David Baldacci - Daylight

“Yes, both in groups and just the two of us.”

“Any place you’ve frequented over others?”

“No, not really. We went bowling once. He’s a really good bowler. Bars, clubs, basketball games, restaurants, that sort of thing. Nothing really regular.”

“We understand he visits a place in New York?”

Axilrod’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. So you know about that?”

“We’d like to know more.”

“It belongs to some guy. They became friends. Real tight.”

“This friend have a name?”

“Randy, at least I think. He founded some company and then sold it to Google or somebody like that for a gazillion bucks. He’s not much older than me, but he’s set for life, lucky bastard. Place has a doorman, and a private elevator that opens into the foyer.” She shook her head. “I’ve only seen stuff like that in the movies.”

“So you’ve been there?”

“Oh, yeah, a number of times. I go with Tony. Only way I can get in.”

“How did a guy like Tony meet a guy like Randy?”

“Randy wasn’t always rich, apparently. He and Tony knew each other before. Tony was like only eighteen or something. I don’t know particulars, but after Randy hit the big time, he didn’t forget his old friends.”

“Where is this place?”

“Fifty-Seventh Street.”

“Billionaires’ Row, maybe?”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty new building. The parking spot fee is probably five times what I make in a year.”

“And I heard he drives up there in some sort of exotic car?”

Axilrod smiled. “The Aston Martin. Yeah, that belongs to Randy, too. He lets Tony drive it sometimes. If you’d asked me a year ago if I thought I’d ever be driving around in an Aston Martin, well, the answer would have been no! But what a sweet ride.”

“Did you ever meet Randy?” asked Blum.

“No. Tony said on any given day he might be in Beijing or Paris or Rio. He has his own jet. I can’t even imagine a life like that. But apparently the guy likes to share the wealth, so that’s cool.”

“So you drove up there to the penthouse and . . . ?”

“Just hung out. Did some drinking. Played some video games. It’s got this whole room just for gaming. We’re both big gamers, although, not to toot my own horn, I’m a lot better than Tony.”

“So you two are dating, then?”

Axilrod frowned. “I’m not sure I’d call it that. We were just hanging out. There were no plans to get married, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m about ten years older than Tony.”

“So you were never intimate?” asked Pine.

Axilrod’s frown deepened. “I don’t feel comfortable answering that. And what does that have to do with finding Tony? And why all these questions?”

“We’re just trying to get a fuller picture of his life. I wouldn’t want anyone to ask me that question, but it is standard protocol for the Bureau.”

Axilrod still looked put out. “Well, I’m just sticking with ‘we were friends.’ ”

“Okay, was he ‘friends’ with anyone else?”

“I don’t know if he was . . . intimate with anyone. He never said.”

“When you went there each time was it just you and Tony?”

“Oh, no. There were lots of people there.”

“Friends of Tony’s?”

“Maybe some of them.”

“The others were associates of Randy’s?”

“I guess. Or friends of his. Look, it’s not like anything weird is going on there. People with too much money like Randy like to play the big man, right? We go there, we drink and have fun, and we do gaming and fool around some. That’s all. There’s nothing more. Stuff like that goes on in New York all the time.”

“Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you other than everything I’ve seen there is legit. Just harmless fun.”

“Does Randy let parties go on there every day?”

“Of course not. Tony told me he’ll get a call that tells him it’s party time there. It’s not that often. Once or twice a month. But I always look forward to it. I mean, come on, how else would I ever get into one of those places?”

“Okay, let’s switch gears. Have you seen anything unusual at Fort Dix?”

“Unusual how?”

“Just out of the ordinary?”

“No, never.”

“Because Tony was manufacturing and selling drugs, Lindsey.”

Axilrod shook her head and said vehemently, “No way you could get drugs on the installation. They have dogs sniffing for stuff like that, and vehicle searches.”

“Okay, this place in New York. You could find it again?” Even though Pine knew the address, she didn’t want to let on to Axilrod that she had that information.

“Why?” she said warily.

“I’d like to check it out for myself. We can go together.”

Axilrod shook her head, looking nervous. “I don’t think I want to be part of anything that’s going on here.”

“If you don’t I can have a warrant issued and a team can be there within an hour. But I’d prefer not to have to go down that route.”

Axilrod tensed. “You’re putting me in an impossible situation. If you do that and Tony finds out I talked to you, he’s going to be pissed.”

“I thought you said nothing was going on up there.”

“Nothing that I know about. But what if there is? Then I’m stuck right in the middle of it. And I’m not stupid. If the FBI is nosing around, something must be off.”

“And all you have to do is get me into the building. I can take it from there. You know the doorman?”

“Well, yeah.”

“So? Are they having a party tonight?”

Axilrod glanced at Blum and then looked at Pine, and her expression appeared resigned. “Actually, they are.”

“How do you know they’re having one tonight?” Blum asked.

“Because Tony told me about it last week. We were supposed to go together. But I haven’t heard a word from him since.”

“Well, you and I can go together. Okay, Lindsey?” said Pine.

Axilrod finally nodded. “Okay. But if things get hairy, I’m outta there.”

CHAPTER

26

AXILROD AND PINE SHARED an Uber into the city. They had met up in Newark and ridden in from there.

Axilrod had on tight, dark dress jeans, a white blouse open at the neck and showing a bit of cleavage, a short denim jacket, and three-inch heels.

Pine was dressed in jeans as well, and a black bomber jacket with a dark blouse buttoned all the way up. For obvious reasons she had left her guns and creds back in her hotel room.

“What are we going to do when we get up there?” asked Axilrod nervously.

“Mingle, listen, and watch. Try to find a lead on Tony. I don’t expect to hit the jackpot, but anything we learn will be more than I have now.”

“Hey, do you think Tony will be there? He hasn’t answered any of my texts or calls.”

“Let’s just say I would be surprised if he is, but I’ve been surprised before.”

They got out at the address and Pine looked up. They were on the south end of Central Park between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and the building they were about to go into was twelve hundred feet high.

After Puller had told her about this building, Pine had done some digging. The cheapest apartment in the place went for forty-three million dollars. The most expensive unit was the penthouse, which took up the entire top floor and also the entire floor below it. They were connected by both a grand stairway and a private elevator. Pine had learned that this two-story mansion had been purchased by a Saudi prince for one hundred and ten million bucks, and he spent less than three weeks there a year.

There were no vacant units. There were also no full-time residents. These places were not homes; they were safe-deposit boxes, a way to move money out of a country where the government sometimes took things from the rich without paying for them. Or, they were a perfect way to launder money that had been made in illegal ways overseas.