James Patterson - Blindside

Ed said, “I seem to recall you having a little trouble at Columbia not that long ago. Will they let you on campus? They’re not known to help the police much.”

“I have a few contacts. I need to find this girl. I’ll see what I can pick up on her and if she knows anything about your victim.”

“Is this witness’s name a secret, too?”

“No, not really. Her name is Jennifer Chang. She’s a computer genius, too. That’s why I think it might all be related.”

Ed laughed and said, “If you don’t know it by now, everything’s related in police work.”

CHAPTER 28

I HADN’T BEENto Columbia University in some time. During my last visit, looking into rumors of a teenage hit man, I’d found the student studying at Columbia’s Butler Library. The young man was bright and eloquent. He was also an armed psychopath, which became clear when he pulled a pistol on me while we were chatting. We’re credited with the only running gunfight in history inside a Columbia library.

Thinking about that shooting, and my most recent shooting, left me feeling a little dejected. It really did seem like people were much more open to using violence to get away from the police. It made me scared for the generations of cops to come.

A security guard at the campus was a retired NYPD sergeant. It was clear on the phone he didn’t want anyone to see him talking to a current NYPD detective, but he did a search of the university’s records and found that Jennifer Chang was an enrolled student.

There was no way to tell if she was attending her classes, but he knew some of the university’s IT people. That’s where I was headed, north of the main campus. I should’ve picked up on his tone and chuckle. He said, “Jason is a little different.”

“How so?”

“Let’s just say he lives in his own world. Play by his rules, and he could be a big help.”

I found the offices not far from the Hudson in a four-story brick-and-glass building that looked more like a large warehouse than a hub of technology. I entered the front door, and the first thing I saw was a page of copy paper with the word Infrastructure scribbled on it with a ballpoint pen. An arrow pointed down. I took the narrow staircase next to the sign.

It felt a little like a horror movie. The underground floor was poorly lit and there was no one around. Literally. I had not seen one person since I entered the building. I found another sign just like the first one with an arrow pointing to the end of the hallway.

My shoes echoed off the concrete floor, which looked just as cold as the colorless walls. A stale odor assaulted my nose.

Finally I found a door with one more matching sign that said Infrastructure .

I knocked and heard someone shout from inside.

I opened the door and saw a man, about thirty, with long red hair tied in a ponytail. He looked up and said, “Are you Bennett?”

I nodded.

“Todd in Security told me you’d be coming. He said you were trustworthy and on a noble quest. I respect anyone on a noble quest.”

It took me a moment to realize this guy had played one too many Dungeons and Dragons games.

He said, “My name is Jason. Jason A. Manafort. But Todd said you wouldn’t put my name in any reports. Can I trust your word of honor, sir?”

“No one will ever know I was here or that you spoke to me.”

“And your quest? Is it really noble?”

“I’m looking for a missing girl, and Jennifer Chang might know where to find her. I just want to make sure she’s safe.” I waited while Jason considered this. He wasn’t taking our encounter lightly. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

Then Jason patted the seat next to him and turned to his computer monitor. He said, “I did a little background. I needed to meet you and make sure you were worthy of receiving this information.”

I watched as he brought up Jennifer Chang’s registration information. I copied down an address in Midtown. It looked like more of a warehouse area. Some of the warehouses had apartments above them. I also looked at Jennifer’s official school ID photo. Like most college students, she looked too young to be in school, but that was just a product of me getting older.

She was cute and had purple streaks running through her hair. She had been born in California and appeared to be of Asian descent. Nothing in her file was useful for my investigation, other than the address, which I intended to visit as soon as I was done with the Royal Handler of Information.

I talked with Jason for a few more minutes and asked if there was anything else he thought might help me.

He said, “Do you know what a MAC address is?”

I recalled Eddie telling me about a computer’s unique address, the string of two-digit numbers and characters. All I said to Jason was “Of course I do.”

He brought up a different screen on his computer. He said, “I found her ID on the Wi-Fi in Butler Library. I even checked security video to make sure it was her. Anyway, when she signed on, this is the address that came up.”

I looked at the screen and copied down the twelve digits. I didn’t know how to use it myself, but I thought I could find someone who did.

I also didn’t know how to thank Jason. He was stepping outside the normal protocol for Columbia employees to speak to the police. I dug in my sport coat pocket and found a challenge coin from Manhattan North Homicide. Most police units make their own coins, mementos that some people collect. This one showed a crime scene on one side and our unit’s logo on the other side.

Jason stared at it in his hand for a moment and said, “I’m honored that you would entrust me with a symbol of your quest.”

I said, “Thanks for the help.” It seemed shallow in the face of his sincerity, but I didn’t have time for a big show of emotion. I had to check Jennifer Chang’s apartment.

CHAPTER 29

ALICE GROFF ANDJanos Titon had followed the directions from the kid outside Jennifer Chang’s old apartment. His directions had been right on the money, and his description had been fairly precise. The apartment was on the floors above a warehouse that dealt with caskets and funeral accessories.

They’d waited until the warehouse closed and it was dusk. Now they marched up two flights of wooden stairs, their footsteps echoing in the warehouse below them. They could hear the echo through the vents and a couple of windows that looked down into the warehouse.

Alice nudged Janos and nodded toward a series of extremely subtle security cameras. They were all directed at the door.

Janos muttered, “Computer geeks. They’re the same in America as they are in Estonia.”

They were still dressed professionally, so Alice wasn’t worried about what they would look like on security cameras. She knocked on the door.

Clearly whoever was inside had been watching the cameras and waiting. The door opened a crack with two heavy security chains on it. A tall, skinny man, with remarkably thick glasses, peered out at them. He spoke with a Hispanic accent as he said, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Alice had a little speech prepared about being from Columbia University and looking for Jennifer Chang. She was going to say they had come about a financial aid grant. Vague and non-threatening. The best kind of story.

Before she could say anything, Janos wedged his foot into the open doorway and had the barrel of his Czech pistol under the thin ridge of bone the man thought of as his chin.

Janos said, “It doesn’t matter who we are. You’re going to open this door or I’m going to open your face. Your choice.”

The man was stunned. He stammered, “How, how, can, can I undo the chains with the door open?”