”

A fun thing to have around.

”Can you find her before they check her shoes?”

”They might never check them,” I said. ”You know, if they're seeing her in one particular light, as it were, it would be a leap to start seeing her as something else.”

She looked away. Went quiet.

”One particular light,” she repeated. ”Why don't we just say what we mean?”

”Because we don't want to,” I said.

She stayed quiet. One minute. Two. Then she looked straight back at me. A brand-new thought.

”What about your shoes?” she said.

I shook my head.

”Same thing,” I said. ”They're getting used to me. It would be a leap to start seeing me as something else.”

”It's still a big risk.”

I shrugged.

”Beck gave me a Beretta M9,” I said. ”So I'll wait and see. If he bends down to take a look I'll shoot him through the middle of the forehead.”

”But he's just a businessman, right? Basically? Would he really do bad stuff to Teresa without knowing she was a threat to his business?”

”I don't know,” I said.

”Did he kill the maid?”

I shook my head. ”Quinn did.”

”Were you a witness?”

”No.”

”So how do you know?”

I looked away.

”I recognized the handiwork,” I said.

The fourth time I ever saw Sergeant First Cla.s.s Dominique Kohl was a week after the night we spent in the bar. The weather was still hot. There was talk of a tropical storm blowing in from the direction of Bermuda. I had a million files on my desk. We had rapes, homicides, suicides, weapons thefts, a.s.saults, and there had been a riot the night before because the refrigeration had broken down in the enlisted mess kitchens and the ice cream had turned to water. I had just gotten off the phone with a buddy at Fort Irwin in California who told me it was the same over there whenever the desert winds were blowing.

Kohl came in wearing shorts and a tank top s.h.i.+rt. She still wasn't sweating. Her skin was still dusty. She was carrying her file, which was then about eight times as thick as when I had first given it to her.

”The sabot has got to be metal,” she said. ”That's their final conclusion.”

”Is it?” I said.

”They'd have preferred plastic, but I think that's just s...o...b..ating.”

”OK,” I said.

”I'm trying to tell you they've finished with the sabot design. They're ready to move on with the important stuff now.”

”You still feel all warm and fuzzy about this Gorowski guy?”

She nodded. ”It would be a tragedy to bust him. He's a nice guy and an innocent victim.

And the bottom line is he's good at his job and useful to the army.”

”So what do you want to do?”

”It's tricky,” she said. ”I guess what I want to do is bring him on board and get him to feed phony stuff to whoever it is who's got the hook in. That way we keep the investigation going without risking putting anything real out there.”

”But?”

”The real thing looks phony in itself. It's a very weird device. It's like a big lawn dart. It has no explosive in it.”

”So how does it work?”