follow-up questions.
“I need tampons,” Plath told Nijinsky. “There’s a Duane Reade
down the block. I’ll be back in half an hour. Do you need anything?”
He frowned. Suspicious? No, just thinking. “ChapStick,” he said.
“Plain, not cherry or whatever.”
Stern, in obedience to the note she had slipped him, was waiting in the shaving-supplies aisle, seeming to take his time choosing
a razor. Stern did not look at her, nor she at him. They were back to
back, him looking at razors, her looking at shampoo.
“Sadie,” he said.
“Mr Stern.”
“You’re in trouble of some sort.”
“I’m in trouble of every sort. Listen. My father and brother were
murdered by Charles and Benjamin Armstrong. Is that idea a surprise to you?”
Three seconds of silence. “No,” he said at last.
“My father trusted you.”
His voice was husky when he said, “I was honored by his trust.”
She leaned back just enough to make the slightest contact,
stretching her fingers back to touch his sleeve.
“Mr Stern, have you heard of something called BZRK?”
He was silent for what felt like a long time. Then he said, “I thought
it might be that, when I saw the man with the, well, the fanciful hat.”
He sighed. “I know some of it, not everything. Your father didn’t want
McLure security getting involved with …with those people.”
“I don’t want you involved with them either,” she said, surprising
herself with the force of her conviction. “I want you to work for me.
Just for me.”
“Whatever you need,” he said.
Here it came. How much to ask? How much to trust?
“I want an escape route. For me and …and for the boy I was with
earlier.”
“Yes.”
She hesitated. “The man in the hat. He’s on our side, but be careful of him.”
Stern said nothing.
“My father financed these people. I’m going to do the same. But
Thrum is a traitor, she’s working for the Armstrongs. She’s going to
trace my spending.”
“If that’s true, then yes, she certainly will.”
“So, I want to give Ms Thrum something to watch, Mr Stern. I
want her and the Armstrongs to be unsure which side I’m on. I made
it clear that I trusted you, so they’ll be watching you. I want you to
start looking for a person who calls him- …or her- …self, Lear. For all
I know it’s not a real person, or may be several people, but he, she, or
it, is running BZRK. Spend some money on that search. Let Thrum
see that you’re looking.”
She heard a soft, satisfied chuckle. “You’re capable of deviousness, Sadie. Your brother …I loved him because he was the boss’s son.
But there’s more of your father in you.”
She fell silent at that and covered the silence by bending down to
select a bottle of conditioner and appearing to read the ingredients
label. Memories of her brother, Stone, had come rushing back. How
had he been at the end? How had he felt knowing that the plane he
was in would crash?
He had been brave, she was sure of that. She pushed away a sob
and sucked in a sharp breath.
“In my father’s study, on the shelf, there’s a copy of Alice in Wonderland. In the spine, there’s a key. It goes to a safe deposit box at UBS,
the bank, in Manhattan. My father said I’d remember it by thinking
of You Bullshit Bank. You B.S. The box number is 0726, my mother’s
birthday. They’ll ask you a verification question. It won’t matter what
the question is, the answer you give is ‘pepperoni pizza.’ In the box
are bonds worth two hundred million dollars. Let Ms Thrum watch
the fifty she knows about. We’ll use the two hundred she doesn’t to
keep BZRK going and to find me an escape route.”
“Aren’t you worried I’ll take the money and run?”
Her answer was bleak, not glib. “I have to trust you. I don’t want
to, honestly, because I’m scared. I’m in a trap.But I have to, I have to
trust someone. So it’s you.”
“And the boy,” he said.
“We’ll see about that,” she said. “Don’t follow
“I need tampons,” Plath told Nijinsky. “There’s a Duane Reade
down the block. I’ll be back in half an hour. Do you need anything?”
He frowned. Suspicious? No, just thinking. “ChapStick,” he said.
“Plain, not cherry or whatever.”
Stern, in obedience to the note she had slipped him, was waiting in the shaving-supplies aisle, seeming to take his time choosing
a razor. Stern did not look at her, nor she at him. They were back to
back, him looking at razors, her looking at shampoo.
“Sadie,” he said.
“Mr Stern.”
“You’re in trouble of some sort.”
“I’m in trouble of every sort. Listen. My father and brother were
murdered by Charles and Benjamin Armstrong. Is that idea a surprise to you?”
Three seconds of silence. “No,” he said at last.
“My father trusted you.”
His voice was husky when he said, “I was honored by his trust.”
She leaned back just enough to make the slightest contact,
stretching her fingers back to touch his sleeve.
“Mr Stern, have you heard of something called BZRK?”
He was silent for what felt like a long time. Then he said, “I thought
it might be that, when I saw the man with the, well, the fanciful hat.”
He sighed. “I know some of it, not everything. Your father didn’t want
McLure security getting involved with …with those people.”
“I don’t want you involved with them either,” she said, surprising
herself with the force of her conviction. “I want you to work for me.
Just for me.”
“Whatever you need,” he said.
Here it came. How much to ask? How much to trust?
“I want an escape route. For me and …and for the boy I was with
earlier.”
“Yes.”
She hesitated. “The man in the hat. He’s on our side, but be careful of him.”
Stern said nothing.
“My father financed these people. I’m going to do the same. But
Thrum is a traitor, she’s working for the Armstrongs. She’s going to
trace my spending.”
“If that’s true, then yes, she certainly will.”
“So, I want to give Ms Thrum something to watch, Mr Stern. I
want her and the Armstrongs to be unsure which side I’m on. I made
it clear that I trusted you, so they’ll be watching you. I want you to
start looking for a person who calls him- …or her- …self, Lear. For all
I know it’s not a real person, or may be several people, but he, she, or
it, is running BZRK. Spend some money on that search. Let Thrum
see that you’re looking.”
She heard a soft, satisfied chuckle. “You’re capable of deviousness, Sadie. Your brother …I loved him because he was the boss’s son.
But there’s more of your father in you.”
She fell silent at that and covered the silence by bending down to
select a bottle of conditioner and appearing to read the ingredients
label. Memories of her brother, Stone, had come rushing back. How
had he been at the end? How had he felt knowing that the plane he
was in would crash?
He had been brave, she was sure of that. She pushed away a sob
and sucked in a sharp breath.
“In my father’s study, on the shelf, there’s a copy of Alice in Wonderland. In the spine, there’s a key. It goes to a safe deposit box at UBS,
the bank, in Manhattan. My father said I’d remember it by thinking
of You Bullshit Bank. You B.S. The box number is 0726, my mother’s
birthday. They’ll ask you a verification question. It won’t matter what
the question is, the answer you give is ‘pepperoni pizza.’ In the box
are bonds worth two hundred million dollars. Let Ms Thrum watch
the fifty she knows about. We’ll use the two hundred she doesn’t to
keep BZRK going and to find me an escape route.”
“Aren’t you worried I’ll take the money and run?”
Her answer was bleak, not glib. “I have to trust you. I don’t want
to, honestly, because I’m scared. I’m in a trap.But I have to, I have to
trust someone. So it’s you.”
“And the boy,” he said.
“We’ll see about that,” she said. “Don’t follow
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