Night and Day (Book 2): Bleeding Sky (22 page)

Tomorrow,
visitors in the morning beginning at ten. Then a tour of the city by car.
Again with no set route. Stopping when he saw someone or something that
interested him. Dinner in midtown at one of the fancier restaurants. Ending
with a walk around midtown until it was time to come back to the
trailer.

I
handed it to Martinez and looked at the former ambassador. “Dr. Heymann, you
know there are people here who want to kill you.”

He
nodded. “I have been told that, yes. I’m sure you and Miss Takeda will keep
me from harm.”

“That’s
the plan, but you’re certainly not making our job easy.”

He
smiled. “You have your job, I have mine.”

“Excuse
me, Dr. Heymann,” Lita said, her eyes on the page. “No offense, but do you
have a death wish?”

A
laugh burst from his lips. “What an extraordinary thing to ask,” he said.
“Of course not, Ms. Martinez.”

She
shook her head and handed the paper back to me. “You’ll pardon me for saying
so, sir, but it sure doesn’t look that way to me. You do this, you’re just
asking for a bullet.”

Heymann
looked at me. “I commend you on your choice of aide,” he said. “It is rare
and special to find someone who so willingly speaks her mind.”

He
turned his eyes to Martinez. “I understand how it might seem that way to
you, young lady” he said softly. “And I certainly hope to return home alive,
and not in a coffin. But my life would have no meaning if I did not do what
I have been asked.”

“Is
it worth getting killed over, sir?”

“I
believe it is, Ms. Martinez. For more than five years, the world has been in
turmoil. Fear is everywhere, from the streets to the halls of power. In
Europe, some hope for reconciliation with the United States while others
listen to the voices of hatred and fear. The Russian Federation is
particularly suspicious.” He shrugged dismissively. “They have always been
so. Asia is consumed with dread. The power of China and India is in their
huge populations. The thought of vampires turning their people against them
keeps their leaders awake at night. Japan has done what Japan always does.
They have taken a leaf from America’s book and sealed their borders. No one
in, no one out.”

He
shook his head. “This cannot continue. Fear and mistrust will eventually
lead to a miscalculation, to the idea that they can somehow destroy the
threat by destroying the United States. A sane man knows this to be
ludicrous. We believe that one vampire is the source of what has happened
here. How could we ever know that we had killed them all. And how would we
stop them if we didn’t?”

“You
make good points, Dr. Heymann,” I said. “But if you don’t survive to
complete this trip, what’s the point?”

“I
have to put my trust in you, Mr. Welles, and in Miss Takeda. This mission is
too important to walk away from. I believe that the Governor General and the
President want me to succeed. They have certainly said as much. That they
have allowed me to travel freely, as I choose, without restriction,
reinforces that belief. This is perhaps our last and best hope to avoid
global cataclysm. What is my life compared to that?”

“I
admire your courage, Dr. Heymann. And I’ll do everything possible to keep
you alive.” I held up the itinerary. “But this will not make it
easy.”

“I
cannot in good faith drive through your country, look out the window, and
return home to tell them that everything is wonderful here,” he said. “The
importance of this trip requires that it be done correctly. And I will do
that, whatever the risk.”

“Well,
unless you have some other bombshell to drop on us, I think I’d better get
my people together and start planning for your trips outside Jackson
Square.”

“Of
course,” he said. He stood and extended his hand. “I appreciate your candor
and your efforts, Mr. Welles. I’m sure we’ll both be successful.”

I
didn’t have his optimism, but I said, “Yes, sir. Here’s hoping.”

He
turned to Martinez. “Miss Martinez, a pleasure to meet you. I hope I’ll see
you again.”

“The
pleasure was mine sir,” she said.

“You’ll
probably see Ronald on your way out, smoking one of the American cigarettes
you so thoughtfully provided. Please have him report to me.” Heymann sat
back in the chair heavily.

As
Martinez and I went out the door, I glanced back. He was hunched over the
desk, his hand on the coffee mug, staring down, deep in thought. For all his
optimism, I knew he had to be at least a little worried.

Clay
was talking with a couple of troopers at the final checkpoint along the path
we’d laid out for visitors to the trailer. They’d put more chicken wire on
either side of the designated path, from the street almost to the ramp, to
make sure nobody wandered on their way to the trailer. The last security
checkpoint, where Clay stood, was about twenty feet from the
hatch.

“He
wants to see you,” I said as we approached.

“Figured,”
he said, taking a pull on the cigarette between his lips.

I
glanced at the butts around his feet. “You’re gonna burn through those
smokes long before you get back to Germany.”

He
laughed. “Nah, I’m limiting myself to a pack a day. I should have a carton
and a half when I get home.” He paused. “You have any idea how much people
would pay for a pack of the real thing back at Patch?”

“You’ll
be a wealthy man, captain.”

Clay
laughed again. “What are you, nuts? I ain’t selling them. I’m gonna to horde
them, ration them to myself. Make them last. Might be a long time till I see
another pack.”

“Give
me an address and I’ll mail you a carton.”

“Yeah,
and when they arrive they’ll be ripped apart, by the people here and the
people there. You can hide all kinds of stuff in a pack of
cigarettes.”

“You’ve
seen this?” I said, holding up the itinerary.

He
nodded. “We talked about it on the trip here. I cautioned him to be a little
less...ambitious, but Heymann is headstrong. He’s gonna do what he wants,
even if it kills him.”

“Let’s
hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yeah.”
Clay took a final drag on the cigarette and dropped it. “I’ll be out with
him when he leaves the trailer. You have a problem with me being
armed?”

“I’d
be surprised if you weren’t. What will you be carrying?”

He
grinned as he ground the cigarette butt into the ground with the hell of his
boot. “Well, I’d like to be carrying a chain gun slung over my shoulder like
the guy in that old Predator movie. But I forgot to pack it.” The smile
faded. “HK G36, standard German assault rifle, side arm, couple of smoke
grenades for cover if we get jumped.”

“Don’t
worry, you’ll have plenty of backup,” I said. “Hopefully enough to scare off
anybody who might want to make a move on the ambassador.”

Clay
nodded. “Yeah, I figured. He paused. “Okay, lemme go see what Heymann wants. I’ll see
you later.”

Martinez
and I watched him walk back to the trailer.

“You
know he’s special forces, right sir? Even if he wouldn’t tell you outright
this morning.”

I
looked down at her. “Why do you say that?”

“Unit
flash on his coffee cup. Fifth Special Forces was headquartered at Fort
Campbell before the war. Saw a lot of the beret flashes from special ops
types passing through. Including that all-green one on his mug.”

I
glanced up to see him closing the trailer hatch behind him. What she’d said
didn’t surprise me. They would have sent a capable combat soldier into what
they probably viewed as enemy territory.

What
did surprise me was his reluctance to share that. I’d asked him what he did,
he’d deflected the question. Why? What difference did it make? Hell, I
welcomed an experienced hand to help keep the ambassador safe.

Just
something else to think about. I looked around the square. Perimeter was in
place. Checkpoints were stopping people. Defensive positions were manned and
watchful. We were in good shape if somebody tried to attack Heymann’s
trailer. I wasn’t so sure about how secure he’d be when he stepped
outside.

Jimmy
Mutz was across the street, near Eddie’s Dogs. Leave it to Jimmy to set up
shop next to a place that provided free meals to cops.

“Go
find Captain Bristow,” I said. “I’ll be over there, with that police
captain. Bring him.”

“Yes,
sir,” she said.

She
headed for the command trailer, I headed for the street.

Jimmy
was in the middle of an animated conversation with an older woman as I
stepped over the three-foot high chicken wire fence separating the sidewalk
from the road. A trooper eyed me, but said and did nothing. I guess they all
knew who I was now.

The
woman with Jimmy wore a bright red dress and a little hat that matched, and
she was not at all happy.

“Tell
me why?” she demanded as I came up behind her.

Jimmy
sighed. “Mrs. Palmari, look around. They’ve got the whole square closed off.
You’re not the only one who has to detour.”

“I’m
not stupid, Captain Mutz,” she said. “And I never said that I was the only
one who was affected by this. But you still haven’t told me why Jefferson
Square is closed and what that big shoe box in the square is.”

“It’s
the German ambassador, Mrs. Palmari,” he said. “He’s staying in that trailer
while he’s in town so he can meet with regular people in the neighborhood.”
He paused and smiled. “People like you.”

“We
have many fine hotels in this city,” she said. “Why would he stay in a shoe
box?”

“Maybe
because the old lady that lived in a shoe left it empty,” Jimmy said with
another smile.

“This
is not funny, captain,” she said. She looked at Heymann’s trailer. “My
father died fighting the Germans. Let him move to a hotel.”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

“So
how long will this ridiculous situation continue?”

I
knew Jimmy could see me. I held up four fingers. His eye caught the
motion.

“It’ll
all be over by Monday, Mrs. Palmari.”

“Monday!”
she shouted. “I have to go shopping on Saturday. How do you expect me to get
to midtown?”

“Same
way as everybody else, myself included,” Jimmy said. “Go west to St. Joseph
and go north or go east to Third and go north.”

“I
don’t think you’re taking my complaint seriously, captain,” she said. “Who’s
your boss?”

Jimmy
smiled. “That would be District Chief Dylan Muldoon, ma’am. He’ll be at the
Downtown District station sometime after nine tonight . You know, after the
sun goes down.”

She
scowled and pushed past him. I watched her little red hat bobbing as she
disappeared in the crowd.

Jimmy
shook his head. “I really wish I was sitting in the station, in
air-conditioned comfort, instead of sweating my ass off here on the street
dealing with civilians.”

“Why
don’t you have Maldone out here?” Frankie Maldone was the day shift watch
lieutenant.

“Chief
Northport,” he muttered. “Your old friend Daryl insisted that I be here, to
handle citizen interactions like the one you just saw. Hell, that prick
Muldoon even said he thought I’d be more effective at the station, but
Northport said no.”

“Yeah,
Daryl likes to get what he wants. We’ve both seen him in action. And now he
has the rank to make it happen.” I paused. “So how many men you have on duty
here this afternoon?”

“Eight
or ten,” he said. “Why?”

“The
ambassador is planning on a little walk around two o’clock,” I said. “First
in the square, then dinner at a local restaurant, then a couple of hours
walking around the neighborhood outside the square.”

“What
is he, nuts?”

“Determined,”
I said. “Very determined.”

“Okay,
I can get some extra manpower from Central,” he said. “Northport was real
specific that I could have whatever personnel I need.” He laughed harshly.
“I can’t get the okay to take down Eddie Gee, but when it’s extra cops for
this shit, the sky’s the limit.”

Over
Jimmy’s shoulder, I saw Captain Bristow and Martinez coming through the
security checkpoint down the sidewalk. I was glad to see that Martinez had a
holstered pistol on her hip.

The
line was moving quickly, but it wasn’t as fast as the way I got to the
sidewalk. But I guess jumping the wire was only for cocky
civilians.

“You
gonna be free in half an hour or so for a briefing?”

“Long
as you got the air conditioning on in that command trailer, I’m free till
Monday.”

“Mr.
Welles,” Bristow said, stopping next to Jimmy. Martinez moved to my
side.

I
handed him the folded itinerary and watched while he read it.

He
looked up at me and smiled grimly. “Well, isn’t this a truckload of
shit.”