Дэвид Балдаччи - Long Road to Mercy

“Of course I checked on you. I don’t believe anyone unless I can verify it. Now do you want to get off the floor, sit in that chair, and tell me why you just tried to kill me?”

Priest gingerly got to his feet and plopped heavily into the chair across from her. He was still dressed in his traveling clothes.

“I was telling you the truth when I said I called the number back. But I was lying when I said no one had answered. They must have taken it out of service after they talked to me last.”

“What did they tell you?”

“That if I didn’t fly out here and kill you, my wife and my kids were dead.”

“And you believed them?”

“They also sent me photos of my wife out shopping, my kids at school. They were obviously watching them.”

Pine thought about this. Why send this guy to do the dirty deed? Whoever was behind this couldn’t come up with a pro to do the hit on me? “Why did they say I had to die?”

“Because you were investigating my brother’s disappearance.”

“And did they say why your brother had disappeared?”

Priest hesitated. “No, not really, but I knew it was serious.”

“As serious as murdering a federal agent? That can get you the death penalty.”

“My family means more to me than my own life,” barked Priest. He slowly calmed. “But I couldn’t pull the trigger. I... I guess I’m not a killer.”

“Clearly not. I was watching you.”

“So what happens to me now? Am I going to prison?”

“I saw you weren’t going to actually kill me. But when they find out you didn’t pull the trigger, they’re not going to be happy with you.”

Priest buried his face in his hands and started sobbing heavily. “Oh my God, my family. I’ve killed my family.”

“That we can take care of. I’ll have them placed in protective custody until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

Priest stopped crying and looked up at her. “You... you can do that?”

“But in return you need to help me.”

“But how? I don’t know anything.”

“You may know more than you think. And right now, you’re the best lead I have.”

“So how do we proceed?”

“I make the call to take care of your family. And though it’s nearly morning, I suggest we get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

“I’m really sorry about all this, Agent Pine.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time someone wanted to murder me.”

He let out a sharp breath. “Jesus, I don’t know how you do a job like that.”

“Funny, it’s the only job I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“Your family is in an FBI safe house back in Maryland,” Pine told Priest over coffee in her kitchen later that morning.

“How did you explain that to them?”

“You mean how did I explain your involvement in all this?”

“Yes, I guess I do.”

“I know how to word these things, Ed. You can breathe a little easier, at least for right now.”

“So, what do we do?”

“We need to find your brother, for starters.”

“But how?”

“You have his contact info?”

“Of course. And I’ve left dozens of messages. He hasn’t returned any of them.”

“Maybe we need to rephrase your messages.”

Priest’s jaw slid lower. “What do you mean?”

“Call him and leave a message that says your family has been threatened and that you’re being blackmailed into attempting to murder a federal agent. You desperately need his help because you don’t know what to do, but you’re seriously thinking of pulling the trigger. Tell him he has a half hour to get back to you before you do the deed.”

Priest simply stared at Pine for a few moments. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m so serious that if you don’t do it right now while I’m sitting here, I’m going to arrest you for the attempted murder of me.”

“I thought you were trying to help me.”

Pine shook her head. “I never said that. My job is to find the truth. I will go over and through anybody to get there, including you and your brother.”

Priest closed his eyes and rubbed his brow with a shaky hand, covering his face.

Pine pulled his hand away. “You’ve got to step up now, Ed. No time to hide. Take out your phone and make the call.”

Priest punched in the number.

“Put it on speakerphone.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Do I really need to answer that question? You came here to put a bullet in my head.”

Priest put the phone on speaker.

A voice came on. “This is Ben. Leave me a message. I’ll do my best to get back to you.”

Pine nodded at Priest, who left his message, following her instructions to the letter. Then she hit the End button and looked across at him.

“And now?” he said.

“And now we wait for thirty minutes.”

“And if he doesn’t call back?”

“Then you cross the Rubicon. I’ll have to take you in.”

Priest frowned. “Look, it’s just my word against yours that I came here to kill you.”

Pine took out her phone and hit some keys.

Priest’s voice came on, explaining why he had come there to kill Pine.

“You recorded it all?” said Priest.

“Of course I did. This is the big leagues, Ed. You want to survive this, you need to up your game.”

“I didn’t ask for any of this shit to be dropped in my lap,” he replied testily.

“Don’t blame me, blame your brother. If he calls back in thirty minutes, you’re going to arrange to meet him. And I’ll be going along for the ride.”

“But we have no idea where he is.”

“Which is why we’re waiting for him to tell us.”

Pine fell silent and sat back. Priest looked immensely anxious. But he, too, didn’t speak.

Until twenty-eight minutes later when his phone rang.

Priest glanced at Pine, who nodded.

She said, “Don’t put it on speaker — he might get suspicious.” “What do I say?”

“Act natural. You’re pissed, confused, and you want to hear the truth.”

Priest answered the phone and held it to his ear while Pine leaned in close to listen.

“Hello?”

“Eddie?”

Priest blurted out, “Ben, where the hell have you been? What is going on? My whole life just came crashing down around me.”

“Just calm down, big brother. It’ll be okay. But please tell me you haven’t killed a federal agent.”

“Not yet. But Mary and the kids.”

“They’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know that!”

Pine tapped Priest on the arm and put a finger to her lips. She mouthed the words Let him talk .

Priest fell silent. A moment later his brother started speaking. “You were never supposed to be involved in any of this, Eddie, I’m sorry. It got out of hand.”

“What did?”

“I can’t talk about it, not over the phone.”

Pine touched Priest on the shoulder again, pointed at him and then at the phone.

Priest said, “Then we have to meet. You can tell it to me face-to-face.”

“Where are you now?”

“Arizona. Near the Grand Canyon where you were supposed to have disappeared. That’s why I flew out. Where are you?”

“Not that far away, actually.”

“Where do you want to meet?”

“There’s a hotel at the Grand Canyon, on the South Rim. El Tovar.”

Pine looked at Priest and nodded.

“Okay, I’m sure I can find it.”

“We can meet there tonight, for dinner. You can make the reservation under your name. Make it for later. Nine o’clock. Just so you know, I... I won’t look like myself.”

“Have you been hurt?”

“No, I mean I’ll be in disguise.”