James Patterson - Blindside

She’d turned the tables on me. Dammit. Now I was the one who was surprised.

“What makes you think I’m the police?”

“Aside from the way you stepped in here and surveyed the whole room? Then how you stepped right up to me and sat down without invitation? I’m sorry, in New York that screams ‘Police.’”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m here to talk to you?”

“I know why. So the only thing I can say to you now is, I want to talk to my attorney.”

CHAPTER 39

ALICE GROFF SKIDDEDto a stop when she looked through one of the windows of Brew. The only thing she could focus on inside the coffeehouse was the pretty and vivacious Jennifer Chang chatting with the cop they’d seen at her apartment the night before. No matter how she did the calculations, this did not turn out well for her and Janos. Jennifer talking to the police. And too many witnesses to act right now.

Janos nearly ran into her when she stopped short.

“What is it?”

“The tall cop from last night. The one who tried to get into Oscar’s apartment. He’s in there talking to Jennifer.”

“No shit. That’s a puzzler.”

Alice was losing her patience. “And what do you propose we do about this puzzler?”

“What can we do about it? As I see it, we have two choices. We can lay back out of sight and try to get to Jennifer later.” He stopped talking as he looked over Alice’s shoulder at the coffeehouse.

Alice prodded him. “Or?”

“Or we deal with both of them at the same time. You wanted to eliminate Jennifer anyway. Why don’t we see if they leave together? I have my pistol. We can surprise them and just keep moving quickly. We can also tell Henry we were trying to keep Jennifer from talking to the police about him.”

Alice considered the plan. It was surprisingly satisfying, considering Janos had come up with it. The plan also had the benefit of being simple and direct.

Janos had a tendency to make elaborate plans and then not stick with them. Once, in London, they had set up a job where Alice would pick up a target, act like she was ordering an Uber, and Janos would pick them both up. After driving the victim to a construction site, Alice intended to garrote him.

All went well until Janos made a pass down the crowded street and saw the man standing on a corner. He ran the man down and kept going. Janos did not understand why Alice was so angry. He said, “I saved us hours. No one can pin the stolen car on me. We’re still getting paid. What’s the problem?”

Alice didn’t want to admit it at the time, but she had been excited to use her garrote. Janos had stolen the opportunity. She didn’t want that to happen this time. Not with Jennifer Chang.

Alice stepped away from the window so no one from inside would notice them. She pulled Janos into the empty, recessed doorway of an apartment building next door. She pulled him in close so if anyone noticed them they would think she was being affectionate.

Alice said, “We can’t screw this up. We need to get in there to see how well they know each other. Maybe this is the first time he’s been able to talk to her. I’d also like to hear what she’s telling him.”

Janos said, “Then I can blast them when they come out?” “We might have to be a little more subtle. Maybe figure a way to lure them into an alley.”

“So you can use that horrible garrote?”

“You mean the silent garrote?”

“Something tells me the cop would be hard to handle. Even for you.”

“I have less interest in him. Let’s see if Jennifer leaves with him or alone. That will dictate how we proceed.”

“Listen to how well we can communicate in English now. We fit right in here.”

Alice had to smile at her partner’s sincerity. He really didn’t think they spoke with accents. She reached up and caressed his face. The Romanian could be charming and sweet.

Janos had a broad grin. He was displaying the deficiencies in Romanian dentistry. His two front teeth were straight and white. But after that there was almost no pattern to the way his teeth grew, all of them at different angles. It was only now that she realized this was why he smiled with his lips closed most of the time.

Alice said, “What are you grinning about?”

“You can be nice. But right now you don’t want to be subtle. You want to be able to use that garrote on that girl.”

There was no time to play games. “So what if I do? Are you with me on this plan?”

Janos nodded.

“Neither of them have ever seen us. We can walk right into that coffeehouse, sit down right next to them, and they will never know who we are.”

“Until we kill them.”

Alice nodded. “Until we kill them.”

CHAPTER 40

I’LL ADMIT TObeing a little surprised that Jennifer Chang made me for a cop so quickly and that she wasn’t going to say anything.

She leveled another glare at me and said, “When do I get to speak to my attorney?”

“You’re not under arrest. I just want to talk to you.”

She immediately started to pack up her iPad and slip it into her purse.

I leaned back in the chair and let her think I didn’t care. Finally I said, “Are you going back to your apartment above the casket warehouse?” That one caught her by surprise. Now she knew I was serious. I had to keep going. “I’m not looking to cause you any grief. I’m just looking for a missing girl. That’s it. I swear to God.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m a good Catholic. My grandfather is even a priest.” I waited. That one usually killed with a slightly older group. I had no idea how millennials viewed Catholicism. They sure didn’t care much about cops one way or the other.

“What’s the name of the girl you’re looking for?”

“Natalie Lunden. I just want to make sure she’s safe.”

“So you’re really not looking to arrest anyone?”

“I didn’t say that. If Natalie is being held somewhere against her will, then whoever took her has to pay the price. As well versed as you are in criminal procedure, you probably understand the street law as well.”

She settled back into her chair. “I haven’t seen Natalie in almost a month.”

“No one has. Her mother’s frantic.” I didn’t know if Jennifer knew who Natalie’s father was.

Jennifer looked around the room quickly. She was suddenly jumpy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Another one of my friends is missing. He’s not answering his phone or anything.”

“What’s his name?”

“Tommy Payne.”

She didn’t know her friend was dead. I wasn’t sure this was the right time to tell her, but I couldn’t build any kind of trust by starting out with a lie.

“I’m afraid your friend Tommy is dead.”

She looked stricken. She choked back some tears and managed to ask me a couple of questions. Just simple ones. The kind a family member of a murder victim usually asks. “How?” “When?” “Are there any suspects?” I answered all of them quickly, and she seemed to handle it reasonably well.

I gave her some time to gather her thoughts. She pulled a tissue from her designer purse and blew her nose. She sniffled for a little while until she was ready to talk. Then she leaned in across the table and said in a very clear and determined voice, “Is there anything I can do to help you catch whoever killed Tommy?”

“I’m not the detective on the homicide. I’m just looking for Natalie. But I can think of something that will help both me and the homicide detective.”

“What’s that?”

“Tell me about Estonia.”

CHAPTER 41

I PULLED OUTa small notebook and settled in to hear Jennifer Chang’s story. Like most people about to talk to the police, she paused for a moment. She looked around the room as if she was conducting countersurveillance.