Parallax

by Jon F. Merz

  He sat in a small room. Overhead, a single rack of fluorescent lights shone down on him. Cigarette smoke clouded the entire room. Stahl could practically taste the polluted air.

  A man and a woman sat across from Frank. Stahl frowned. What was this all about?

  Then he saw it.

  The microphone.

  Attached to a small box. A tape recorder.

  Was he witnessing an interrogation?

  The man exhaled another stream of smoke and aimed it right at Frank. Stahl almost smiled. That wasn't nice. Frank must have been dying for a cigarette and they knew it. They were playing his weakness against him.

  Primitive but useful, he decided.

  The woman seemed to know Frank. She leaned in and kept her voice smooth and in control. But Stahl couldn't make out any words, just a garbled tone that ran across the entire room. Something must have been blocking the audio.

  So, had Frank been picked up by the police? Stahl didn't think these two looked like regular cops. For one thing, they both looked too polished for local law enforcement. The man in particular had a very close-cropped neat hairstyle and was dressed in a neat suit.

  Federal.

  They had to be.

  CIA?

  Stahl shook his head. No. What would they want with Frank? He didn't have any information about Stahl. Hell, did anyone even know he was even in town? Stahl didn't think so.

  Not CIA.

  Stahl remembered then that the FBI had an organized crime department dedicated to routing the various Mafia organizations across the country. And Frank had been neck-deep in the Italians up here in Boston.

  So, how had they nabbed him? Stahl found himself wondering how they'd done it, when all of a sudden Frank suddenly looked up.

  Right at him.

  Stahl almost thought he was going to wave. He saw his arm start to come up but then Frank got it under control and brought it down. The woman seemed to notice and also looked at Stahl. But Stahl could tell from the direction of her eyes that she couldn't see him.

  But Frank could.

  A small grin played across Frank's face. It seemed innocent enough. Then he sort of shrugged his shoulders and Stahl got the meaning behind the gestures immediately.

  I'm in here, Frank seemed to say. And you're out there.

  Stahl nodded.

  For right now, he was safe. As long as they had Frank in custody, Stahl could do what he needed to do to complete his mission.

  And that made him glad.

  But there was another implication in the gesture. And as the images began to fade, Stahl grasped it as well.

  Once Frank got out, he'd be right back on Stahl's tail.

  Looking to kill him.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  "This place is a dump."

  Gia smiled. "We keep the palatial penthouse suites for the folks who actually want to talk to us."

  "Bullshit." Frank glanced around the room. Fluorescent lights blazed overhead. A gray heavy table squatted in the middle of the room with three different-colored standard government plastic molded chairs around it. He sat at one, Gia at another. The other agent had gone for a smoke. Frank could have used one. Lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema seemed a distant memory now. Why not have a lungful of smoke to take the edge off while he waited to either be killed by the Mafia, some German assassin, or even the Feds?

  He smirked. My life is a circus.

  They'd brought him here, about a mile from Moe's place. But not to the JFK Building in Government Center or even the Tip O'Neill Building down by North Station. No, they'd hauled his ass down to some crummy makeshift dive just off the South Boston Access Road. Gia had smuggled him into an anonymous warehouse amid a bunch of other no-name storage facilities. Frank wondered if it was for his protection or theirs.

  She leaned back in her chair. It protested with a squeak. "You could make this go a lot easier on yourself, Frank. Just talk to us a little bit."

  He looked at her. "You really set this whole thing up from the get-go? You really meant nothing of what you ever said to me?"

  She shrugged. "You never heard of a woman's prerogative?" She pointed a finger at him. "Moe never taught you about that, did he?"

  "Guess he was too busy trying to teach me how to survive." He sighed. "My fault that I tried to use his teachings to save the life of someone I used to care about."

  "Come on, Frank." Gia smiled. "You've been over me for a long time now."

  "I never got over you, babe." Frank turned away. Who would have thought such a simple sentence could make his gut hurt like he'd just taken a slug there?

  She stayed quiet for a moment. "I don't suppose it would make a difference if I told you I'm sorry."

  "Probably not." He glanced around. "Guess it's nice to hear anyway."

  "The sex was good."

  He almost laughed. "That my consolation prize?"

  "Lot of guys would kill to have gone where you went, Frank."

  "Maybe. Most of Ôem wouldn't want to be where I am now, though." Which is precisely in the biggest heaping steaming pile of shit in the world, he thought.

  "No. I don't imagine they would."

  "You aren't really from Boston, are you?"

  "No."

  "Can you tell me where?"

  "Does it matter?"

  "Be nice if I knew something about you that hadn't been made up in some phony ID laboratory down in Quantico."

  She grinned. "St. Louis."

  "Jesus, they have Italians there?"

  "I think we're pretty well spread all over the country."

  She seemed so perfectly at ease with all the deception she'd worked over on him. "You like living a world of lies?"

  "It's better than living in a world of corpses."

  "You can't prove that."

  "We can sure make your life hell, though."

  Frank laughed out loud. "Gia, you know what my life has become since I refused to take you out? Trust me, you people can't make it any worse than it is right now."

  "We could try."

  "Trying's for losers who always make up an excuse to keep themselves from reaching their goals. You know as well as I do that you guys can't hold me that long. You also know I won't turn State's evidence. I'm not letting my mouth get the runs and you know it."

  "We'll turn you loose then." She stood. "Tomorrow."

  He shook his head. "I have to get of here now, Gia."

  "What's the rush?"

  How did he tell her that he'd just seen the German floating in the room a few short minutes ago? How could he explain to her what had transpired between them in a nonverbal communication kind of way? Would she believe it? Would she do anything about it? Did she even care?

  How could she, he frowned. When Frank still didn't have a clue as to what Stahl's mission was. He didn't buy the nuclear football scheme for a second. It had to be something else.

  But what?

  "That German guy is going to do something here in town and I'm the only one who can stop him."

  She eyed him. "Please."

  "I'm not lying."

  "You're getting desperate is all," said Gia. "You know what will happen if we let you go."

  "You're being stupid now."

  Her face reddened. "Don't ever say that to me again."

  Frank shook his head. "If something happens and I'm in here, you'll bear the responsibility for it for the rest of your life, you know that? What if thousands die because you and your colleagues kept me wrapped up here when you've got nothing to hold me on? What then? You think I won't come clean and spill my guts to some young bloodhound reporter who's looking to get his name all over the networks?"

  "Threats won't work, either."

  Frank felt his pulse race. He exploded out of the chair and grabbed Gia by the lapels of her suit. "I'm not kidding around here, Gia-"

  The door slammed open. Three agents rushed into the room.

  "Gia!" Their hands tore into him. Frank felt his arms being pinion
ed back behind him. He could have fought them off, but he didn't. "I have to get out of here! Dammit!"

  They wrestled him back into the chair. Gia stood and flattened out the ruffles on her suit coat. She leaned over him. "You won't get out of here until tomorrow, Frank. You'd best accept that fact now and save yourself a lot of heartache."

  He kept his breathing even. "I want my damned phone call. You can't deny me that."

  "Who are you going to call?"

  "None of your damned business. Just get me a phone. I promise I'll calm down if I get the phone call."

  Gia looked at him and sucked her lower lip. Time was, Frank had found that remarkably sexy. Now he loathed it.

  "No more outbursts?"

  "I get the phone call and you get my word."

  Gia looked at him for another second and then nodded at one of her fellow agents. "Get him the phone."

  The agent started to protest but Gia shot him down with a look. "It's his right. Now just do it."

  The agent disappeared and the other two released his arms. Frank massaged his shoulders. Gia leaned against the wall. "This going to be a local call, Frank?"

  "Yeah. Sure."

  The agent returned, dragging in a phone with a long extension cord. Gia waved the other agents out. "You got two minutes."

  I only need half that time, thought Frank. He waited until Gia left the room and heard the lock engage from the other side. Then he picked up the receiver and heard the dial tone.

  He assumed they'd be listening in on the other line. He'd have to do this without making it appear like it was anything. He thought a moment longer and then dialed.

  The ringing sounded in his ear.

  A gruff voice picked up. "Yeah?"

  Frank swallowed and hoped he'd play this right. "Lemme speak to Bobby."

  "Who's this?"

  "The guy you've been looking for."

  "Yeah?"

  "Listen sunshine, I got two minutes before my connection goes out. Now you wanna put Bobby on the phone or you want to dick around and get him pissed off at ya?"

  "Hang on."

  Bobby's voice came on a second later. He must have been standing close by. Of course. They'd be waiting for a call like this. Frank hoped they had everything he hoped they did.

  "Hi Frank. How are ya?"

  "You sound well."

  "You don't."

  "I'm a little tied up at the moment."

  "Yeah?"

  "I'm sure you know about it."

  Bobby paused. Do it, thought Frank. Do it, already. Bobby's voice came back on the line. "Yeah, I think so. So why you calling me, Frankie?"

  "What'd I tell you about calling me that?"

  "You're not in much of a position to do anything about it. You know what kind of people are looking for you?"

  "I might have heard something."

  "You know as well as I do that no walls are gonna keep you safe, Frank. We're too far-gone past that now. You gotta pay for what you did, you know it. I know it. It's gonna happen."

  Exactly what I'm counting on, thought Frank. "Just figured I'd call up and see if there was any way we could work this out without all that mess."

  "Sure. You just cap yourself and we'll call it square."

  "I'm not exactly close by any guns I can get a hold of right now. Besides, I kinda like life."

  "Too bad for you, pal. Life may be moving on without you, the way I hear it. You got a few more hours at the most. I hope they gave you a room with a view."

  "Not a chance."

  "Yeah, well, no matter. There ain't no sun in your life now anyway."

  "That's it then, huh?" He needed to stay on the line a few more seconds.

  "That's it then, yeah." Bobby paused. "Yeah. That's it. That's all we got to talk about."

  "Guess I'll be seeing you then in a little while."

  "Maybe. Thanks for the phone call, Frank."

  Frank hung up and leaned back in his chair. Now all he had to was somehow manage to wait for them to come and get him.

  And kill him.

  Take a number, he thought. Take a goddamned number.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Stahl knocked on the front door of Karen's house at exactly seven o'clock the next morning. When Karen answered the door, she didn't look like she'd been woken up. In fact, she appeared as keen and energetic as Stahl had ever seen her.

  "Been up long?"

  "All night as a matter of fact," she said.

  "You look good."

  "Coffee." She stood back. "Come in."

  Stahl entered and removed his coat. "You manage to get everything?"

  "I'm still waiting for the plastic to show up, but otherwise, I've got all the other materials that we need."

  He nodded. "You aren't getting home delivery of the explosive, are you?"

  She almost laughed. "Hardly. That's the last thing I need showing up at my house right now. No, I'll go out later and get it."

  "You want some company?"

  "No. Two of us will look odd. I'll go alone and make sure everything is cool." She led him downstairs into the basement.

  Stahl could see the long worktable laid out with wires, clippers, what looked like transmitters, receivers, and more. He nodded. "You assembled all of this overnight? Pretty impressive."

  "Just because I was out of circulation didn't mean I gave up all my contacts. I think you were the one who once told me that it was always necessary to have an out."

  "True enough."

  She turned and hugged him. "I never had a better teacher."

  He kissed her but it felt like nothing to him. There'd be time for all that later. Right now, he had to focus his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. Hearing Alois' voice last night had galvanized him. He wanted this damned mission done and over with. The longer he stayed in this city, the more it impressed on him that he didn't belong to the world of killing anymore. He didn't belong in the mayhem. He'd done his time.

  Now he wanted peace.

  "Let's get this done and over with," he said then.

  Karen looked at him. "You okay?"

  "I spoke with Alois last night. I miss him."

  She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Finish the job and everything will be all right. Isn't that what the old man told you?"

  "Yes, butÉ"

  "But what?"

  "You remember what else I always taught you?"

  She looked at him for a second and the nodded. "You don't trust him, do you?"

  "I try not to trust too many people. It leaves a lot less room for disappointment and betrayal."

  "You've got to trust some people some times. Look at us right now. How would you be handling this mission if not for me?"

  "I wouldn't be using a bomb for one thing."

  "There you go."

  He studied the closest transmitter. "This looks state-of-the-artÉat least from what I remember."

  "Made in Taiwan. They do great things with miniaturization over there. The signal's double-redundant and able to skirt frequency traffic if there's interference."

  "Handy."

  "Absolutely."

  "I didn't come with a plan in mind."

  She nodded. "We can improvise something, no problems."

  "How do you stay on top of all of this stuff?"

  She picked up the set of clippers close by. "I have a subscription to Popular Science."

  "Really."

  "Yes."

  "Okay." He grinned in spite of himself. "How do we proceed?"

  She looked at him again. "Well, this is something."

  "What?"

  "You're asking for my advice. Incredible."

  "Haven't you heard of the time when every student eventually becomes the teacher?"

  "I've heard of it, sure. Just never thought I'd live to see it happen with you."

  "Stranger things have happened."

  "Really?"

  Stahl thought about Frank then and nodded. "Definitely."

  *** *** *** />
  By the time Karen left to pick up the plastic explosive, they'd assembled the vast majority of the bomb.

  It was smaller than Stahl thought it ought to be, but Karen had assured him the shaped charge would blow apart the person closest to the device. There'd also be a significant amount of collateral damage. Stahl knew that was coming and while he may not have liked the idea of unnecessary deaths associated with this mission, he knew it would help conceal the fact about who was the real target. Oh, they'd figure it out sooner or later, but a little guessing time would give Stahl some wiggle room.

  He'd need as much of that as he could get.

  He turned the housing for the bomb over in his hand. It was a small gray metal box about the size of a trade paperback novel. Small thin green, red, and yellow wires ran about the underside of it, connected to a three-prong trigger that had two separate anti-tampering devices built into it. Stahl shook his head as he marveled at the simple but incredibly effective design. How Karen had managed to come up with this in such a short span of time impressed the hell out of him.

  I don't even know if I could build something so sophisticated, he thought. Let alone disarm it. Time was, Stahl used to be a wizard at explosives. But unless you stayed current with all the latest technology, your skills grew obsolete pretty fast.

  He walked upstairs and helped himself to a glass of water from her bubbler in the kitchen. At the counter, he slid onto the barstool seat and thumbed through a copy of the daily newspaper.

  After reading for twenty minutes, he found no hint that anyone had the slightest clue about what was going to happen in Boston.

  That was good.

  And with Frank currently tied up in Federal hands, there seemed little chance of him getting involved again. That fact alone gave Stahl a lot of hope about the days ahead. If he could just do the job and go home. Go back to Alois and get the operation done, which would be as much as he'd ever ask from God.

  The back door opened and Karen came back inside. In her hands she carried a small leather handbag.

  "You get it?"

  She smiled. "Of course."

  She laid the handbag on the counter, took of her coat and then washed her hands. "It's not the best stuff, but it will certainly suffice."

  "What kind of stock?"

  "Not C4 like I'd hoped. There's a lot of that usually around, but apparently my supplier hasn't got any. We're making do with old Warsaw Pact stuff."