Дэвид Балдаччи - End Game

Reel said, “So is that how your group is funded? With government dollars?”

“That’s a big part of it. But you have to get in the dirt and muck around if you want to get to the really bad stuff. The Apostles are just young guys looking for direction. If I hadn’t recruited them, Dolph or some others would have. We do a lot of good, but we do just enough bad for me to get what I need.”

Robie nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

“So what were you doing at Dolph’s compound?” Sanders asked.

“We didn’t go voluntarily, they ambushed us,” replied Reel.

Robie added, “Dolph had Luke Miller beheaded. And we saw him kill Holly Malloy right in front of us.”

Sanders’s jaw dropped. “Shit. You witnessed this?”

“We did Holly, and we saw pictures of Luke. So you can nail that prick for murder.”

He gazed up at them. “I don’t know much about you two. But I made some calls, and I know enough to understand that you didn’t come here to be witnesses in a murder trial. You came here to find this Walton guy, who obviously is very important to this country.”

“Correct,” said Reel.

“Then I suggest you let me continue to build a case against Dolph and others. We’ll nail the SOB. I go after just Dolph now, years of work goes down the drain. There’re a lot more out there just like him. And I want them all.”

Reel snapped, “No way! He killed Holly in cold blood. We can’t just let this scum walk away. What if he’s trying to get out of the country right now?”

“Like I said, I’ve got inside ears. I’d know.”

“We should be calling the cops, the state police,” persisted Reel.

“You do that, then a big part of my investigation goes to shit. And are you two willing to testify to what you saw? Because otherwise there is no case against Dolph.”

Robie and Reel exchanged another glance.

Robie said, “That might be problematic for us.”

“Yeah, I thought so. See, Dolph has lawyers. I know that for a fact. And they’re good lawyers, so if we arrest him and try to bring a case, they’re going to get their shot at you. And they may dig up stuff on you two that the government doesn’t want dug up. And the reason why you’re here in the first place to find Mr. Walton will also come out. They’ll drag this thing out for a long, long time. I doubt your boss back in DC will be pleased by that.”

“Shit,” said Reel.

“We can’t do that, Jess,” said Robie.

“Let me handle this,” said Sanders. “It’s what I do for a living. When the time is right, the hammer will come down and he will stand trial for Holly’s murder. I swear to you he will.”

“But if we can’t testify?”

“Were there other people in the room when he did it?”

“Yes, quite a few,” said Robie.

“I’ll have enough leverage over his stormtroopers by then that I’ll get them to turn on him for a plea deal.”

“Just keep eyes on him. He knows we’re Feds. And he knows we saw what he did. He may make a run for it.”

“If he does try to flee, we’ll pick him up.”

“But now that you rescued us, won’t he be coming for the Apostles? He’ll know it was you, right?”

“We’ve been at odds for a long time, and this was not our first skirmish. But you two being there complicates things for Dolph. He’s not going to be worried about retaliating against me so much as he’s going to be concerned with saving his own ass.”

“What’s the source of Dolph’s funding?” asked Robie.

“Myriad. Gun running. Intimidation. Racketeering.”

“Human trafficking?” asked Reel. “Drugs?”

“I’ve seen nothing linked to those.” He stood. “I’ve got to get going. I’ll try to have your backs when I can, but I can’t promise I’ll always be there.” He passed Robie a slip of paper. “Here’s a number where you can contact me if you need anything. If I’m still breathing, I’ll get back to you.”

Robie put out his hand. “Thanks, but you’ve done more than enough, Agent Sanders.”

After shaking both their hands Sanders left. A minute later they heard vehicles driving away.

Robie put the slip of paper in his wallet and sat down on the bed. “Well, that puts a whole new spin on things. So do we tell Sheriff Malloy that her sister is dead?”

Reel pondered this for a few moments. “I don’t see how we can and not have her storm that place with her one deputy. With the result they both get killed.”

“So we keep quiet?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, but I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like anything about this damn place,” replied Reel.

“I couldn’t have shot you.”

Robie glanced over at her as the pair was driving toward Lamarre’s place. They had cleaned up and changed out of the clothes Dolph had made them wear. They were both gunned up and watching their vehicle’s mirrors carefully for any sign of pursuers.

It was now around nine at night and car lights could be easily seen. There were none back there.

“There was no reason for both of us to die,” replied Robie.

She shook her head in disagreement. “You dead, me not, what would have been the point?”

“I don’t get you sometimes. No, I don’t get you most of the time.”

She shrugged. “What can I say, Robie? It’s a Mars-Venus thing.”

“No, I don’t think you’re in the same universe as me, actually.”

“On the other hand, I should have shot him.”

“Who?”

“Dolph. I had him on the ground begging for his life. My muzzle was a foot from his chest. One pull, dead.” She paused. “And I didn’t do it.”

“You couldn’t kill the guy in cold blood, asshole or not.”

“We kill in cold blood all the time, Robie.”

“On orders. It’s different when it’s a personal thing.”

“Doesn’t matter. I still should have done it. I would have saved the world a ton of grief. I get a second chance, he’s a dead man.”

And Robie didn’t argue the point.

The house where Lamarre had stayed, according to his boss, was a tumbledown bare-bones cottage, but despite its derelict appearance there was what looked to be a new car parked out front, and they could see lights on inside.

Robie stopped the truck about a hundred feet from the house and they got out, their hands on their backup guns, which had replaced the ones lost to Dolph’s ambush.

“Think we’re going to find a headless body inside?” Reel asked.

“I’ve found out here that anything is possible.”

They approached the front of the house.

Robie touched the hood of the vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser.

“Cold,” he said.

They stepped to the front porch. Reel stood to the right of the door, her gun ready, while Robie rapped on the wood and then stepped to the left.

They heard footsteps padding toward the door.

It opened and a young woman looked back at them.

She was about five four, in her thirties, with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair possessing dark roots. A nose ring hung from each nostril. She had on jeans with a tank top revealing a spread of tattoo that swept over her left shoulder and continued down to her wrist.

It looked to Robie like a woman being swept along by rough water.

“Can I help you?” she said, looking first at Robie and then Reel.

Robie said, “We’re federal agents.”

“Where are your badges?” she demanded.

They held out their creds.

“What do you want?”

“We’re looking for Clément Lamarre. We understand he used to live here.”

“‘Used to’ is right.”

“What’s your name?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“You don’t have to do anything. But we can take you in for questioning somewhere more formal. And I don’t see how telling us your name is being too invasive.”