“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Well, I’m real sorry for what you’re going through. But if it makes you feel any better, time does help. And you figure out you got other people who care about you.” He held up the bag. “My son and my grandson are visiting. I told them this place here has the best durn grilled hot dogs in the whole state of New Jersey. They’re excited to try ’em. I’m just happy I’m not alone tonight.”
“Thank you. I hope they enjoy the hot dogs.”
He gave her an encouraging smile, walked off, climbed into an old pickup truck, and slowly drove away.
Right when Pine had thought maybe there was nothing left that was good in the world, that old man had restored a little bit of hope to her.
She wiped her eyes again and put the car in gear.
I guess it really is all about timing.
She glanced down at the photo, at her beloved twin staring at the dirt, trapped in a life that was not hers.
“I’m going to find you, Mercy. Your little sister is coming for you. I promise.”
Chapter 61
NO ANSWER.
As she sped north, Pine had called Blum four times and gotten no answer; it had gone straight to voice mail as though the phone was turned off. She then tried calling Robert Puller and got the exact same result.
Panicking, she called John Puller. She gasped in gratitude as he picked up.
“Atlee?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you. But I can’t reach either Carol or your brother. They both go straight to voice mail.”
“Carol texted me. Said she was doing surveillance work on Gorman and Franklin.”
“That’s right,” said Pine.
“I told Bobby about that. He was going to dig some stuff up on them.”
“You think he and Carol might be together somehow?”
“They should be. I contacted Bobby and asked him to check on Carol. I didn’t like it that she was tailing a guy like Gorman. And I really don’t like it that neither one of them are answering their phones.”
“I didn’t like using Carol for that, either. And maybe I shouldn’t have. But she doesn’t take unnecessary risks. Sometimes I forget she’s not a trained agent.”
“But something might have happened.”
“I’m going to have an APB put out on them both and have some agents go to the spot where Carol was doing her surveillance.”
“I think that’s a smart move, Atlee.”
“And I have a lot to fill you in on.” Pine proceeded to do that. She was only twenty minutes outside of the city when she had finished. She could hear Puller breathing heavily. It reminded her of Jack Lineberry. And for good reason. Both men had been shot.
“Puller, look, you just need to rest, okay? I can handle this. I shouldn’t have called you.”
She could hear him breathing fast for a few seconds and then came what sounded like him trying to sit up in bed.
“Puller, please, just lie still!”
“I’m fine. I don’t know why I’m still in the hospital.”
“You got shot, in case you forgot!”
Puller said, “Okay, okay. So, based on what you found out, what do you think is going on?”
“Let’s start with the drugs. Tony and his two cohorts, Cassidy and Danforth, were making the drugs and getting them distributed. Jeff Sands was lining up buyers.”
“And then there’s the penthouse,” said Puller.
“Sands was also involved in that, as was Axilrod. From what Tony told me that place could very well be a den of blackmail. He called them ‘fancy’ people, but they may be powerful people. And they could be buying drugs from them. Then they’re whisked to this place for underage sex and more drugs and God knows what, and it’s all captured on film.”
Puller said, “And with the underage sex, like what happened with Jewel Blake, that would not only kill someone’s reputation, it’s also a felony.”
“I just want to know how Nora Franklin fits into this. And Adam Gorman.”
“I spoke briefly with Bobby about Gorman. He mentioned something in his background had set off warning bells, he just didn’t tell me what.”
“Look, are you sure you’re feeling well enough to deal with this?”
“I’ll be thinking about it whether I’m doing it with you or not.”
“Then I’ll be at the hospital in about twenty minutes.”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” replied Puller.
When Pine hurried into Puller’s hospital room, he was sitting up in bed and looking at his phone.
“First, how are you feeling? Really? And don’t bullshit me,” added Pine as she sat down next to the bed.
“I can’t jump tall buildings in a single bound right now, but I don’t have to.” He held up his phone. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“Read it.”
Pine read down the screens for about a minute and then looked up.
“Nora Franklin’s opponent in her last election dropped out at the last minute even though he was ahead in the polls. She ran unopposed and won reelection. There was no explanation given by her opponent except to say it was a personal decision.”
Puller nodded. “I think we might have drilled down to what that personal decision might have been.”
“You think he was a visitor to the penthouse?”
“I wouldn’t bet against it. And I’m wondering what she’s done to repay ‘them’ for winning the election for her?”
“And how many other Nora Franklins are out there?”
Puller said, “And I doubt it’s just politicians. You can have judges, bureaucrats, cops, military, CEOs, folks in the media, and a slew of other targets.”
“And maybe that explains why a four-star got reassigned and you got shoved off the case and the local police cut us off and every other infuriating thing that’s happened.”
“It would explain a lot,” agreed Puller.
“Axilrod said something to Tony that made me pause. She used the term ‘blowback.’ He called her out on that, in a joking way, saying she sounded like a spy.”
“Spies, huh? Any word on your APB?” asked Puller anxiously.
“No.”
“Then I might have to call in some reinforcements.”
“From where?”
“You can leave that to me.”
“No, I want to be part of the hunt. At the very least I want to get to Lindsey Axilrod.”
“Okay. But I need to make some calls.”
“While you do that, I need to make a call, too.”
“Who to?”
“To a man who said if I needed a favor, to give him a ring. Well, I think it’s time I called in that favor.”
Chapter 62
THERE WERE EXHALATIONS OF BREATH mingled with the dripping of water coming from somewhere. There was consistency in the sounds, but no comfort.
Robert Puller looked down at his feet and winced a bit as the movement made the injuries in his shoulder and arm throb even more. They had interrogated him efficiently if not effectively. He was sure they would try again, with even harsher techniques. He was not looking forward to that. The car had driven them to a van in an underground garage somewhere on the outskirts of the city; the van had tinted windows. They had been restrained, and bags had been placed over their heads. They had driven around for about an hour. Then they had been taken from the van and hustled into somewhere; he didn’t know where. The bags had not been taken off until they were inside. Blum had been taken somewhere else. A classic “divide and crush the confidence” technique.