C. Box - Free Fire

“Of course. But I still can’t believe it.”

“Neither can I,” Joe said, “but this thing is big. And it just got bigger.”

“What should we do?”

Joe looked around the empty lobby, trying to sort it out. Should she contact someone else with the information? If so, whom? Should he?

“I’m thinking,” he said. “Sometimes, it takes me a while.”

“I know it does,” she said, chiding him.

“First,” Joe said, “make sure you’re safe there. As long as you’re alive, you’re a threat to him and everyone he’s involved with, even though he thinks you’re dying. We’ve learned a lot in the last hour, Judy. None of it is good. Your life is still in danger, so call the Billings PD. If you have to, make up a story, but make sure they send some men to the hospital to stay outside your door. Make sure no one comes to visit you except your kids.”

“Okay. .” she said, almost in a whisper. The giddiness she’d started the conversation with was gone.

“Make a deposition,” Joe continued. “Get your statement down on tape and on paper. If nothing else, it will make it less likely they’ll try to get to you if they know you’ve got a statementwith the police.”

“And if they do get to me,” she said, “Langston will still go to jail.”

Joe didn’t want to say it that way, but Demming was sharp. And when he said the name Langston aloud, it triggered a question.“What’s James Langston’s wife’s name?”

“Hmmm. . I met her a couple of times. Tall, skinny, cold. Katherine, I think.”

“Katherine. Are you sure?”

“I think so.”

“Katherine Langston is listed as VP of development for EnerDyne.Either she’s involved or James is protecting himself by using his wife’s name. Probably both.

“Oh,” Joe continued, “I nearly forgot to ask you. Did you recognize the men in the black SUV?”

“I didn’t recognize the driver,” she said.

“Could you pick him out in a photo? Like from the entrance gate video?”

“Absolutely.”

Joe nodded. “Good. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a couple of picturesof him.” Joe described the driver.

Demming said, “That’s him.”

“What about the passenger?”

“He looked familiar.”

“In what way?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that one out,” she said. “I know I’ve seen him before, but I don’t know his name. It seems to me he was up here a year or so ago with your governor.”

Joe felt a chill shoot through his spine.

“He stuck to your governor like glue,” she said. “He seemed like a nice guy but real intense.”

The profile from the video, Joe thought. He knew now why it was familiar to him too.

The name should have struck a nerve when Nate said it. Vice president of operations for EnerDyne, but under his formal name. James Langston wasn’t the only officer at EnerDyne playing name games.

“Joe?”

“I’m here,” he said weakly.

“What’s wrong?”

“His name is Chuck Ward,” Joe said, “aka Charles Ward, aka C. T. Ward the Third. He’s Governor Rulon’s chief of staff. Now I know why he didn’t want the governor to send me up here, and why he had to take some personal leave.”

“He’s the guy you’re working for?” Demming asked, disbelieving.

“He was,” Joe said.

“Does the governor know?”

Joe started to say, I’m sure he doesn’t but his world was turninginside out. Given the implications of free fire, he was sure of nothing.

Instead, he said, “I have no idea what the governor knows.”

“Get out of there,” Demming said. “Get out now.”

Joe mumbled that he understood her, told her to call the Billings PD right away, said he’d come see her as soon as he could.

“Meaning what?” she asked.

“Meaning I’ve got to go.”

Joe did four long circuits around the outside of Mammoth Hotel in the dark, rubbing his face, running scenarios through his head, stopping once to throw up. He had a headache from lack of sleep and too much thinking and his mouth tasted of stale smoke and regurgitated dinner. As he walked, it got darker and colder. Storm clouds rolled across the black sky, extinguishingthe moon and stars, covering Yellowstone Park like a lid on a boiling cauldron.

Winter had arrived.

On his fifth circuit, hard little pellets of snow strafed the ground, hitting so hard on the pavement they bounced. In the darkness, it looked like the road was awash with waves. He thought he felt tremors through his boot soles, and concluded that he probably did.

He stopped in front of the Pagoda. A single light was on from within a cell on the second floor. Clay McCann was awake.

“McCann!” Joe shouted.

After a few moments with no reaction, he shouted again.

The shadow of a face appeared at the window. Joe recognizedthe lawyer’s profile. The thick window was frosted so McCann couldn’t see who had called his name outside.

“I’ve got you now,” Joe called, “you son of a bitch!”

Back in the Mammoth Hotel lobby, Joe dug a worn and faded business card out of his wallet that he’d kept with him for three years. On the back, handwritten, was a number. He dialed, let it ring eight times before it was answered.

“What?” Tony Portenson said, groggy.

“It’s Joe Pickett.”

Joe heard a clunk as the receiver was dropped on the floor, then picked up. “It’s fucking three-thirty in the morning,” the FBI agent growled. “How’d you get my home number?”

“You gave it to me,” Joe said. “Remember?”

“I remember nothing. It’s too early. Can’t this wait?”

“No, it can’t.”

“Jesus Christ. What?”

Joe could hear a woman’s voice ask, “Who is it, honey?”

Portenson said, “A fucking lunatic.”

“Quit cursing,” his wife said.

“Yes, quit cursing and listen,” Joe said. “I’ve got a conspiracyfor you that’s so big you’ll be famous for blowing it open. It’s so big, you’ll be able to name anywhere in the country you want to be transferred to.”

“Okay,” Portenson said. “I’m awake now.”

“Before I tell you anything more, you’ve got to agree to a deal.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then hang up and I’ll call someone else,” Joe said. He had no idea who else he would call.

“What?” Portenson said sarcastically. “I can’t agree with anything if I don’t know the terms.”

“Fair enough. Here’s the deal. I can deliver the biggest arrest you’ve ever made in your career by far. We’re talking national, international headlines. It’ll shake the foundation of both federaland state government, but don’t worry; it’s no one you like. It’ll affect national energy policy, and you’ll probably receive a medal from the president. Oh, and it will completely break the Clay McCann case.”

After a few beats, Portenson said, “Jesus. What do you want from me?”

“You’ve got to get a team together and get up here by tonight.It needs to be in complete secrecy. You can’t notify anyoneor you’ll blow the collar. And when the arrest is made, you have to look the other way when it comes to one individual involvedon our side.”

“One individual?” Portenson said.

“Yes.”

“Oh fuck, you mean Nate Romanowski, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I knew he was there.”

“He helped figure this thing out. He saved our lives in the Zone of Death. Besides,” Joe said, “he’s a friend of the family.”

“He killed two men!” Portenson yelled. “A sheriff and a federalagent!”

“Allegedly,” Joe said.

“Allegedly my ass.”

“Do we have a deal or don’t we?”