Stuart Woods - Heat

“He doesn’t bank with me, except for a small account; he banks in Coeur d’Alene.”

“I didn’t know that,” Jesse admitted.

“Where does he keep the books?” Ruger demanded.

“He does it on computer. I’ve never seen a ledger in the office.”

“Do you use the computer?”

“I do for word processing, that sort of thing. Once I wanted to see if a particular bill had been paid, but when I tried to access the check register I was barred. Herman apparently uses some sort of password to get into the bookkeeping software. And I’ve never seen any ledger printouts.”

“You don’t know the password?”

“No.”

“Could you find out what it is?”

Jesse shrugged. “I don’t know. Herman sits in a corner of his office, and the computer screen faces the corner.”

“Jesse,” Coldwater said, “I would be very grateful to you if you could learn what that password is.”

Jesse thought fast. He was being asked to betray Herman Muller, and he didn’t like that. On the other hand, if he resisted doing so, Coldwater would be unhappy with him, and he might lose much of the good will he had built up. “I’d be glad to try,” he said.

Coldwater smiled broadly. “Thank you, Jesse. Now, as I said before, I’m elevating you to a management level with us, and you will find there are many benefits at this level of trust. First of all, you will be put on a salary of ten thousand dollars a month.”

Jesse had no trouble looking stunned.

“It will be paid to you by Kurt in cash each month, so there will be no need to mention it to the Internal Revenue Service.”

“Why, that’s wonderful, Pastor,” Jesse managed to say.

“In addition, any medical treatment you or your family may require will be made available to you, free of charge, at our own clinic in town, and you will find there will be other benefits.”

“I hardly know what to say, sir,” Jesse said.

“Say nothing, but I will count on your help in acquiring Wood Products.”

“I have a lot of respect for Herman Muller,” Jesse said. “I hope that he will be treated fairly.”

“More than fairly,” Coldwater said, standing to indicate that the meeting was at an end. He stood for a moment, making small talk with Ruger and Casey.

Jesse now had an opportunity to look at the bookcase opposite the fireplace. He had not noticed it on his first visit, but the books in the lower part now seemed to be only spines. He wondered how to get at the safe. Something else caught his eye, too: at one end of the bookcase was a compartment that held a couple of dozen rolled-up blueprints. There were too many for just a house; they must be for some larger structure.

“Have you thought any more about a honeymoon, Jesse?” Coldwater asked suddenly.

Jesse started. “Yes, sir. We’re going to San Francisco for a week starting Friday.”

“Good, good. Where are you staying?”

“I don’t really know; I thought we’d find a room when we got there.”

Coldwater turned to Ruger. “Kurt, arrange a nice suite at the Ritz-Carlton for Jesse and Jenny, and have the bill sent to you. And be sure that Jesse gets his first month’s salary before he leaves on Friday.”

“That’s extremely kind of you, sir,” Jesse said. Certainly, he could use the ten thousand dollars.

“Don’t mention it,” Coldwater said. “A couple needs to get away alone when they’ve just been married. What will you do with the child?”

“She’s going to spend the first weekend with us, but she’ll fly back on Sunday, so that she’ll be in school the next day. We didn’t want her to miss school.”

“Yes, yes, quite right,” Coldwater said. “I’m surprised you’d want a child on your honeymoon.”

“Carey and I get along very well, and we didn’t want her to feel excluded,” Jesse explained.

“I see. Well, thank you for coming today. I’ll look forward to your reports on Herman Muller and his business.”

He shook Jesse’s hand, then Casey drove him back to the plant.

As Jesse got into his truck he made a note to have a serious conversation with Herman Muller before he left. After Friday, he wouldn’t be around to help the old man, and he felt sorry about that.

Jesse woke up feeling elated. It was his last day in St. Clair, and he couldn’t wait to get out of the town with Jenny and Carey. Jenny was no less excited than he; he could see her restraining herself at breakfast, talking casually with Carey about the sights of San Francisco.

“When is your science project due?” Jesse asked Carey.

“In two weeks,” the child replied.

“We’ll be back in plenty of time for me to help you, then,” Jesse said.

“We’re not supposed to have any help,” Carey said.

“Oops, sorry.”

“Well, maybe you could help a little,” she said, smiling.

“You work on it next week, and if you have any questions, make a list and I’ll answer them when we come back.”

“Okay, Jesse.”

At lunchtime Jesse put on his coat and boots and took his periodic walk in the woods, the telephone hidden in the bottom of his lunchbox. He took a fork in the path that went along the mountainside; there was a steep drop off to a stream two hundred feet below, and he kept to the inside of the narrow path. The skies were low with heavy cloud; it looked like snow before the day was over. He ate his sandwich slowly, thinking about what was ahead. He knew a life on the run was not going to be easy for any of them. The telephone weighed heavily in his pocket; he had one more call to make to Kip Fuller, and the single purpose of that call was to buy time.

“This is Fuller.”

“It’s Jesse.”

“Did you get the camera all right? Our man said he couldn’t make a straight pass at the restaurant.”

“I got it, but I haven’t had an opportunity to use it.”

“What else is happening?”

“I’ve been promoted to management.”

“At the factory?”

“No, in Coldwater’s organization. He likes me, but Ruger doesn’t.”

“What’s the problem with Ruger?”

“I don’t know. Certainly I’m too far down the pecking order to be any sort of threat to him. It may have something to do with the fact that Herman Muller trusts me, and he’ll barely speak to Ruger. Coldwater wants Wood Products, and he’s going to use me to get it.”

“How?”

“Right now all he wants is information about the business. It’s wholly owned by Muller, and he plays his cards very close to his chest. He even banks in Coeur d’Alene to avoid dealing with Ruger.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Play along, for now. If I don’t, Coldwater might move a lot faster, and Muller could get hurt. It’s possible that they took out the man’s grandson a while back.”

“Have you learned anything new about Coldwater’s organization?”

“No, but I’m in a better position to do that, now. If I can get Wood Products for him, he’ll think I hung the moon. The man likes me, that much I can tell.”

“Do you like him?”

Jesse hesitated, thinking about what Coldwater had done to Jenny. “He’s a likeable fellow; every con man is.”

“I’ve got some news; Arlene had a baby boy yesterday; nine pounds, one ounce.”

“Kip, congratulations; that’s wonderful news! You’ve waited a long time.”

“We’re thrilled, of course. I had almost given up.”

“Now that you know you can do it, you’ll have to have some more kids.”

“I think one more will do me. Listen, Jess, you’ve got to get back into that building somehow. My people here are really on my back about this.”

“I was at Coldwater’s the day before yesterday, and I noticed a lot of blueprints in his study. If you bust him, then you ought to make his house your first target, get in there and clean it out. Those plans would tell you a lot about the fortifications.”