is an undercover cop working my case and you are about to flush two years of wiretaps and judicial hoop-jumping down the toilet.”
“Shit,” Sampson muttered. “Well, what do you want me to do now?”
“Either go get primped up because you are about to make the six o’clock news for blowing a major narcotics investigation, or just walk away and let me see if I can fix what you might have already broken.”
The woman did not take long to decide.
“Thanks for not making a big deal about this, Lieutenant,” she grunted on her way to the door.
“You can thank me for saving your career later,” Reese replied. “That goes for you, too, Dr. Doolittle, out!”
Nick followed Sampson down the hall to the elevator. She made no attempt to keep the door from closing in his face before he could get on. He waited until he heard the car start down, then returned to Room 502, where Reese was waiting in the hallway.
“That was some performance, Don,” he said, shaking the burly detective’s hand. “Really impressive stuff. I guess we can finally call us even now.”
“Hell no! You’ve got a long way to go and a lot of favors to collect before I’ll call us even.”
“What about that fancy GPS unit you fixed us up with after those kids heisted our RV and took it for a joyride?”
“Not even close. It’s not every day a cop smashes his car into a rolling medical clinic during a drunk blackout. You saved my badge and maybe my pension by letting me sleep it off in the back room of that bus of yours and not reporting the accident.”
“I did what felt right. Junie vouched for you, and you agreed to pay for the damages and to hook up with two of our AA pals.”
“Three years now. I got my three-year medallion to prove it.” Reese held up his key ring and let Nick squeeze the ornate bronze coin. He clasped Nick’s shoulder and led him into the room.
“You just made it that much easier for me to do the same sort of thing for the next guy,” Nick said. “Okay, we’re not even. I own you forever. Isn’t that how it is with the Chinese? No matter. I sure do appreciate you getting here so quickly. Campbell’s on parole so it was important that Officer Sampson not bust him. I promised him, but one of the admitting staff here dropped a dime. Tomorrow, or as soon as he’s with it enough to listen, he becomes that next guy I was talking about. I’m gonna try and make him the same deal I made you. Only he may have to go away for a couple of weeks if we can find a way to pay for it. Got that, Mike?”
Campbell nodded weakly.
“You’re a good man, Doc,” Reese said. “A hell of a good man.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, Don, because I need another favor.”
“Name it.”
“Ferris, Manny Ferris. Marine corporal. Medical discharge maybe seven years ago. Around thirty-five. Five nine. Hair black. Eyes brown. Skin maybe some sort of brown-white mix. Has spent time in cardboard villages and flophouses. Last address unknown, but I’ll be starting work on that as soon as I get home.”
Reese checked his watch.
“I’m off tomorrow,” he said. “Scheduled to go fishing with my cousin. Been really looking forward to it.”
“I need to find him yesterday,” Nick said.
CHAPTER 13
Franz Koller waited on the edge of the bed for the girls to arrive. His Dell laptop glowed ghostly blue in the otherwise dark motel room. He had connected his PC to the Internet and even logged in to his eBay account, but he was not yet ready to contact Jericho. A phrase he once read in a
Wall Street Journal
article about unfortunate e-mailing incidents had stuck with him-it was headlined “Ready, Fire, Aim.” It would be stupid, he knew, to message his employer while his emotions still ran hot.
The killer placed the pads of three fingers just below his wrist crease to check his radial pulse again.
Sixty beats per minute
-still way too high. When he was truly relaxed, truly in control of his emotions, his resting heart rate
“Shit,” Sampson muttered. “Well, what do you want me to do now?”
“Either go get primped up because you are about to make the six o’clock news for blowing a major narcotics investigation, or just walk away and let me see if I can fix what you might have already broken.”
The woman did not take long to decide.
“Thanks for not making a big deal about this, Lieutenant,” she grunted on her way to the door.
“You can thank me for saving your career later,” Reese replied. “That goes for you, too, Dr. Doolittle, out!”
Nick followed Sampson down the hall to the elevator. She made no attempt to keep the door from closing in his face before he could get on. He waited until he heard the car start down, then returned to Room 502, where Reese was waiting in the hallway.
“That was some performance, Don,” he said, shaking the burly detective’s hand. “Really impressive stuff. I guess we can finally call us even now.”
“Hell no! You’ve got a long way to go and a lot of favors to collect before I’ll call us even.”
“What about that fancy GPS unit you fixed us up with after those kids heisted our RV and took it for a joyride?”
“Not even close. It’s not every day a cop smashes his car into a rolling medical clinic during a drunk blackout. You saved my badge and maybe my pension by letting me sleep it off in the back room of that bus of yours and not reporting the accident.”
“I did what felt right. Junie vouched for you, and you agreed to pay for the damages and to hook up with two of our AA pals.”
“Three years now. I got my three-year medallion to prove it.” Reese held up his key ring and let Nick squeeze the ornate bronze coin. He clasped Nick’s shoulder and led him into the room.
“You just made it that much easier for me to do the same sort of thing for the next guy,” Nick said. “Okay, we’re not even. I own you forever. Isn’t that how it is with the Chinese? No matter. I sure do appreciate you getting here so quickly. Campbell’s on parole so it was important that Officer Sampson not bust him. I promised him, but one of the admitting staff here dropped a dime. Tomorrow, or as soon as he’s with it enough to listen, he becomes that next guy I was talking about. I’m gonna try and make him the same deal I made you. Only he may have to go away for a couple of weeks if we can find a way to pay for it. Got that, Mike?”
Campbell nodded weakly.
“You’re a good man, Doc,” Reese said. “A hell of a good man.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, Don, because I need another favor.”
“Name it.”
“Ferris, Manny Ferris. Marine corporal. Medical discharge maybe seven years ago. Around thirty-five. Five nine. Hair black. Eyes brown. Skin maybe some sort of brown-white mix. Has spent time in cardboard villages and flophouses. Last address unknown, but I’ll be starting work on that as soon as I get home.”
Reese checked his watch.
“I’m off tomorrow,” he said. “Scheduled to go fishing with my cousin. Been really looking forward to it.”
“I need to find him yesterday,” Nick said.
CHAPTER 13
Franz Koller waited on the edge of the bed for the girls to arrive. His Dell laptop glowed ghostly blue in the otherwise dark motel room. He had connected his PC to the Internet and even logged in to his eBay account, but he was not yet ready to contact Jericho. A phrase he once read in a
Wall Street Journal
article about unfortunate e-mailing incidents had stuck with him-it was headlined “Ready, Fire, Aim.” It would be stupid, he knew, to message his employer while his emotions still ran hot.
The killer placed the pads of three fingers just below his wrist crease to check his radial pulse again.
Sixty beats per minute
-still way too high. When he was truly relaxed, truly in control of his emotions, his resting heart rate
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