Parallax

by Jon F. Merz

  And his kids wouldn't have to kill the way Frank did.

  He walked toward the public parking lot and thought about Stahl again. He had to figure out what the German was here to do. Who was he here to kill?

  The answer didn't make Frank feel any better.

  He'd have to use the link to see if he could figure it out.

  The problem seemed to be though that Stahl would become aware of him as soon as Frank tried to start spying on him. Was there another way to link without giving his presence away? And if there was, could Stahl also use the same method to spy on Frank without his knowing about it?

  The thought made Frank nervous. Knowing he had a monkey - especially one as dangerous as Stahl - perched proverbially on his shoulder creeped him out.

  The sooner I resolve this thing the better, he thought. At least then he could get back to reading the Raymond Chandler he'd picked up a few weeks back. At least after he resolved this damned thing, he could try and put the rest of his life back in order.

  That would mean dealing with the hired guns currently trying to wax his ass.

  It would also mean having to deal with Gia.

  One way or another.

  He frowned. That almost sounded like he was going to kill her. He laughed. No way. He couldn't do it. He knew it. Had known it. And even continuing to chew on the idea hadn't made it any easier to consider.

  Love, he decided, is a royal bitch.

  And unrequited love was the mother of all demons.

  Frank hadn't much considered the fact that Gia had gone to the Feds. Now in the blazing sunlight, he wondered about it at last. What had made her so anxious to give her uncle over to them? Why would she risk her life to do it?

  Her own background had been suspect from the start. But she'd shown up and known things about old man Patrisi that only a close relative would have known. And family being what it is, she was welcomed. Patrisi had initially told Frank that Gia was simply a friend. But they'd checked her out - vetted her, so to speak, and then she'd been one of them.

  She and Frank had dated and become inseparable after that, but a year into the relationship, Gia changed. She went cold. She went harsh. It was like an ice age had moved into her panties and Frank never got the warmth from her again.

  She'd called it quits and walked out on him a month later. No explanations, no reasons. No second chance.

  Frank reached his car and looked up at the January sky. Blue stared him in the face. No clouds yet. No storm as far as he could see.

  And yet, somewhere down deep inside of him, he knew it was out there. The clouds were coming.

  And with them, the storm.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  If Stahl had felt any degree of regret about lying to Frank, it didn't last long. Stahl's primary concern at this point was to successfully complete his mission and take care of Alois. Deception was a tool to be used for the greatest effect: not enabling Frank to disrupt his plans.

  Stahl didn't like leaving Sam's first. Part of him expected to get a bullet in the back as he did so. But Frank had at least been true to his word. The place was neutral ground.

  He hadn't been shot.

  He caught the train back into Copley Square and then ducked back into his hotel. Karen met him at the door wearing nothing but a smile.

  "Hi."

  He grinned in spite of himself and nudged his way past her, shutting the door behind him. "Can't let the other guests see you like that."

  "How'd it go?" she asked after planting a wet kiss on his mouth.

  Stahl unstrapped the small-of-the-back holster he wore and placed the pistol on the nightstand. "Depends on how you define Ôgood,' I suppose. The American I was telling you about-"

  "The assassin."

  "Yes. I don't think he's going to let me do my work here unmolested. He seemsÉcommitted to some higher ideal."

  "What sort of ideal?"

  Stahl shook his head. "I'm not really sure. I used a cover story on him when he asked about my assignment."

  "Did he go for it?"

  "I think so. He had enough reason to." He purposely left out the part about Frank having mentally visited the hotel room. No sense distorting the issue.

  "So, what's the problem then?"

  "I wish I could say for certain. Maybe I'm just imagining it. I just get the feeling he'll prove troublesome."

  "We should move to take him out then. As soon as possible."

  Stahl looked at her. The last vestiges of the quiet and confident college professor seemed to have deserted her. She'd shed them quickly; reverting once more to the cold killer Stahl had met all those years before. The funny thing was, Stahl wasn't sure he was attracted to the lethal side as much as he'd been to her softer demeanor. Something about the passive life seemed to suit Karen. Dealing death wasn't as good a match.

  Not that he could tell her that. She'd probably stab him in the heart with a hotel pen and leave him for dead. Karen seemed a little high strung lately.

  Stahl supposed it stemmed from the fact that she was back in the game.

  He wasn't so sure that was an appropriate title for it, considering Alois still languished in a hospital over in Germany awaiting a transplant.

  Which reminded him, he wanted to call over and find out if they'd found a donor yet so the operation could take place. He checked his watch. Three o'clock. That would put it just past ten overseas.

  Was it too late?

  He frowned. Alois was probably asleep. He needed all the rest he could get. Stahl smirked. He could have used some of that rest himself. Instead, he was stuck thousands of miles away in a country he didn't particularly like, reigniting passion that should have probably been left for dead, and still not as close to completing his work as he would have liked.

  Did it ever get any easier, he wondered? Did the struggle ever stop? Was there ever a day when you woke up and didn't have a thousand things to worry about?

  He knew the thirty million he'd get from this job would enable him to not have financial worries ever again, but there'd be other things to replace those concerns. He and Alois would have to make sure they were never recognizable to anyone who might be looking for them.

  That would mean fresh documents that could pass the highest rigors of scrutiny. He'd need new passports, birth certificates, credit cards, and more.

  The items would cost a lot of money.

  He felt a bit more concerned about how he was going to handle Karen after all this was over. Would she make a good mother? He glanced at her as she stepped into a pair of stretch black pants.

  No doubt the softer side of her would be an excellent mother. But what about the killer she'd once been. What about the former life she was readily embracing again? How would Alois react to that?

  And if he didn't bring her home as his wife, what could he do with her? Kill her? It seemed a silly notion. She knew nothing of the actual plan. Stahl could lose her if he needed to. But the fact remained, she could be a liability.

  Stahl wasn't sure he could kill her.

  The similarity of his and Frank's situation dawned on him and he almost laughed out loud. He should have asked Frank how it felt to get a contract to kill someone you used to love.

  He frowned. Had he once loved Karen?

  He doubted it. It had just been sex.

  Hadn't it?

  Maybe this was the real secret of life, he decided. Not the elimination of worries. But the replacement of them with others. Enjoy financial success and maybe health concerns pop up. Enjoy good health but be broke for life. Health and good fortune? Maybe you suffered from acute loneliness.

  Some life.

  "You all done thinking?"

  He glanced up. "What?"

  Karen smiled at him. "You look like you're a thousand miles away. Everything all right?"

  Stahl nodded. "Just worried about Alois."

  "Your son."

  Stahl nodded. "I mentioned him, right?"

  "Briefly. He needs a transplant."
<
br />   Stahl sighed. "I miss him terribly." He smiled. "You know, years ago, if someone had told me that I would have a son whose safety and security would matter more to me than anything else in the entire world, I would have laughed first and then probably shot them for insinuating I could be so weak."

  "But now?"

  "Now I know what it's like to have someone as frail as a child depending on you for everything. They are innocent and na•ve and the joy of being there for them replenishes my soul in ways I never knew existed."

  "It's not weakness to care for something, Ernst." She came over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "But you have to remain strong in order to finish your job. That way you can go home to your son. And maybeÉ" Her voice trailed off.

  "What?"

  She smiled and looked away. "I don't know. It's just that I thought perhapsÉwell, that I might go home with you as well."

  There it was.

  Had Stahl known it would come to this? Probably, he decided. He couldn't get mixed up with Karen again and not expect it. She'd gone through her twenties and thirties committed to ideals and violence that would have dwarfed the immature tendencies of most of the women her age. But by doing so, she'd also missed out on all the romance and family she could have otherwise enjoyed.

  And she still wanted it.

  "I need to sleep now," said Stahl. He leaned back and felt his pillow cradle the sides of his head. A dull roar sounded in his ears as the material crushed and dispersed around the increase in weight.

  "You didn't answer my question."

  So much for ignoring it and hoping it went away. He opened his eyes. "Like you said: why don't I concentrate on completing my job first? After that, we can discuss the future. Possibly our future. Is that all right?"

  "I suppose it will have to be."

  Stahl frowned. "Doesn't make any sense talking about it now, anyway. If neither of us gets through this mission alive, we'll have just wasted time."

  "I don't consider talking about it a waste of time."

  "It's detracting from my planning process," said Stahl. "Now you should really head for home. Get your things ready. Tie up any loose ends. If things get really hairy over the next day or two, you're going to wish you'd had this time to prepare better."

  "You're kicking me out now."

  Stahl sighed. "I'm asking you to give me some down time is all. I need to rest and think about my options. Is that so bad?"

  "I guess not."

  "Okay then. Please shut the door on your way out."

  "You'll call me?"

  "First thing when I wake up."

  She smiled. "Will you tell me what your assignment is then? I'm dying to know all about it."

  I'll bet. Stahl forced a small grin. "How about we do a nice dinner tonight - anywhere you want - and we'll talk a few things over then?"

  She nodded. "All right then. I'll make the reservation."

  "Remember the rules."

  She nodded. "Yeah, I know. It'll be as safe and secure as possible."

  "You'd better bring a gun as well," said Stahl. "Things could get unpredictable from here on out."

  "I don't have a gun. Remember? I told you about it earlier this week."

  He'd forgotten. At the time, he hadn't much cared what she had or had not. All that had mattered was her ability to get the supplies he'd asked for.

  "Can you get one?"

  "Do you want me to make that kind of noise?"

  Stahl didn't have much to give her out of his own supplies. He'd gotten the .22 but he didn't have a backup piece. He sighed. He'd have to take care of getting her a gun on the street.

  And she'd been right, he didn't want her making that kind of noise. A woman asking for a gun on the street brought undue attention. Stahl would have to take care of it.

  "I'll call you when I wake up and we'll have dinner."

  Karen smiled. "Sleep well, Ernst."

  Stahl closed his eyes and hoped it would be that easy.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  When Stahl awoke, he felt marginally rested. Throughout his sleep he was haunted by images of Alois hooked up to machines with tubes running in and out of him. He couldn't talk because of the respirator attached to his mouth. At his side, the lone pump machine heaved up and down in monotonous cadence.

  And if Stahl had thought it a nightmare, he knew his son was truly going through hell every day that he languished in the hospital awaiting his operation. Stahl rolled out of bed and slid back into his clothes.

  He called Karen's cell phone and gave her a rendezvous point. He brushed his hair and headed out into the cold night.

  The area around the hotel was awash in cold drizzle. The rain had started down. Pellets of ice stung his skin. Stahl tasted the air and knew there was a good chance the rain would be snow before too long.

  He walked easily down the sidewalk and caught a taxi at the entrance of the Copley Westin hotel a block down from his own. He gave the driver directions, prayed it was not another foolish immigrant driving and leaned back against the seat.

  The Japanese restaurant in Central Square in Cambridge sat nestled on the underside of a shopping strip mall. It was there if you knew it was, but not too visible from the street, which made it a good choice for Stahl's meeting with Karen.

  She was already seated at a table in the back when he entered and said his greeting to the hostess. Thoughtfully, Karen had left the seat with its back to the wall free for Stahl.

  He would have made her move if she hadn't.

  "Nice weather."

  He grinned. "You've seen too many spy films."

  "I was being honest."

  "It's typical January near as I can figure it," said Stahl.

  "Did you sleep well?"

  "I'll sleep well when I have the assignment done and my son's health back to good measure. Not before."

  "Is everything ready then?"

  Stahl picked up the menu. "Your social engineering skills are not what they used to be, my dear."

  "I'm just asking."

  "You're dying to know."

  "Yes."

  "You'll know soon enough I expect. So will the rest of the world."

  "Is it really that big?"

  Stahl looked at her. "I hear the tonkatsu here is delicious."

  Karen sipped her tea. "I hate it when you're coy."

  "Operational security is a pain, yes?"

  "It's unnecessary in this case," said Karen. "Wasn't my trust vetted years ago? Doesn't any of that count for anything with you?"

  "We've both been out of the field for years now. Who's to say what's what anymore?"

  "That's not an answer."

  Stahl put his menu down and leaned across the table. "Do you really want to argue all the way through what could very well be a nice dinner?"

  Karen's face softened. "Fine."

  The waitress appeared. Stahl ordered the pork katsu and Karen ordered a wooden boat full of sushi. Stahl sipped his green tea and nodded at Karen. "You always did like raw fish."

  "It's an acquired taste."

  "I never bothered."

  "To try it?"

  "To acquire it."

  Karen steepled her fingers and leaned closer. "Well, if you won't tell me what your assignment is, at least let me know this: do you need anything else from me? Is there anything else I can do?"

  In truth, there was. Stahl could use her when he penetrated the building tomorrow and planted the bomb. Ordinarily, he would have preferred a close-on kill with his trusty pistol. But there wouldn't be much opportunity to do that. Not unless Stahl wanted to die carrying out the mission.

  He didn't.

  So, he'd do the job with a bomb. He knew his way around explosives enough to be able to build a decent one. Karen, however, was even better at it than he was.

  Should he?

  Part of him wanted to ask her. Part of him wanted her involved every step of the way. But something inside urged him not to. What was it that made him so unsure about her? />
  Still, she could probably slap a bomb together that might even be undetectable to the dogs if they even bothered to sweep for explosives. Stahl secretly doubted they would. The venue for the forum was a college after all. With thousands of students surging through there on a daily basis, the chances they'd close it down were slight. No matter the supposed degree of importance attached to the person who would be speaking. Stahl would verify that for certain right after dinner.

  "You're debating with yourself again."

  Stahl snapped back to reality. Karen smiled at him. "It's about me, isn't it?"

  "It might be."

  "It always helps to talk."

  Stahl smiled. Her vague humor always did appeal to him. He made the decision and hoped it would be the right one. "How long has it been since you worked around plastic."

  Karen's eyes danced around in their sockets, sweeping the area nearby without moving her head. "I assume we're talking about my favorite kind of plastic."

  "The malleable kind, yes."

  "Honestly, it's been a while."

  "Since you got out?"

  "Shortly thereafter."

  The miso soup arrived and Karen sipped hers. Stahl watched her work her way around a piece of seaweed.

  "Should I assume you've lost your touch, then?"

  She chewed and swallowed. "Not necessarily." She grinned. "I suppose it would depend on what type of device we're talking about."

  "Maximum damage for the confined area it will be placed in. I want it undetectable, if possible."

  "This isn't your usual modus operandi, darling. You're much more of a hands-on kind of guy."

  "This isn't my usual type of assignment, either." He grinned. Had she almost fooled him into revealing it? No. But he enjoyed the way they toyed with each other. Almost like the old days. Comrades in arms. Comrades in love.

  She'd waited to see if she'd fooled him. When Stahl didn't bite, she shrugged. "Guess you'll never tell me, will you?"

  He looked at her. She seemed hurt. Stahl wanted to be through hurting people. "The target is a doctor."

  "A doctor?"

  "He used to work for the old man. His specialty was microorganisms. Specifically, biological agents that could be transmitted in aerosol form."