Robert Crais - The First Rule

Cole glanced at Rina and Yanni to make sure they couldn’t hear, then shrugged.

“I located one of Ana’s friends, and have a call into another. Everything checked. Rina spent the 90210 years protecting her sister. Kept Ana completely away from this stuff, just like she said.”

Rina stood, then raised her voice.

“I don’t like this whispering. I told you already once. Yanni and I, we are going to go.”

Pike said, “Yanni’s building is being watched by the police. You shouldn’t go back.”

Yanni mumbled something in Serbian, and Rina chattered something back.

She said, “The police don’t care about Yanni. Why would they watch?”

“They followed me earlier today. They know I’m trying to find Darko, so now they believe someone in Yanni’s complex has information about him. They will look for that person.”

Rina and Yanni launched into more Serbian, and Yanni didn’t look happy. Cole turned away as if he had heard enough foreign-language conversations to last a lifetime.

“You want something to eat?”

“Not yet. Did you find anything running the check on Darko’s condominiums?”

“Yeah. They’re not his condos-not in his name or any name I’ve been able to connect to him. This guy is hidden, man-he does not exist, so he’s almost certainly here illegally.”

Cole ticked off the points.

“No one named Michael Darko appears in the DMV, the Social Security rolls, or the California state tax rolls. No one by that name has an account with any of the major credit card companies, the public utilities here in Los Angeles County, the telephone company, or any of the major cell service providers. Michael Darko has no criminal record that I’ve been able to find.”

Rina said, “In Serbia. In Serbia, he was arrested. This I know.”

Pike thought over what George told him about how the old-school Serb gangsters tried to instill fear by creating a myth for themselves. The Shark. Here, then gone, like an imagined man. A monster his men talked about, but never saw.

Pike shrugged.

“He’s just another turd.”

Cole said, “A smart turd. His hookers rent their condos in their own names. Darko supplies them with a credit and rental history so they look good on the application, and kicks back cash to cover their rent, but they have to write the checks. Same with their phones, and other expenses. Everything is in their names, and they pay the bills. That way he avoids a paper trail to the girls.”

Rina said, “Yes. That is why we follow the money. The money will give us the man.”

Cole nodded.

“He has women spread from Glendale to Sherman Oaks. A collector stops by every day to pick up their cash.”

Pike glanced at Rina.

“You know the man who picks up the money?”

“I will know him to see him unless the man change. He will be there between four and six. This is always the way. The girls, they have their money from the night before, but their money from the day is better.”

Pike said, “Will he know how to find Darko?”

She shook her head, making the expression she made when she thought Pike was a moron.

“No, no, no. He is an outcast.”

Pike and Cole traded a look, not understanding.

“Why is he an outcast? He’s being punished?”

Rina had a brief conversation with Yanni. When they stopped speaking Serbian, she tried to explain.

“Outcast is like someone learning.”

Cole said, “Starting at the bottom?”

“Yes! The men who want to be accepted, but must prove themselves. The pakhan is the boss-that is Michael. Below him, his close friends are what we call the authorities. These are the men who make sure everyone do what Michael say.”

Pike said, “Enforcers.”

“Yes. They make the men obey. The men, they are the ones who do the work and earn the money. The outcasts help the men.”

“Okay, so the guy who collects the money, he’s an errand boy. He brings the money to Michael?”

“He brings it to his boss. Michael does not touch the money.”

Cole said, “Then how do we find Michael?”

She thought for a moment, then glanced at Yanni. Yanni mumbled some more, and Rina shrugged.

“Depends on who the boss is. If boss is authority man, then maybe he know. If boss is only one of the men, then no. We won’t know until we see. Is like a sergeant, and Michael is a colonel. The sergeant does not talk to the colonel. He talks to the captain.”

Pike looked at Cole.

“Maybe there’s a way to turn this around. Maybe we can make Darko find us.”

“Steal the money?”

“Follow these people from business to business, and hit him. Hit him so hard he has no other choice.”

Cole thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Sounds like a plan. You ready for something to eat?”

Cole stepped past him into the kitchen. Pike looked at Rina and Yanni. They whispered to each other in Serbian, and then Rina glanced over.

“We will go to motel. Here smells like cats. It is making me ill.”

Pike said, “Eat. I have a place you can stay. We’ll go after dinner.”

He took his new phone and stepped out onto Cole’s deck.

The night air was clear, and chill, and the canyon below Cole’s home was quiet of man-made sounds. A wooden deck jutted from the back of Cole’s house, hanging out over the night-filled canyon like a diving board to nowhere. Pike went to the rail. The air felt good, and its clarity seemed to magnify the lights that fell away to the city. Out here on the deck, at the edge of the glow from within Cole’s home, Pike enjoyed the solitude.

He turned to face Cole’s home, and leaned into the rail, the wide glass face of the house an invisible wall. Rina and Yanni were still huddled together on the couch, and occasionally glancing outside. Cole was in the kitchen, busy with cooking.

Pike fished out the new phone, and called George Smith. He did not want to call, but he had to warn George about Walsh.

George answered on the first ring, his voice as American as a Modesto car salesman.

“This is George. Who’s calling, please?”

“Williams was dead. Williams, and two of his crew. Jamal Johnson and Samuel Renfro.”

George laughed.

“Well, there you go. Justice is swift.”

“Wasn’t me. Someone killed them the same night they murdered Frank.”

“Ah, are you asking if I knew? I did not.”

“Not asking. I thought you should know in case your friends in Odessa ask.”

“Then muchas gracias.”

“Something else you should know. The ATF was tracking my vehicle when I came by this morning. They might come around, knocking on doors.”

George was silent for several seconds, and when he spoke, the Modesto tone was edged with something dark.

“You brought them to my store?”

“I don’t know. They were tracking my vehicle. They know where I parked, and how long I parked there. I don’t know if they had eyeballs on me or not.”

Another moment’s silence.

“Where did you park?”

“A block north.”

Another moment.

“There are many shops within a block of my place.”

Pike didn’t bother to say anything. George was shaking the facts to see if he could live with them, just as a terrier shakes a rat.

Inside, Rina stood. She peered outside, trying to find Pike at the edge of the light, then said something to Yanni. Yanni gestured as if he were getting impatient with her, and wanted to leave.

George said, “Why might they knock on doors, Joseph?”

“Darko. They know I have inside information on the Serbians. They want my source. They’ll probably retrace my route today, trying to locate everyone I spoke with.”

George suddenly laughed, giving it his best Modesto twang.