Chris Mooney - World Without End

Through the bedroom door on the right, the light inside dimmed, Cole saw Raymond Bouchard leaning against the wall. Ray rubbed his forehead with one hand as he stared with wide, still eyes at a silent video screen that played recorded footage of the person who set up the strip of explosives against the Aquarium tank. Steve Con-way was inside the water, trapped below the bulk of Misha, who was being ripped apart by the three sand sharks.

"Who do you think it is?" It was the voice of the techno-weenie, Owen Lee, the man-boy wearing his baseball cap backward and sucking a lollipop as he sat in a swivel chair in front of a grouping of desks that held surveillance and digital editing equipment.

"Pasha," Bouchard said, and then ground his teeth together.

"I thought she was dead."

"Her body hasn't turned up."

"You sure it's her? These Aquarium tapes don't have sound, so I can't hear her voice. And the way those two Russian dudes went down? I don't think a chick could do that."

"You've never seen Pasha in action. I have."

"Let me play around with the tape, find the best angle for the face.

Then I can enhance the image and we'll know for sure."

"How long will that take?"

"Give me an hour."

Ray's head slumped forward. Cole smiled to himself. Time is running out for you, Ray. The small holes in the dam are leaking, threatening to burst at any moment now, and once the tidal wave breaks free, nothing will be able to stop the force that -will topple your personal empire. How fun it was going to be to watch Ray drown, slowly, inch by inch.

On the screen the explosion followed, water and fish and what was left of Misha pouring onto the floor in a gushing waterfall. Cole stood in the hallway, in the shadows, invisible as he watched. Slaughter them all now? Tempting.

The stolen military suit and its cloaking abilities hung downstairs, waiting for him. All Cole needed was the decryption code. Then he could slip inside and become invisible to the world. Forever.

On the video monitor one of Misha's men, a Russian dressed up as a Boston cop, was up on his feet, his gun drawn and pointed at the back of Conway's head. Conway was oblivious as he crouched on all fours hacking up water. Gunshots and the Russian went down and here came a new player, a white man with a shaved head. Look behind you. Too late. The other Russian with the busted leg fired off a shot and Egghead was on the floor, clutching his stomach, already bleeding out.

"The guy's mouth is moving," Lee said.

"He's trying to say something to Conway."

"Can you isolate it?"

"Like I said, this video doesn't have sound, but I can zoom on the guy's face, have the computer try to read his lips."

"I want to know what he said, and I want to know who the hell this person is."

Cole could hear the strain in Raymond's voice, trying to hold up the foundation to his empire. Time to remove another brick from the wall.

"Don't bother," Cole said.

"The bald man belongs to Angel Eyes."

Bouchard and Lee jumped at the sound of Cole's voice. Then Raymond moved off the wall, coming closer, his eyes bloodshot. Owen Lee went back to working on the computer, the muscles in his back tense.

"How do you know this?" Bouchard demanded.

"Angel Eyes is in Boston."

Bouchard was speechless. His throat swallowed at a feverish pitch.

"He ambushed me and my men at the hotel today," Cole said.

"Wait when did this happen?"

"This morning."

"Why the fuck didn't you call me? Why didn't your men " "They work for me. At least, some of them do," Cole said, and focused his eyes on Lee, who wouldn't turn around.

"Impossible," Bouchard said.

"There is no way Angel Eyes could know we're here."

"Apparently you have a leak."

"McFadden? He didn't know about us. That part I made up."

"Say what you want, but Angel Eyes is not only in the game, he's become a major player."

"Did Conway give you the decryption code?"

"He claims he doesn't know it."

"That's bullshit."

"Maybe. He's been fed a lot of different stories. I can tell you this much: our boy is spooked."

"You saying he's holding out?"

"I'm saying he doesn't know who to trust." Cole reached into his shirt pocket, retrieved the small card Conway found stuck in the flowers at the funeral home, and handed it to Raymond.

"You had someone follow Conway to the funeral home," Raymond said, his eyes glued to the card.

"Yes. Tony Romano."

"What did he say? Did Conway talk to anyone?"

"Someone blew Tony's brains out this morning. I didn't get a chance to talk to him."

Raymond started pacing. He pressed his hand against his forehead, his eyes wide with disbelief. The rare sight of the emperor becoming unglued. Marvelous.

"We also have a problem with Misha's boss, Alexi," Cole said.

"Misha's shark bait, and two of his prized goons are lying dead in the morgue dressed as Boston cops. The FBI is going to put the heat on Alexi."

"We can pin Misha's death on Angel Eyes."

"Alexi doesn't listen to reason."

"Then I'll bring him here and you'll kill him."

"The body count's getting high, Ray."

"If Angel Eyes took you and your men down, he could have taken Conway in. Why would he let him go?"

"My guess is that Angel Eyes wanted to use Conway to bring the girl out. That way, he would not only have the person with the decryption code, he would have the witness to her boyfriend's murderer. Those are powerful bargaining chips for the suit. Personally, I don't think he's after the suit. I think he wants something far more valuable."

"What could be more valuable than the suit?"

"Your head hanging above his mantel."

Raymond stared at the floor as the idea sank in.

"You used his name to stage a phony raid and he found out. The whole world knows about him now. You have the suit he was after and to top it off, today one of his men got killed trying to save Con-way," Cole said.

"I don't know the guy personally, but if I had to guess, I'd say he's rather pissed off."

"What did the girl want?"

"You mean Renee Kaufmann."

"Who the fuck do you think I'm talking about?"

"I don't know. They didn't get a chance to talk."

"That's what Conway told you."

"Yes."

"Then he's fucking lying."

Raymond was coming unglued. Wonderful. Cole said, "Have you talked to her?"

Raymond took a breath and unconsciously looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers. They were cut and looked swollen.

"Couldn't make her talk, Ray?"

"She's downstairs, waiting for you. I want answers and I want them tonight. Understand?"

"So Miss Kaufmann's alive?"

"Of course she's alive. You think I killed her?"

"I thought you might have stuck a syringe full of rat poison in her neck. For fun."

Owen Lee said, "The person who blew Conway out of the tank was Pasha Romanov."

Cole and Raymond turned to Lee, who swiveled around in his chair and moved to the side. On the color screen was a blown-up picture of a woman wearing a baseball cap. It was clearly Pasha.

"One other thing," Lee said and took the grape lollipop out of his mouth. His tongue and part of his lips were stained purple.

"I managed to isolate what the bald dude was saying to Conway."

"I thought the video didn't have sound," Bouchard said.

"It doesn't, but our computer has software that can read lips."

"What did he say?"

"He said, "Bouchard's dirty. He's setting you up. Stay away from him and his partner, Cole. You can't trust them." Cole saw the anger and fear spark in Raymond's eyes. He drank it in and smiled. Enough. Time to get to work.

"We'll deal with Stephen tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to have a talk with Renee, see what she told Stephen," Cole said.