Smooth Operator (Teddy Fay) (15 page)

T
eddy walked up to Carlo Gigante’s table, sat down on the couch on the side that wasn’t draped with a young woman, and stuck a gun in his ribs. “Your guys changed their minds. They decided we
should
have a little talk. Now, this gun has a silencer so I can shoot you three times and be out the door before anyone even notices anything is wrong. Or we can have a nice talk, and you can go back to entertaining your young lady. Your choice.”

Gigante wet his lips. “What do you want to know?”

“This is a private talk. Tell your lady friend to go powder her nose. Tell her if she comes back with the bouncer or anyone at all, you will be very angry or dead.”

Gigante said something to her in Italian. The young lady rolled her eyes, got up, and left.

“Excellent,” Teddy said. “Here’s the deal. You sent two goons to kill a Hollywood producer’s wife. They failed, and named you. I figure they’re not the two who were here tonight, because the two who fingered you are either demoted or dead. I don’t care about them. I don’t care about you. I want to know who hired you.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“See, now that’s the wrong answer. If that’s the answer, you’re no use to me, and I shoot you and go ask someone else. Last chance. Who hired you? I’ll give you three. One, two—”

Gigante put up his hand. “Hang on. Hang on. It’s just a guy.”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to cut it.”

“I know, I know. There’s this guy. Sometimes he needs work done that he’s not equipped to do.”

“And you are?”

“What do you think?”

“What’s this guy’s name?”

“I don’t know.”

Teddy frowned. “Maybe you’re no use to me after all.”

“No, no,” Gigante said quickly. “I never met him. He’s a voice on the phone.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true.”

“What does he sound like, this voice on the phone?”

“What do you mean?”

“Stop stalling for time and give me everything you’ve got.
Did he have a high voice or a low voice? Did he talk fast or slow? Was he aggressive or pleasant? Did he have an accent?”

“He had an accent.”

“What kind of accent?”

“I don’t know. Arab. Afghan. Something Middle Eastern.”

“So that’s how it is, is it?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. He’s not like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know, political. He’s not a terrorist.”

“I see. He’s like you.”

Gigante opened his mouth, and closed it again.

“Why would you trust a foreign voice on the phone?”

“His money’s good, and he pays in advance.”

“You give him a refund on the producer’s wife?”

“I’ll get around to it.”

“Did he ask for it back?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Gigante shrugged.

“Let’s call him and ask him. Or you can simply refuse, and I’ll find him on my own. Your call.”

Teddy didn’t say what would happen if he refused. He didn’t have to.

Gigante reached in his pocket and took out a cell phone.

Teddy put up his hand. “No, no. Not that phone. Put it on the table. That’s the type of phone you press a panic
button and suddenly this table is surrounded with men. Use my phone.”

Teddy pushed his cell phone across the table.

Gigante picked it up and punched in a number. “You know who this is? . . . Yeah. I got a man here wants to talk to you about the job that didn’t happen. Talk to him, will you?” He handed the phone to Teddy.

“Hi, there,” Teddy said. “Mr. Gigante has a problem because he took money from you and didn’t deliver. I fix problems. I take care of them for Mr. Gigante, and I take care of them for you. So who do I owe? You, or the man you work for? You tell me, and I’ll make it right.”

The line went dead.

Teddy looked up from the phone. “He said it’s Gigante’s fault, kill him.”

Gigante turned pale. Perspiration trickled down the scar on his chin.

“But I’m not going to do that. You’re off the hook for now. Whether you stay that way depends on whether anyone bothers me when I leave.”

Teddy prodded Gigante with the silencer. “And whether you make another move on the producer’s wife. If you do, I’ll be back. And you don’t want me back.”

Teddy stood up, tucked his gun in his belt, and slipped his cell phone back in his pocket.

“Your boys should be waking up about now.” Teddy chuckled
and cocked his head. “If I were you, I wouldn’t go anywhere without them.”

—

TEDDY CAME OUT
of the nightclub and called Kevin. “Did you get the number?”

“Yeah, but it’s no help. It was a burner phone somewhere in L.A. Right after they hung up they turned it off, probably trashed it. No way to trace it now.”

“That’s what I expected. But it was worth a shot.”

Teddy hung up and called Stone. “We’re done. Meet me at the airport.”

There was no traffic on the freeway. Teddy made good time getting back.

Mike and Stone were waiting at the hangar.

“What’s the story?” Stone said.

Teddy shook his head. “It’s no-go.”

“Gigante wouldn’t crack?”

“Gigante gave him up, but the guy he gave me is a dead end.”

“How come?”

“Gigante was hired by a Middle Eastern man somewhere in the Los Angeles area. For the time being, that’s the best I can do. On the other hand, I doubt if Mr. Gigante is going to be bothering anyone in the near future. The gentleman is going to have his hands full.”

Teddy popped the trunk, took out his bag of gear, and set it on the ground. He held out his hand to Mike Freeman. “Thank you, Mike. I am happy to leave Betsy in your hands.”

“You sure you don’t want to see her before you go?”

“More than anything, Mike. But it’s just too dangerous. For her and for me.”

“My men are good.”

“I know they are. But the men we’re dealing with are good, too. I don’t know how they know half the things they do, and that’s scary. Just keep her safe for me, that’s all.”

“You got it.”

Teddy picked up the gear bag. “Come on, Stone. Let’s get back before anyone notices we’re gone.”

S
tone laid in a flight plan and took off for Teterboro.

“I hate to bail on you again,” Teddy said, “but I really need more sleep.”

“No problem. But you might want to put on your East Coast face.”

“Aw, hell.” Teddy pulled off the blond wig. “I forgot I had this on.”

“There’s no point trying to find this guy?”

Teddy shook his head. “We could if we wanted to take up residence, but we have other pressing matters.”

“So the whole trip is a washout?”

“I wouldn’t say that, Stone. We’re learning more about these people. They’re bicoastal, they have unlimited money, and remarkable access. They’re a curious mix of Middle Eastern extremists and American thugs, and they exhibit just the type of
disorganization that would result from such a mix. They’re incredibly bright on the one hand, and incredibly dumb on the other.

“Take the assassination, for instance. From the surveillance tape, the assassin appears to be a Middle Eastern terrorist. Then the CIA bullet makes no sense. And if the CIA’s involved, the assassination doesn’t make sense. The rifle cartridge seems like an obvious plant. It’s crudely done, and taken by itself it doesn’t really mean anything. There’s got to be more.

“Then you’ve got the kidnapping. The face on it is also a Middle Eastern man, the suave, clean-cut young man with the CIA credentials who lured the girl away from the dorm and got Margo Sappington to bug your phone. But the kidnapping makes little sense. Why would terrorists care if Congress passes some veterans aid bill?

“But it’s all interconnected. That’s why anytime we get close to making a connection, they cut and run.

“So, yes, we didn’t learn anything concrete. But at least we’re leaving the West Coast in disarray. Carlo Gigante will not be sending any goons to hassle Betsy again, and the connection between the extremists and the thugs has been broken.”

“So what’s next?” Stone said.

“Now we work from the other end. I still don’t know who leaked our plans to these guys and almost got you and me killed. You and Holly both swear Ann Keaton’s discreet and would not have told anyone that you had been added to the state dinner.”

“That’s right.”

“It occurs to me there’s one person she had to tell.”

T
eddy’s press pass in the name of Mark Rosen got him into Congressman Carl Jenkins’s office. He knew it would. A relatively unknown congressman couldn’t afford to pass up an interview.

Congressman Jenkins met him at the door with a handshake and a smile. “Well now, Mr. Rosen. What can I do for you?”

Teddy’s smile was apologetic. “It’s about the assassination, of course. Everything’s about the assassination. I understand you were personal friends with Congressman Drexel.”

“We were great friends ever since we worked together on the immigration bill.”

Teddy was forced to feign interest in the immigration bill, even jotted a few random notes in his notebook. “So you were seated next to him at the state dinner the night before?”

Congressman Jenkins made a face. “I was supposed to be. At
the last minute I had to give up my seat to some attorney from New York.”

“You missed the state dinner?”

“More than that, I missed the last chance to see my friend.”

“But you didn’t know it.”

“Of course.”

“Did they make it up to you? Give you a rain check for another state dinner?”

“Hardly. But the White House chief of staff took me out instead.”

“Isn’t that Ann Keaton?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’ve met her. A personable and attractive woman.”

The congressman winced.

Teddy controlled his face, but a guilty reaction to Ann Keaton was exactly what he was looking for. Was it possible this harmless-looking politician was responsible for passing on the tip about Stone Barrington? He certainly had all the information. A New York lawyer rung in at the last minute at the President’s request, who would be taking his place at that particular table.

Congressman Jenkins put up his hands and smiled. “Look, you’re not writing this, are you?”

Teddy frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You said it was about the assassination. Because I was a friend of Congressman Drexel. Where I had dinner has nothing to do with it.”

“But you missed the state dinner. As you say, your last chance
to see your old friend. The fact that you didn’t is poignant. Human interest.”

“The fact is I missed the dinner. That may be poignant, but who I was out with is not. I’m a married man. I don’t want my wife reading a story about me gallivanting around with a pretty woman instead of having dinner with my friend. That is not a fair assessment of the situation.”

“I assure you, that’s not what I’m writing.”

Jenkins smiled. “Just between you and me, she has some boyfriend she’s smitten with. She talked about him all through dinner.” He put up his hand. “But don’t write that, either.”

“Never fear. Did he know you were out with her?”

“Yes, and he wasn’t too happy about it. Not that he was jealous, don’t get the wrong idea. This is all off the record, right?”

“Of course.”

“Apparently she had to break a date with him to go out with me.”

Teddy smiled. Congressman Jenkins had been unexpectedly helpful. He clearly wasn’t the leak, but he’d given Teddy a lead.

I
f he hadn’t been so cool-headed, Paul Wagner would have been worried. Margo Sappington was dead. The police were calling it a suicide, but Paul knew better. The guys he worked for had taken her out, and they’d done it because of information he’d provided. That made him at least an accessory before and after the fact. A lesser man might have been daunted.

He also might have been concerned by the fact that no one had contacted him since. It was no big deal. He hadn’t called them, either. There was nothing coming out of Ann Keaton’s office he couldn’t read in the paper, nothing worth passing along. The assassination had thrown the President’s schedule so out of whack Ann had a full-time job just juggling her appointments. Even her secretary had no time to gossip.

—

TEDDY FAY FELL
into step with him as he came out the door of the office. “Paul Wagner?”

“Yes?”

“Leonard Coleman, CIA.” Teddy flashed his credentials. The ID photo matched his current appearance, which featured silver sideburns. He didn’t want to be Fred Walker for this interview. “Come with me, please.”

“Why?”

“Interesting reaction. That will be one of the first things we ask about. Come with me.”

Teddy turned and walked away. After a moment Paul followed. Teddy never looked back. He walked down the hall with complete assurance, and opened a door to a small conference room. “In here, please.”

Teddy ushered Paul in and shut the door. They sat at the table.

“You’re friends with the President’s chief of staff, Ann Keaton?”

“That’s right.”

“How did you meet?”

Paul frowned. “Hey, what is this?”

“In light of the national security threat, we’re running background checks on all persons with access to the White House. Surely you understand.”

“I’m not aware of any such background checks.”

“Why would you be?”

“Ann would have mentioned it.”

“She tells you things?”

“I’m her boyfriend.”

“Yes. How’d you meet?”

“We were introduced at a party.”

“Who introduced you?”

“I don’t remember.”

Teddy shook his head. “See, here’s the problem. You’re not expecting anyone to ask you that, and you should be, because you’re a pro. You can’t remember who introduced you because no one introduced you. You picked her up, and it was no accident. You went to the party to pick her up. You, my friend, are not who you say you are, which is a very unfortunate position to be in during a federal investigation.”

Paul favored Teddy with a haughty look. Clearly this misguided agent had made a mistake.

“Who hired you?”

“No one hired me. I’m attractive to women.” As if to demonstrate, he shrugged and ducked his head in the way he probably thought women found adorable. “Ann and I hit it off.”

“Okay, let’s take a walk.”

Paul blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“I’m going to have to take you in for questioning. You seem like a nice guy, so I’m going to do you a favor. Walk out with me and get in the car. You don’t have to sit in the back, it won’t look like you’re under arrest.”

Teddy walked him out front where he’d left his rental car. He kept Paul distracted so he wouldn’t see the diplomatic plates he’d slapped on it to keep from being towed.

Teddy pulled out and got on the highway.

“Hey,” Paul said, “this isn’t the way to the police station.”

“Sure it is.”

“No, it’s not. Hey, what is this?”

Teddy took out a gun and stuck it in his ribs. “You know that car your mother always told you not to get into? This is it.”

Paul’s mouth fell open. “You’re crazy! You’re out of your mind!”

“Nonsense. Three psych evaluations cleared me to return to duty.” Teddy hit the gas.

Ten miles out of town Teddy spotted an abandoned service station. He turned in, drove around to the back, and put the car in park. “Get out.”

Paul hesitated. Teddy prodded him with the gun. Paul got out. Teddy kept the gun trained on him, and made sure they couldn’t be seen from the road.

“All right,” Teddy said. “Let’s start again. You don’t want to tell me so I’ll tell you. You were hired to romance Ann Keaton and learn anything you could. Ann broke a date with you to take care of a congressman who got bumped from the state dinner to make room for Stone Barrington. You didn’t think it was particularly important, but you passed the information along. It turned out it actually was. Gunmen tried to take out Stone Barrington, but missed. Not your fault, but you got bad
points on your side of the ledger. You’re associated with a failure. But you don’t know that, so you’re not worried about it.

“You also told them that Holly Barker had been talking to Margo Sappington.”

Paul’s eyes flicked.

“Yes, I thought so. And that bothers you, because she wound up dead.”

“She committed suicide.”

“Cut the crap. You’re not that naïve. You’re not just playing secret agent anymore, you’re involved in a murder. Lucky for you, there’s an easy way out. All you have to do is cooperate.”

Teddy stuck his gun back in his pocket and turned to the car.

Paul lunged.

To his surprise, the older, less athletic-looking man lowered his shoulder and spun to the right, trapping Paul’s wrist with one hand while grabbing his elbow with the other. Teddy twisted hard in a bone-snapping move.

With a yowl of pain, Paul swung sideways and leaped, not at Teddy as he had intended, but toward the service station wall. He crashed headfirst into the bricks and fell to the dirt in a misshapen heap.

Paul’s head was twisted at an impossible angle. Teddy didn’t even have to feel his pulse to know he was dead.

Teddy shook his head and sighed.

All right, how did he deal with this?