Highway to Vengeance: A Thomas Highway Thriller (22 page)

“True.”

“Besides, Holland offered me full immunity
for any information I could give him on the people who helped me go
after Montoya.”

“Wait a minute,” Willis said. “You’ve
already talked to Holland?”

I nodded. “I called him before I hooked up
with you.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I didn’t have to. He
already had everything figured out. He even pegged me as having
outside help, due to my quick turnaround time.”

“So he knew you killed Montoya and he still
offered you full immunity?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Why would he do something like that?”
Willis said.

“Because he wanted the guys who helped me
more than he wanted me. Or so he said.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“Because Montoya was working for Homeland
Security.”

“He told you that?”

I nodded.

“And you believed him?”

“I’m not sure what I believe at this point,”
I said. “But I’m willing to keep an open mind on the matter. Why?
Do you think he was lying to me?”

“I certainly wouldn’t put it past him,”
Willis said.

“But why? For what purpose?”

Willis shrugged. “Could be any number of
reasons. Maybe he’s playing you, just telling you whatever it takes
to get you to come in so he can arrest you for Montoya’s murder, or
conspiracy to commit murder, I’m no lawyer. Or maybe he’s got some
other thing going. The point is, we have no idea what he’s up
to.”

“I guess it’s a possibility,” I said. “But
it’s a risk I’m just going to have to take. I simply don’t have any
other options at this point.”

“You could just let it go.”

“I could, but I don’t really like the idea
of keeping my eye out for Homeland Security for the rest of my
life. I just want to be free and clear of this thing, especially
now that—”

I stopped once I realized Willis wasn’t even
listening. He was staring over my shoulder, his eyes vacant. I
recognized the look. I’d seen it quite a few times before. He was
working something out in his head. And then he laughed under his
breath. “Oh man.”

“What?” I said.

“Just something that crossed my mind,”
Willis said. “It’s a long shot, but I think we have to consider
it.”

He turned towards me. His eyes were again
fully focused and he had a tiny grin on his face. I realized he was
enjoying himself. Immensely. He lived for this type of stuff.

“Now, I don’t know if they have the stones
for this,” he said. “But if they do . . . man, that would be
impressive.”

“Jesus, spit it out already,” I said.
“You’re killing me, man.”

“All right,” he said. “Get this. Have you
considered the possibility that Holland isn’t really Homeland
Security? That he’s part of Pittman’s group? That he was part of
the setup from the very beginning?”

My body went cold and my stomach sank into
my testicles.

“From the look on your face, I’m going to
guess no,” Willis said.

“No,” I managed to say. “I hadn’t.”

“Well, think about it now,” he said.

And so I did. Or I tried to, at least. But
my mind was racing and the threads of the situation were
ricocheting around my head and I couldn’t put any of them
together.

“Walk me through it,” I said.

“Okay. Now think about your first meeting
with Holland,” Willis said. “What made you think he was with
Homeland Security?”

“He told me he was,” I said.

“And then he showed you a badge, right?”

I nodded.

“But do you even know what a DHS badge looks
like?” Willis asked.

I shook my head. “I’d never even seen one
before that day.”

“So you can’t even be sure it was a real
badge.”

“Nope.”

“And then, when you two had your little
heart-to-heart, he didn’t take you to a federal building or
anyplace official, right?”

Again I shook my head, more vigorously this
time. “We just talked in the car and then at the pier.”

“Plus, I was never able to get any
confirmation on Holland being with Homeland Security, one way or
the other, or any pending case with Montoya or Alvarez involved,”
Willis said.

“And it would also go a long way toward
explaining why Holland was so cordial with me.”

“Like this business about him giving you his
personal cell number, just in case?”

“Exactly,” I said. “I remember thinking how
strange that was at the time.”

“Yeah, me too,” Willis said. “To be honest,
this Holland guy hasn’t really acted like an agent any step of the
way. At least, not like any agents I know.”

I took a deep breath, held it for a moment,
then exhaled. I thought about the implications of everything Willis
had said. It still hadn’t come fully together for me, but it was
quickly getting there. I was becoming convinced.

“So you think that first meeting was all
bullshit, just part of the setup?” I said.

Willis shrugged. “I don’t know anything, but
it’s certainly a distinct possibility.”

“But again, why?” I said. “What purpose
would it serve?”

“It would help butter you up for Pittman’s
proposal,” Willis said. “Make the whole thing seem more legitimate.
From what you’ve told me about their methods so far, it’s not that
farfetched, really.”

“That’s true,” I said.

“Plus it could have been designed with a
secondary purpose in mind,” Willis said. “It could serve as a
contingency plan. If things went to hell, and they weren’t able to
neutralize you after you took out Montoya—”

“They knew I’d have nowhere to go except
straight to Holland,” I said. It was all starting to crystallize
now.

“Plus it would help explain why Holland
seemed so willing to give you immunity,” Willis said.

“And why he would know that Montoya was dead
almost immediately,” I added. “Because it was all bullshit, just
designed to get me out into the open so they can take another shot
at me.”

“Exactly,” Willis said.

“Jesus. It’s not proof, by any means—”

“But it’s pretty damn suspicious.”

“I’ll say.”

I started to pace around the room. I ran
through everything a couple more times and couldn’t find any flaws
in the logic.

“Fuck me,” I said.

“They certainly tried to.”

“And I almost walked right into it,” I
said.

“Good thing you have me around to set you
straight,” Willis said.

“Damn right,” I said. I took another deep
breath, tried to get my thoughts in order.

“Of course, we can’t be certain of it either
way,” Willis said. “This could just be another one of my crazy
theories. For all we know, Holland really is with Homeland
Security. And he really is willing to offer you immunity in
exchange for information on who helped you out.”

“That’s true. Like you said at the beginning
of this thing; we don’t know shit about what’s really going
on.”

“We rarely do,” Willis said.

“But what do you think is going on?”

Willis shrugged. “Honestly? It could go
either way. There’s really no way to be sure.”

“Unless we find out the hard way,” I said.
“So then all that really matters is: Does any of this conjecture
change my approach?”

“That’s the million dollar question.”

I thought about it for a minute and realized
that in the end, it didn’t really matter what the truth was. I
really only had one course of action.

“I don’t think it does,” I said. “I’m still
going to have to meet with Holland. It’s pretty much the only play
I have left.”

“I agree,” Willis said. “But it’s a pretty
big risk to take.”

“What isn’t at this point?” I said. “If I
want to continue on with this, I’m going to have to take some
chances.”

“And if this whole thing is just a ruse to
get you to show your face in public so they can kill you on the
spot?”

The corners of my mouth turned up of their
own accord. “Then we’ll just have to make sure that they don’t
succeed.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY

The next morning I found a payphone and gave
Holland a call.

“I’m glad you called back,” he said after
picking up the phone.

“What? You didn’t think I was going to?”

“Actually, I wasn’t sure either way. I
thought you might just blow me off, decide to light out for the
territories.”

“And have Homeland Security looking for me
for the rest of my life?” I said. “No thanks. That’s what I’m
trying to avoid here.”

“A wise decision,” Holland said. “So, did
you consider my offer?”

“I did. And I’m willing to cooperate if
immunity is still on the table.”

“It absolutely is,” Holland said. “Where do
you want to meet.”

“Horton Plaza,” I said. “Just outside the
main entrance to the mall, next to the fountain.”

“When?”

“As soon as you can get here.”

“You’re there now?”

“Come on,” I said. “Don’t give me that crap.
You know where I am.”

“I told you last night that I wasn’t going
to track your calls. I wasn’t then and I’m not now.”

“Whatever,” I said. “Just come over here.
And I know you won’t come alone, but leave the rest of your guys on
the street. They can keep an eye on the proceedings but I don’t
want them getting too close.”

“What’s the matter? Don’t you trust me?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

Holland laughed under his breath. “I guess
you just did.”

Thirty minutes later, I was watching the
fountain from the second floor of the multi-tiered, outdoor mall
when I saw Holland walk up and sit down on the short wall
surrounding the water. He appeared to be alone, but I knew he had
to have support somewhere; a couple of his accomplices were no
doubt mingling in the area, disguised as businessmen or other
shoppers. But that was to be expected, and I had already planned
for it.

Before arriving, I’d bought two
pay-by-the-minute cell phones from a liquor store over on K St. I
pulled one out of my pocket and dialed the number of its twin.

The other line rang and was quickly
answered.

A young man’s voice said, “Is he here?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s sitting at the
fountain, wearing a dark blue business suit and facing you. He’s
got short black hair and a cop mustache.”

“I see him,” said the voice. “I’m heading
towards him now.”

I watched from above as one of the valets
from the mall’s parking service walked across the lawn and held the
phone out towards Holland. The line was still open, allowing me to
listen as the situation unfolded.

“What the hell is this?” Holland said.

“Some dude paid me 50 bucks to give this to
you,” the valet said, still holding out the phone.

Holland gave a quick glance at the
surrounding area then took the phone from the valet’s hand. After
dismissing the young man, Holland brought the phone to his face and
said, “Is this you, Highway?”

“Yes, Agent Holland. It’s me.”

“What is this crap? I thought you were going
to meet me out here.”

I turned and started heading towards the
center of the mall. “I’m just making sure I get you to myself. I
don’t want to get blindsided by one of your friends in the middle
of our conversation.”

“There’s no other agent within 200 yards of
my position,” Holland said.

“Well, just to be sure, I’m going to ask you
to take a little walk before we meet.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You said we were
going to meet at Horton Plaza and—”

“No need to get testy,” I said. “It’s not a
long walk. I’m in the mall. Sitting at a table in the food court on
the fourth level. Waiting for you.”

Holland paused for a moment, then said, “All
right. I’ll be right up.”

“And keep the phone to your ear as you go,”
I said. “I’m going to give you specific directions on how to get
here. Follow them exactly and I’ll still be here when you
arrive.”

Holland took a deep breath and seemed on the
verge of getting angry, but simply said, “Okay,” then turned and
started towards the mall.

Speaking into the phone, I said, “There is a
bank of escalators in front of you, on the right. Take them to the
fourth floor.”

I watched as Holland rode the escalator to
the second floor. He got off, walked to the next bank of
escalators, and climbed on.

I stepped on right behind him, one stair
down, and said, “Hello, Agent Holland.”

Startled, Holland started to turn towards
me.

“Just keep facing forward,” I said.

I was less than a foot away from him,
wearing a baggy sweatsuit, a wide-brimmed floppy hat and a pair of
sunglasses. My hands were tucked away in the front pocket of the
sweatshirt, out of sight.

“You can hang up the phone now,” I said, a
little grin tugging at the corner of my lips.

Holland closed the phone. “What’s with all
these bullshit games, Highway? I didn’t peg you for this kind of
crap.”

“I already told you,” I said. “My trust
level is at an all time low right now, so I’m being ultra
cautious.”

Holland considered this for a moment, then
said, “So where are we going to talk?”

“The next floor. Get off the escalator, turn
right, walk five steps, go to the rail on your left, and stop.”

He nodded. We came to the third floor and he
did exactly what I had told him to do.

“I assume you’re armed,” I said, speaking
loud enough for Holland to hear me over the din of the shopping
crowd but not loud enough to be overheard. “But I am too, so don’t
try anything cute.”

“I won’t if you don’t.”

“Fair enough.”

Holland dropped his arms to his side.

“Hands on the railing, please,” I said.

Holland glared at me but put his hands on
the railing. “What about your hands?”

“They aren’t going anywhere,” I said. “You
may have plenty of friends around, but I’m alone out here.”