James Grippando - When Darkness Falls

“Anything else?” said Falcon.

“Yeah. We want the coat.” Jack didn’t want to explain why, but Falcon could probably guess that they wanted to examine it for traces of explosives.

Falcon said, “So, let me get this straight. First you tell me that if I let everyone talk on the phone, you’ll give me food and my necklace. I try to keep up my end of the deal, and your friend screws everything up. Now, to get the same food and necklace that you promised me before, you want me to start snapping photographs of myself and give you, literally, the coat off my back. Is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m just trying to do what’s fair for everyone.”

“Like hell. You keep changing the deal, and I’m tired of all this stalling.”

“The coat changes things.”

“Not for me it doesn’t. If you get more, I get more.”

“What do you want?”

“I want my damn necklace. And I want Alicia Mendoza to bring it to me.”

Jack glanced at Paulo, not sure how to answer that question. Paulo picked up Jack’s hesitation, scratched out a message on a scrap of paper, and slipped it toward him. It read: NO WAY…But never say never.

“That’s a tall order,” said Jack. “I won’t lie to you. It’s going to be very, very tough to pull that off.”

“Tough my ass.”

“Seriously. For starters, I’ll have to track down Alicia.”

“If you’re telling me she’s not there with you, I know you’re lying.”

Jack didn’t respond, but it was obvious that his bluffing needed some improvement. “If Alicia is going to get involved, I’m sure I’ll need to get clearance from Mayor Mendoza himself.”

“That’s easy. Your dad’s the governor of Florida, right?”

“Used to be the governor.”

“He’s still a politician, just like Alicia’s father. Those guys are always sucking each other off. You get your old man to call her old man, and you make it happen, you hear me?”

“I can try, I guess. But I can’t make any promises.”

“This is going to be easier than you think, Swyteck.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Here’s a little incentive for her. Tell Alicia that if she blows me off again this time, then we’re going to have to call the doctor.”

It took Jack a moment, but then he deciphered what Falcon was saying. “Threatening the hostages is a very bad tactic, Falcon. SWAT is just looking for a reason to bust down those doors.”

“I’m not threatening anyone, you idiot. Just be sure to tell her exactly what I said. She’ll know what I mean.”

Jack looked at Alicia, who gave him nothing in return. It wasn’t clear that she understood what Falcon was saying. But it wasn’t clear that she didn’t, either.

“All right, Falcon. I’ll be sure to pass along your exact words to Alicia. But I can tell you right now, I’ll need some serious time to work on this.”

“How much time?”

Jack looked at Paulo, whose instincts again told him that Jack needed guidance. He held up six fingers. Said Jack, “Six hours.”

“You got one,” said Falcon, and the call was over.

J ack walked across the parking lot from the mobile command center to the fast-food restaurant. He was in search of caffeine. He found mostly testosterone.

Law enforcement had taken over the entire restaurant and surrounding property, and the SWAT members were in the dining area, waiting for the green light. Jack had bumped up against plenty of machismo before, as few Miami courtrooms were large enough to hold the average trial lawyer’s ego. But there was simply nothing quite like the collective bravado of a tactical team in full gear. It was a bizarre thought-and one that seemed unnerving to no one in the room but Jack-but in a matter of minutes, one of these guys might be pumping hollow-point ammunition into a man’s skull. The outcome depended entirely on the words Jack chose, the nuances of his tone of voice, the way he steered his next telephone conversation with Falcon. His job suddenly seemed even more overwhelming.

Jack passed by the coffee machine and went straight to the restroom. He stood at the sink, splashed cold water onto his face, and then took a good look at the man staring back at him from the mirror. He needed a shave, for sure. He removed the bandage, and there was some purple swelling around the cut at his right temple, where Falcon had said hello with the butt of his pistol. There wasn’t much other color to his skin. The worry lines appeared to be carved in wax, the stress written all over his face. It reminded him of the time his father had signed Theo’s death warrant and Jack went running into the bathroom to throw up. “Damn, you look worse than I do,” Theo had told him when he arrived at the penitentiary. It was no joke. When it came to matters of life and death, Theo seemed to have a leg up on everybody. Jack hoped that was still the case.

“Hang in there, buddy.” Jack was speaking aloud, but in his mind, he heard Theo talking.

Jack dried his hands and started toward the door. It opened before he got there, and a plainclothes officer entered. Jack recognized him as Detective Barber from the night they’d found a woman’s body in the trunk of Falcon’s car. Jack said a quick hello, then excused himself and tried to pass. Barber closed the door and leaned back against it, blocking Jack’s way.

“You used to work with Gerry Chafetz, didn’t you?” said Barber.

It seemed like an odd time for small talk, but Jack went along. “He was my supervisor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, back when I was a prosecutor.”

“Chafetz and I rode together when he was on the force. I called him after you and I talked the other night. He speaks highly of you.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

They stood in silence, each sizing up the other. Jack knew that this had to be about more than his old boss. “Is there something you and I need to talk about, detective?”

“Chafetz tells me that you can be trusted.”

“I like to think that’s true.”

Barber narrowed his eyes, as if to press his point. “I had a private conversation with Paulo this morning. Did he mention it to you?”

“No.”

“I need some information from Falcon, but Paulo tells me that you’re the one doing most of the talking.”

“It’s not my choice, but that seems to be the way Falcon wants it.”

Barber nodded slowly, as if Jack’s version were consistent with what Paulo had told him.

Jack said, “What are you trying to find out?”

Barber hesitated, seeming to weigh in his mind whether it was enough that Jack’s former boss had vouched for his integrity. Either it was, or Barber had run out of options. “I need to know why the mayor’s bodyguard was snooping around Falcon’s car on Thursday night.”

“You mean the night the woman was murdered?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“What does the mayor have to say about that?”

“Haven’t discussed it with him yet.”

“Why not?”

“Couple reasons. Can’t really share them with you. Except for one, which you may have already figured out.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard by now how upset the mayor is that Vincent Paulo is heading up this hostage negotiation. How afraid he is that Paulo is going to get his daughter involved.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Jack. “This morning I got a police escort straight to the mayor’s car. He made it absolutely clear that Paulo is not his first choice.”

“See, that’s so very interesting to me.”

“How do you mean?”

“Because I know for a fact that it was a phone call from Mayor Mendoza to Chief Renfro that got Vince Paulo assigned to this case in the first place.”