James Patterson - Blindside

“Wish I could say the same. But I’ll say this, Henry, you have definitely impressed me this time. I’ve only been back a day and you were able to travel across the Atlantic, use the phone you cloned from the mayor, and trick me with the fake text. By the way, the ‘little fat prick’ comment on the text was inspired.”

“Since we’re complimenting each other, let me tell you how impressed I am that you were able to figure all that out on the ride over here.”

Now I gave him a sly smile. The guys who think they’re smarter than everyone else never really see it coming. I said, “I didn’t figure it out on the ride. My son pointed me in the right direction last night. The NYPD tech people confirmed it all this morning.”

That got Henry’s attention. But it didn’t seem to have quite the impact I was hoping it would.

He said, “Then I guess we’ll make this fast.” He racked the slide on his Walther.

I knew racking the gun was more to scare me. But I could tell he wasn’t particularly comfortable holding the pistol.

Henry looked at the driver and said, “Go get Natalie.”

CHAPTER 99

HENRY AND Istood in the wide gap between the two vehicles in the middle of the road, with the sun on us but the park’s large trees masking us somewhat from any afternoon runners or dog walkers. A gunshot might change all that, of course. A few cars trickled by on Vernon Boulevard several hundred yards back, too far away to see what was going on down here. And probably no one from the store came back here. Plus, Henry would’ve easily disabled any CCTV cameras on the building. In short, it was perfect for Henry and whatever his crazy plan was.

I was waiting for the driver. I’d know when it was time to act.

Henry said to me, “I don’t know how you convinced Natalie to betray me, but it ruined a pretty good thing.”

“Aww, did she break your heart?” I enjoyed watching him change colors like some kind of screwed-up chameleon. He went from his normal flesh tone to a dark red, then a purple. After a few seconds, his color returned to normal.

In a much sharper tone than usual, he said, “You’ll learn—how do you Americans say it?—not to run your mouth.”

“When?”

“Today.”

When he smiled, I realized he was back to his usual, pompous self. Good. That made things more enjoyable and interesting.

That also made me throw in, “What if I don’t learn?”

Henry shook his head and mumbled, “It won’t matter.”

“Henry, I’ve been around a lot of criminals in my life. The successful ones are all business. How does this help your business?”

“What’s the point of being as successful as me if I can’t do things that make me feel better? This will make me feel better. In fact, I’m already enjoying it. I wish I could slip you back to Estonia so I could make it last.”

I smiled. “I don’t see you having the stomach to torture anyone. Even me.”

“I don’t have to torture anyone. I could just let you watch as your family suffers and destroys itself while you’re away.”

“You don’t know my family. They’re resilient.”

“Even if I ruined your credit and drained your bank accounts? What about if I add things to your son’s record and he doesn’t get out of jail for ten more years?”

I tried to hide the fact that this asshole had just hit a nerve. I didn’t do a very good job.

Henry chuckled. “See, everyone has a weakness. Virtually all weaknesses can be exploited by something online. That’s where I rule.”

“This isn’t the internet, it’s real life.”

“Yes, this is real. Sometimes that’s more satisfying.” He looked past me and said, “Here comes our other contestant.”

I turned my head and had to smile at the way the driver kept a couple of feet away from his prisoner. They stopped a few steps from us. The look on Henry’s face was spectacular. He stared silently for a moment. I hoped he might change colors again.

Henry said, “Who the hell is that?”

The confused driver held up his hands and said, “It’s the mayor’s daughter. She was waiting right where you told me she would be.”

Henry walked over and ripped off the Yankees cap. Dark hair flopped out from under it and spread out across her shoulders.

I let out a laugh. It was partially to distract the two men, but there was a genuine element to it as well. I said, “I thought you were too smart to be tricked by anyone. You fell for this like an eight-year-old. Allow me to introduce you to NYPD detective Terri Hernandez. She looks a little like Natalie, I mean in a general way, right? Your driver fell for it.”

Henry worked his jaw for a moment as he backed away a few paces and then said, “You forget something, Detective.”

“What’s that?”

“I still have a gun.” He raised it next to his face, like he was showing it to us for the first time.

This time it was Terri Hernandez who let out a laugh. She said, “So what? Your driver has a pistol, too.”

Henry said, “Why do you find that so funny, Detective?”

She kept a smile on her pretty face. Then she threw me a wink. She said, “You think I wasn’t ready for that?” Without any warning, she stepped right next to the driver and hit the trigger of a Taser she had hidden under her dress. She used it like an old-style stun gun by jamming it into the driver’s side and pulling the trigger.

He let out a squawk and immediately dropped to the ground. His pistol skittered away from his outstretched arms. He convulsed for a few seconds, drawing everyone’s attention. A thin line of spit dribbled out of his open mouth. His eyes rolled back, giving him the look of a quivering zombie.

Henry was distracted for a moment. Most people have never seen a Taser deployed. It’s an interesting show.

Then he regained his common sense and faced me with the pistol once again.

CHAPTER 100

THE AFTERNOON SUNwas over my shoulder now and in Henry’s eyes. Good. I needed any advantage. I wasn’t about to let Henry point that gun at me again. Before he’d even brought it on target, I stepped closer and slapped it out of his hand. I have to admit, my initial response was to punch him in the face, but at the last second, I realized I needed to eliminate the pistol from the equation.

I wasn’t worried about Terri Hernandez. She was as smart and as tough as any cop I had ever met. She was also impressively efficient. She was on top of the stunned driver even before I’d slapped the pistol away from Henry.

I did something I never do. I gave a prisoner a chance to fight his way into an escape. I faced off against Henry and let him see that my hands were empty. It’s not a smart tactical move and not what a cop should do. But this little son of a bitch had caused me a lot of heartache. And I’d let him run his mouth on two different continents. Now it was time that he learned a lesson.

We squared off. I was going to give the young Estonian a chance to show me just how his showy beach muscles would help him in a fight. Big biceps had never helped in a street fight.

Henry raised both of his hands and balled them into fists. Then he started to dance like a boxer. He was loose and casual. It looked pretty good. He danced and circled away from me a few feet, throwing a quick left jab out into space.

I turned and adjusted to close the distance between us.

He danced a little farther.

Then I lunged at him. I used my long legs to really cover some distance. But Henry easily skipped backward and somehow now there was even more room between us.

Terri Hernandez shouted something at me. She sounded muffled and far away, but I couldn’t take my attention off the feisty young Estonian.