Дэвид Балдаччи - No Man's Land

He glanced at Knox, who was staring at him. “You look hungry all of a sudden,” he said.

“I’ll have the pancakes,” she said to the waitress.

The woman walked off and Puller dug into his meal. As he lifted his fork to his mouth, Knox put out a hand and gripped his arm.

“Okay, Quentin is passing this stuff to Myers and Myers to the French guy. It’s not military secrets, but it’s obviously something valuable.”

“Right. I wish I could have stopped the guy, but I had no grounds.”

“But you have his picture and the fact that he speaks French. That’s something. I can get his image into a facial recognition database. It’s not just criminals but also people of particular interest to our government. If the guy is on that list we’ll find out who he is.”

“Sounds like a start. And we can also lean on Myers to cooperate if the database comes up zero.”

“This bouncer guy. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. His name is Paul. We have his description. We can get a BOLO out. He wanted no part of the cops.”

“But do you really think he’s the guy who murdered those women? I mean, what are the odds?”

“Longer than I can calculate. But that still doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. People do win the lottery. Maybe this is just our turn.”

“So he killed all those guys with his bare hands?”

“Yes. He crushed them, in fact.”

Knox drew in a quick breath. “Like the murdered women?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ask the people at the bar about him?”

“I intend to. Last night was a little chaotic.”

“Right, of course. But if we can get to this Paul guy.”

“Might be the tip of the iceberg. And we’re not the only ones after him.”

“What do you mean?”

“The attack on the bar? They were after Paul, I’m sure of it.”

“Why would a gang of killers target him?”

“They might have been paid to do it.” He sat forward. “And now you can tell me why you suddenly called out of the blue.”

He expected some sharp retort. He didn’t get it.

“Puller, we have a situation.”

He lowered his fork and said, “I understand we have a situation. You told me that when we last met.”

Knox drew a breath. “Right.” She said nothing else.

Puller took a bite of food and a sip of coffee, then set down his cup. “Well?”

“Not here.”

“We can go back to where I’m staying.”

They arrived there thirty minutes later.

Knox leaned against the wall while Puller sat in the one chair looking up at her.

When she said nothing he spoke up. “First you show up out of the blue. Then you disappear. Then you show back up with a story about this friend of yours scared to death and tell me about this possible cover-up.”

“I came back to help you. And you just walked away,” she added bitterly.

“I was trying to protect you.”

She barked, “I can protect myself, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

He nodded and said in a rapid-fire manner, “Okay. Agreed. So you’re back. I need your help. What can you tell me?”

She seemed about to bark at him again, but she swallowed, ran a hand through her hair, and with that movement all of the anger seemed to drain from her.

“The situation?” prompted Puller, who was watching her closely.

“Remember Mack Taubman?”

“Your friend who almost had a heart attack when you told him about what we were investigating?”

“Yes.”

“What about him?”

“He’s dead.”

PULLER ROSE AND stared at Knox.

Knox kept her gaze on the floor.

Puller said, “How?”

“They’re not sure. It could be suicide.”

“Gun?”

She shook her head. “They don’t know what exactly. But from the little I heard there was no outward wound or signs of foul play. Mack might have taken poison.”

“Or someone might have fed it to him,” countered Puller.

“I don’t know,” said Knox distractedly.

“Was he found at home?”

“Yes.”

“Did he live alone?”

“Mack’s wife had died. His kids were grown.”

“If they suspect suicide, was there a note?”

“I don’t know, Puller.”

“Did he ever strike you as suicidal?”

“No, but I hadn’t seen him in a while. And I told you this had rocked him. Maybe our conversation led him to kill himself.”

Knox slumped down and sat on the floor.

“If it did, Knox, you had no way of knowing. It was on him, not you.”

“Easy to say.”

“Yeah, it is. But it’s also the truth.”

“Mack Taubman was a tough guy, Puller. He’d seen it all. I can’t believe he would kill himself over this.”

“Did he contact anyone before he died?”

“I wish I knew. But that’s out of my hands.”

“No way to find out?” he asked.

“I’ve made calls, but the gates have already shut.”

Puller stared down at the floor for a few moments. “Okay, Knox, I’m going to tell you something I shouldn’t.”

She gazed up at him. “Why?”

“Because I know how hard this has been on you. And I know you’ve told me more than you normally would. And I appreciate that.”

She wiped at her face and continued to look at him.

“It was the Vice President who got me back on the case.”

Knox stood unsteadily and placed a hand against the wall. “The VP? The VP!”

“Yeah, the guy who takes over if the President goes down.”

“Holy shit. You met him?”

“He called me over for a drink, a free ticket back on the job, and a warning.”

“But why him? Why the hell did he get involved?”

“That one’s easy. My father was his mentor. He was repaying a favor. But that’s as far as he’d go. And just so you know, he’s scared too. And he’s not privy to everything. And he will never officially acknowledge his intervention.”

Knox stared at him dumbly. “The Vice President of the United States is scared?”

“Everybody gets scared from time to time, Knox, even the Vice President. But we need to focus. Some thoughts are coming together for me. Want to hear them?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I have to tell you something first.”

She crossed the small room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I didn’t exactly show up on your doorstep for the reasons I said I did.”

“Astonishing,” replied Puller coolly.

“When the allegation came out about your father killing your mother I was called in by my boss. He obviously knew that we had worked together.”

“And was it his idea to have you try to seduce me?” asked Puller, his gaze never leaving her face.

Her face flushed. “No, that…that was on me.”

Puller looked a bit taken aback by this. “Okay. Go on.”

“I just thought they wanted me to see if the allegations were true, although I didn’t understand why it was any concern of my agency’s.”

“And did there come a time when you began to understand?” asked Puller.

“It’s why I left when I did. Things were not adding up. We were getting into areas that smacked of a black hole. Federal investigations do not get shit-canned for no reason, Puller. The FBI does not go home with its tail between its legs. A serial murder case doesn’t go up in smoke. There is a cover-up, at the highest levels. So it’s clear now that a government project did go sideways thirty years ago and it resulted in the deaths of those women.”

“Meaning Building Q?”

She nodded.

“They’re still doing stuff in there, you know.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Is it the same stuff?”

“I’m not cleared for that.”