Nelson Demille - Wild fire

“That’s logical.”

“Sorry I couldn’t feed your paranoia.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I got more where that came from. In fact, here’s one-the pilot and co-pilot’s secret destination in San Francisco.”

“Why secret?”

“Well, there was no hired car and driver, which would leave a paper trail, plus they passed up the opportunity to take the courtesy van into town after loading these trunks full of bricks or something into the van, which then had to be off-loaded at the taxi line, then loaded into two taxis, because of the size of the trunks, for the trip into town. Does that make sense?”

“No. So, I called Garrett Aviation Service at LAX and got a guy named Scott on the phone who asked around while I was on hold, and he got back to me with pretty much the same story-two big black trunks, and the courtesy van only to the taxi line.”

“Ah. So, apparently these four guys had the same instructions-to take taxis to wherever they were going with those trunks.”

“It would seem that way.”

“So, quite obviously, these two flight crews had a secret destination or destinations in LA and San Francisco, and that’s why they each took a taxi , which would take a lot of luck to trace. Now, the question is, Does this have anything to do with Bain Madox’s insane plan to become Emperor of North America, or whatever the hell he’s up to? Or, is it not relevant?”

“I think it’s relevant.”

“Is this the bad news?”

She replied, “We need more context. Now, you tell me about your conversation with Madox.”

“Okay. Then I get the bad news?”

“Yes. Unless you can figure it out yourself before we’re finished with the other items on the agenda.”

“That’s a challenge. Okay, do I have everything I need to figure out the bad news?”

“You’re at the point where I was when I figured it out. Then I found one more piece of information that confirmed what I was afraid of.”

“Okay. Wow.”

I thought about that, and there was something coming together in my brain, but before it fell into place, Kate said, “You’re on. Custer Hill. Bain Madox.”

All roads lead back to Custer Hill and Bain Madox.

Isat back on the couch, and Kate sat in an easy chair. I said, “All right. First, Bain Madox was half expecting me.” I added, “Great minds think alike.”

I love it when she rolls her eyes. It’s so cute. I continued, “The house staff seems to be gone, but the security guards are there, and so is Carl.”

I gave Kate a short briefing of my time with Bain Madox, including the tangential discussions about being wounded in the line of duty, and Madox’s odd obsession with bears. I said to her, “But maybe these topics were not tangential. Madox may have been speaking allegorically.”

“Sounds more like macho bullshit to me.”

“Right. That, too. More important, I put Mr. Bain Madox on official notice that he was a material witness in a suspected homicide.” I explained my bogus suspicions about one of his security guards being Harry’s killer. “So, now we have him in a tight spot.”

Kate reminded me, “Murdering a Federal agent is not a Federal crime.”

“Well, it should be.”

“But it’s not.” She informed me, “New York State has the jurisdiction. That means Major Schaeffer.” She asked, “Don’t you teach that in your class at John Jay College of Criminal Justice?”

“Yes, I teach it. I don’t practice it. Actually, I covered myself by using the word assault, which is a Federal crime.” I added, “Madox is not a lawyer. He’s a suspect.”

“But he has a lawyer.”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

She looked a little exasperated with me, but conceded, “I guess that was a good move. Is that about the time he asked you to dinner?”

“Actually, it was.” I added, “He’ll have some of the information that I asked for tonight.”

“Yeah, right. Well, now you need to officially notify Major Schaeffer and Tom Walsh of what you did.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“Later.” I continued to fill in more of what Madox and I spoke about, but I didn’t mention that a moment had come when I considered a classically simple solution to a complex problem. I wanted to say to my wife and partner, “Just as Madox had solved his Harry Muller problem with a half ounce of lead, I could have resolved the entire Madox problem in less time than it took to pick the lint off the rug.” But I didn’t say that.

I did say, however, “Madox expressed his condolences about Harry, though he couldn’t remember Harry’s name.”

Kate looked at me.

I said, “Madox wanted to know if there was a fund he could contribute to.”

She kept looking at me, and I think she suspected that I’d thought about expedited justice, used now and then in cases of cop killers.

Kate said to me, “I called Harry’s girlfriend, Lori Bahnik.”

This took me by surprise, but I realized I should have done that by now. “That was nice of you.”

“It wasn’t an easy conversation, but I assured her we were doing everything possible to get to the bottom of this.”

I nodded.

“Lori said to say hello to you. She’s glad that it’s you on the case.”

“Did you tell her I wasn’t on the case any longer?”

“No, I did not.” Kate stared at me and said, “Last I heard, you and I were on the case.”

We made eye contact and exchanged brief smiles. I switched subjects. “Well, bottom line with Bain Madox is that he is now feeling pressed, and he may do something stupid, desperate, or clever.”

“I think he’s already done all three by inviting you to dinner.”

“ Us , darling. And I think you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. So, why don’t you just play right into his hands and show up? Or , do something more clever like don’t show up.” She asked, “May I call Tom Walsh now?”

I ignored that and continued my briefing. “I also got a good look at Madox’s back lot from his second-story office window.” I informed her, “There’s a barracks there big enough to hold twenty or thirty men, but I imagine not more than half are on duty at any time. Plus, there’s a stone building with three chimneys belching smoke, and a diesel generator service truck parked outside.”

She nodded and said again, “It may be time to share this information. I’ll call Tom, you call Major Schaeffer.”

“All right. I’ll call Hank Schaeffer first, so we’ll have more things to chat about with Tom Walsh.”

I stood and went to the desk phone, and using my phone debit card, I called state police headquarters in Ray Brook.

Major Schaeffer was in for Detective Corey, and he asked me, “Where are you?”

I hit the Speaker button and replied, “I’m not sure, but I’m looking at a menu in French.”

Major Schaeffer wasn’t amused. “Did you get my message that your Hertz car was at The Point?”

“I did. Thank you.”

He informed me, “Your friend, Liam Griffith, is not happy with you.”

“Fuck him.”

“Should I pass that on?”

“I’ll do it myself. By the way, I went to the Custer Hill Club, and there was no visible stakeout there.”

“Well,” he replied, “they were there. I pulled them back to Route 56 because this black Jeep kept snooping around. I have another team on the logging road in case anyone comes in or out from the back roads.”

“Okay.” I inquired, “Anything new with your surveillance team?”

“No one has arrived at the Custer Hill Club, except you in a white Enterprise rental Hyundai, and also a diesel service truck.” He gave me the details of my arrival and departure, and asked me, “What the hell were you doing there?”