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"That sounds like Yager's line of bullshit."
"You and Agent Stuart seem to be pretty good at the bullshit yourself."
The man's mouth thinned even more. It was going to disappear entirely any second. "None of this has gone according to
plan."
"Your plan? Or Sandora's?"
The light turned green. The man jerked his head in time to see the cafe agent start to cross. He dropped onto the
opposite stool and slipped his hand into the top of the backpack. "Tell Yager to call his people back. I don't want to pull
my weapon, but I will to keep the scene clear for Sandora."
Eli stared at the bulge at the top of the pack. After everything that had happened, he wasn't going to assume this guy
was bluffing. Until his hand came out, though, it was impossible to be sure there was a real gun in there.
Yager's voice was muffled through the earpiece. Talking to his other field agents, Eli guessed. The man crossing the
street noticeably slowed, each additional foot he traveled tensing the other man sitting across from Eli. At the corner, he
paused, and the muscles flexed in the arm of Eli's visitor, the back of his hand appearing as it marginally withdrew from
the pack. Cradled against his palm was the unmistakable black butt of a gun.
"He's serious, Yager," Eli said. "He's armed."
The cafe agent shot them one last glance before continuing on down the street, past the store and out of Eli's view.
"Get his name," Yager said. "I want to know who this son of a bitch is."
Eli turned his pad in his lap, gripping its edge like a shield. "You got a reprieve," he said to the man. "Are you going to
tell me what this is about now? Did Sandora's boss double-cross you?"
Though the man's hand relaxed, it remained hidden inside the pack as he shifted toward Eli. "I don't know who Sandora
is working for. But I'll find out once you get out of here."
"But if you're partners--"
"We're not."
"You were after something on the El. And you stole my bag from the police station. How are you not involved in this?"
"His name, Locke," Yager growled.
"It's not the way you think." His free hand reached into his jacket pocket and extricated a beaten billfold. In a quick flip,
he tossed it onto Eli's lap. "That might help you."
Tucking his pencil behind his ear, Eli opened it to reveal a federal ID. "Agent Douglas Pfeiffer. You're both agents?"
Pfeiffer gave him a brusque nod. "And this was our case until Yager and Baptiste showed up. We've been following
illegal money through Chicago for a year now. Your roommate Gretchen finally led us to Fong, but by that point, it was
too late."
"He's lying to you, Locke."
"It looks as good as your ID, Agent Yager."
"There was never any local involvement until Baptiste got killed."
The billfold held nothing else. Eli held it out to Pfeiffer, his fingers surprisingly rock-steady. "Why not just tell Yager
what you were doing?"
"Because this was our case." The sudden vehemence in his voice was mirrored by the danger in his dark eyes.
Otherwise, Pfeiffer remained completely still. "Stuart and I worked this one off the books, because the very first link in
the money chain led us to believe our security might be compromised. If Yager's filling your head with lies about me,
tell him to call the Chicago field office. They can confirm my identity."
"Yager's already doing that." Jarrett's smooth baritone startled Eli, though the thumping of his heart slowed slightly,
instinctively calming down at the sound of it. "I'm on the mic to relay any other messages he might have while he's
making these calls. Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think this guy is for real?"
"I don't know."
"Ask him what stealing your stuff was supposed to accomplish."
"Sandora's not the money man," Pfeiffer said when Eli posed the query. "He's just the muscle. Giving him the
information he wants gives us the room to bust whoever it is behind all the thefts. A bust Stuart and I have been
working our tails off to get. Yager's thinking too narrowly about this. He wants to solve his murders and get the money.
Catching the guy who hired Fong to do all this in the first place would just be a lucky bonus."
His assessment about Yager hit close to home. Though Eli might not have surmised the entire scope of Yager's plan,
he'd already decided for himself that the man wasn't great at seeing the big picture. He got distracted by his emotions,
by his partner's death, by his impotence to get to Sandora's boss sooner. He wasn't sure he bought Pfeiffer's reasoning to
keep the glory all to himself, but he didn't know Pfeiffer's history. He might have been passed over for promotion, or he
could have a superiority complex that refused to let anybody else win. It wasn't Eli's place to judge when his own
actions over the past few days looked pretty suspect when viewed by outside parties.
"So Stuart kept you informed about what was going on."
"We've known all along what Yager was doing. It wasn't that hard to get Stuart assigned to him, either."
"You hit her to make it look real."
"We needed to keep Yager in the dark as long as possible. He is not stealing my case here."
"It sounds like you're trying to steal his."
"Look." Pfeiffer leaned forward, lending an air of privacy amongst the otherwise crowded sidewalk. For a moment, Eli
wondered what passers-by thought was going on between the two men on the stools. "You got caught up in a fucking
mess. I know that. You know that. Even Yager knows that. You don't have to be. If you walk away, I can make the
trade with Sandora in your place. Everybody wins."
"Sandora doesn't know who the hell this kid is." Yager was back. Considering he wasn't perpetuating his statements
about Pfeiffer lying, Eli had to conclude the ID was real. "If he doesn't get his ass out of there, nobody is going to win."
Some kind of compromise had to be possible. "What if--"
"Shit." Pfeiffer's gaze had jumped past Eli's shoulder. "Too late."
* * * *
In the back of the surveillance van, Jarrett's heart felt like it stopped. "What did he just say?" When Yager ignored him
to snatch up a cell phone, he grabbed the man's shoulder and yanked him back. Panic clawed through him. "Damn it,
what's going on?"
Yager knocked his hand away with more force than he would have thought the older man could muster. "That's what
I'm trying to figure out."
"Sorry I'm late." Sandora's cool tone was faint over the speakers, but there was no mistaking it was him. "I didn't realize
you'd start without me."
"What's going on?" Yager snarled into the phone. "I'm blind in here."
"I didn't know you took appointments." That was Pfeiffer. At least Eli had him as an ally out there. Jarrett didn't know
what the hell was happening with Yager's men. "I'm sorry, did you have one?"
"Nah, Elias and I are just old friends. But there is someplace we have to be. You didn't forget, did you, Elias?"
Sandora's use of Eli's full name grated across Jarrett's nerves. Every protective instinct in him screamed to get out of the
van and go help, but he would have to get past Yager first, and something told him they wouldn't hesitate to shoot to
keep him out of the fray.
"I didn't forget," Eli said. "But you came alone. What about the others?"
The tightness in his voice betrayed his fear. If he had to ask, Sandora had approached them alone. Where were the
Lockes?
"Waiting for my call. Come on. We shouldn't keep them waiting."
Yager was focused on his phone. Jarrett had no idea if he'd even heard what had just transpired. "Why is he still
talking?" He shifted seats to force Yager to look at him. "Why aren't your men moving in?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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