A Minute to Midnight

by David Baldacci

“Well, the guy paid cash for the ride, but we still collect information from the customer for sending them stuff and warranty applications and the like. He listed his employer as Jackson Lineberry and Associates. Figure that might be the same Jack Lineberry you were asking me about earlier.”

  “It is. So what’s the name of the guy who bought the AMG?”

  Pine thought she knew: Jerry Danvers. But Bigelow’s answer was about to stun her.

  “His name is Myron Pringle.”

  Chapter 65

  MYRON PRINGLE, REALLY?”

  Eddie Laredo was sitting in the front passenger seat of Pine’s rental.

  “That’s what the guy from the dealership said.”

  “How much does Lineberry pay this guy that he can afford a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car?”

  “Well, he said he sold an algorithm at some point for a six-figure payday. Maybe that was how.”

  “But still. I’d like to know how much this guy makes.”

  “I’m trying to find that out. I can’t ask Jack for obvious reasons. But I’ve put in a call to his firm.”

  “So what’s our plan?”

  “We go out there and talk to him. But we don’t spook him.”

  “It’s not illegal to buy a car.”

  “He has a connection to a dealership where Frankie Gomez was.”

  “You think he’s our killer?”

  “He’s a little taller than Cy Tanner, but he could probably pass for him with a disguise on, at least to someone who didn’t really know Tanner.”

  “And his motive?”

  “That’s why we investigate.”

  She punched the gas and they sped off.

  Along the way her phone rang. She answered it and listened for a few moments. “I really appreciate that, thanks.”

  She clicked off and looked at Laredo. “That was someone with Lineberry’s firm. It’s fortunate that Jack apparently had told some folks there about me. I didn’t ask for Myron’s salary, but I did ask if he made enough to pay cash for a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car.”

  “And?”

  “And he can.”

  “Damn. I’m in the wrong line of work.”

  “You just figured that out now? I thought you were a fast learner.”

  * * *

  They reached the Pringles’ house and Pine slowed her truck. When they passed the curve and saw the house ahead, Laredo said, “Wow, I’m really in the wrong business.”

  “You should see Jack Lineberry’s place. It would make this look like a guesthouse.”

  “Right, kick me when I’m down.”

  No one answered their rings or knocks.

  “Nobody here?” said Laredo, looking up at the front of the house.

  “Let’s try around back. There’s a big garage. We might be able to see if there are any cars in there.”

  They walked around the left side of the house and reached a courtyard, where there was a six-car garage with large wooden doors, but there were glass windows set in the wood about eight feet off the ground.

  “Give me a hand up,” said Pine.

  Laredo made a stirrup with his hands and boosted Pine up so she could see in one of the windows.

  “Holy shit!”

  Her hip bumped against his head in her agitation.

  “What? Do you see the Mercedes?”

  He let her back down and eyeballed her.

  “What? Talk to me.”

  “I can’t be sure, but I think I just found the Pagani.”

  “What?”

  She made a stirrup with her hands. “Take a look.”

  “You sure you can lift—”

  She cut him off with an incredulous look.

  “Oh, never mind,” he said.

  She easily boosted him up and he peered through the glass.

  “That’s a Pagani all right,” he said.

  She lowered him down to the ground and they both studied the garage.

  “What do you think?” said Laredo.

  “I think I want to get into that garage, and the house.”

  “We don’t have a search warrant.”

  “Probable cause?”

  “Of what?” he retorted.

  They turned when they heard the car approaching.

  It was the Mercedes AMG. Britta Pringle rolled her window down. “Agent Pine? I thought I recognized the truck out front. What’s going on?”

  “Is Myron home?”

  “No, he’s traveling.”

  “Traveling? Where?”

  “On business. He doesn’t tell me much, I’m afraid.”

  “Did you hear about Jack Lineberry?”

  “No, what?”

  “He was shot last night.”

  “Oh, dear God.” Britta looked like she might faint. “Is he…?”

  “He’s alive and it looks like he’ll make it.”

  Britta started taking deep breaths. “How? Who? Was it at his house? But he has security people.”

  “It was while he was driving. I was with him.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Just a scratch. When will Myron be back?”

  “I’m not sure. He didn’t say.”

  “Is that his Pagani in the garage?” asked Laredo. “We had a peek in the window.”

  Britta looked suitably disgusted. “Can you imagine paying that much for a car? I feel guilty enough driving around in this one. We just bought it last year and Myron is already talking about trading it in. But where is Jack?”

  “He’s at the hospital over in Americus.”

  “Did they catch whoever did this?”

  “The police are working on it. Um, can we go into the house?”

  “Certainly, let me park the car.”

  “And I’d like to take a look at the Pagani,” added Laredo. “I’m a car guy.”

  “Okay,” said Britta, looking a bit confused.

  She opened the garage door and drove in. They walked in behind her and Laredo immediately headed to the Pagani.

  “Wow,” he said. “This is a Pagani BC,” he said, kneeling down behind the car. “Named after this guy, Benny Caiola.”

  Pine joined him. “Why does he get that distinction?”

  “He’s a big-time car collector and good friend of Horacio Pagani, who builds these suckers. It’s a V-12 with about 800 horsepower, seven-speed transmission, and weighs under three thousand pounds because it’s built mainly out of carbon fiber.”

  “You really do know your cars.”

  “Had the disease since I was a kid. I go to the car auctions just to gawk, since I can’t afford to buy anything.”

  “Well, Cy Tanner was remarkably accurate in his description. This does look like the Batmobile.”

  “Cy Tanner?”

  They turned to see Britta approaching them with a shopping bag in hand.

  “Yeah, he lives in my old house. He saw the Pagani outside his house early one morning.”

  “No, he couldn’t have.”

  “Why not?” asked Pine.

  “Well, Myron is the only one who drives it, and he almost never does. And if he did take it out, why would he drive it over to your old house?”

  “Well, that’s one question I want to ask him. And here’s one for you. I understand this car retails for about three million. Now, I’m sure that Jack pays Myron well, but I’m not even sure he would lay out three million for a car.”

  “Well, Myron has always been very clever, especially about making money.”

  “He told me about gambling and having his systems in Vegas.”

  “Yes, that was years ago, but he would go out there and come back with very large sums, until they told him not to come back anymore.”

  “And now, any other sources of income outside of his job?” asked Laredo.

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Do you mind if we have a look at his office?”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have no way to get in.”

/>   “You mean, he’s the only one set up on the retinal scanner?” said Pine, drawing a sharp glance from Laredo.

  “Yes. I mean, I never had any reason to go in there. I’m not technologically savvy. I have a hard enough time making the TV work.”

  “What about his little study? He showed me into that before. And there was no security on it.”

  “Why do you want to look in there?” she said, her features showing suspicion.

  “I like to be thorough.”

  “I’m not sure, Lee. I mean, it’s Myron’s space. I don’t think I have any right—”

  Pine interjected, “It’s important, Britta. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking. It might be that something has happened to Myron.”

  Britta paled and put a hand to her throat. “What? Myron might be in trouble?”

  “I don’t know for certain. But I might discover something in there that could help me find him. And he might need that help.”

  Britta looked uncertain for a moment but then nodded her head. “All right.”

  They headed into the house.

  Chapter 66

  BRITTA LED THEM UP to her husband’s study and left them there.

  The pair stood in the middle of the room and looked around.

  “What exactly are we looking for?” asked Laredo.

  “Know it when I see it. I hope,” she added.

  She walked around the room while Laredo looked at the computer on the desk.

  “So this guy is some sort of tech genius?” he said, sitting down in front of the desktop and hitting some keys.

  “Apparently so.”

  “Any idea what his password is?”

  “Not a—”

  Pine stopped pacing and strode over to stand behind him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Try…one, three, five, seven, nine, nine, seven, five, three, one.”

  “Where’d you pull that out of?”

  “Sometimes geniuses think they’re too smart to make mistakes.”

  He typed it in. “Well, it didn’t work, genius. Got another one?”

  Thinking quickly, she said, “Try what I just said, but instead of the one at the end, put in a zero.”

  Laredo did as she said and the screen opened up.

  “Whoa, how’d you manage that.”

  “Something Myron told me. He likes odd numbers, up to a point. Get it?”

  “A point that’s represented by the number zero?”

  “Exactly.”

  Laredo hit some keys and scrolled through some screens. “I’m looking at his search history. Take a gander at some of the stuff he’s been streaming.”

  A number of titles with provocative pictures filled the screen.

  “It’s all porn,” said Pine.

  “What was your first clue: A Few Thick Men, Good and Horny, or Teacher’s Wet Dreams?”

  “So Myron is a porn addict.”

  “A lot of guys are.” When she gave him a funny look, he added quickly, “Present company definitely excluded.”

  Pine looked over at a cabinet set into one wall. She walked over and tried to open it.

  “Locked.”

  “Well, the owner of the house gave us access, so…”

  Pine took out her Swiss knife, drew out a blade, and pushed back the lock bolt.

  “Well, look what we have here.”

  She stepped back so Laredo could see the exposed shelves bulging with DVDs.

  She started pulling some out. “Porn, porn, porn.” She looked on the back of the boxes. “Hold on.”

  “What?”

  She started pulling more boxes out. “These all say Stardust Productions.”

  “Okay, so?”

  “Stardust is the name of a software program that Myron had patented. He named it that because he would go to the Stardust Casino in Vegas and gamble.” She looked up at him. “And speaking of gambling, what do you want to bet that Stardust Productions was the money behind the films that Rebane, Clemmons, and Gillespie acted in?”

  “But I don’t remember that name coming up when we were digging into it.”

  “There was a shell company that we couldn’t penetrate to find out what was behind it. Why do I think we just did?”

  “So are you telling me that Myron Pringle is the money source behind the porn films?”

  “I’m thinking he is, yeah.”

  “Damn.”

  “And maybe it’s more lucrative than we thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The guy has a Pagani in his garage.”

  Laredo looked dumbstruck. “There’s that much money in porn?”

  “They were paying Hanna Rebane and Beth Clemmons big bucks. Why do I think their boss was making a helluva lot more than that? And they were only two actresses working for him. He probably had dozens.”

  “Hold on, then what’s your theory? That he was killing his own actors?”

  “Frankie Gomez sure as hell wasn’t one of his actors,” replied Pine.

  “That’s true, but Rebane, Clemmons, and Gillespie were.”

  “And you think Clemmons was probably killed not because she was a porn actress but because she could tell us something about the connection between Rebane and Gillespie. But why kill Rebane and Gillespie?”

  “Well, the most obvious answer is that Rebane and Gillespie had some sort of dirt on Myron and were threatening him with it.”

  “So are you saying he killed them and dressed them up for some reason? And grabbed Frankie and did the same?”

  “He might have done it to make it look like a serial killer was at work to throw us off,” replied Pine. “And he has the connection to that dealership. He could have met or at least seen Frankie there.”

  “Come on, that’s pretty damn warped,” said Laredo doubtfully.

  “The guy’s a genius. He doesn’t think like the rest of us. And if that’s not the reason, then the truth has to be just as off the wall.”

  “Well, that’s for sure.”

  “So the big question is, where is Myron? Is he off on a trip killing someone else? Is he down in South Florida overseeing his porn empire?”

  “Do you think his wife knows about the porn thing?”

  “She doesn’t strike me as the type to be into that. And maybe he was being blackmailed with it. Pay us or we tell your wife the whole story.”

  “We’ve got to find this guy, fast.”

  Pine was looking absently at the ceiling.

  “What?”

  “Someone shot Jack Lineberry.”

  “Don’t tell me that you believe Lineberry is into porn, too. I told you I checked him out. The guy doesn’t have to sell porn. He makes plenty off his legit business.”

  “That’s not what I was thinking.”

  “What then?” said Laredo in exasperation.

  “What if I was the one who was supposed to get shot last night and not Jack?”

  “You?”

  “The person who shot at us knew our route. Knew our plans. We were coming back from Atlanta. Tyler Straub, Jack’s other security guy, told me that Jerry Danvers has an app on his phone that tracks his boss’s movements.”

  “So he would have known where you were.”

  “And the shooter wasn’t following us. He was waiting for us. I only heard the truck start up after he had shot at us.”

  “But why would Danvers want to kill you?”

  “One, he’s an asshole who doesn’t like me. Two, maybe he has this weird thing about his boss. Anyone who gets too close? And he was in the uniformed division of the Secret Service but couldn’t make the cut to become a Secret Service agent.”

  “So you think he’s got a chip on his shoulder?”

  “Maybe. But could he also be working with Myron and they wanted to get rid of me because I was asking too many questions.”

  “Now, that’s a leap of logic with lots of gaps to fill.”

  “I know, Eddie,” barked Pine. “I’m just thinking out loud.”r />
  They went back downstairs and found Britta in the kitchen.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked, rising from her chair. “Did you find something to help Myron?”

  “Maybe,” said Pine.

  “I want you to tell me what’s going on, Lee.”

  “I would, if I could. But I don’t really have a lot of answers.”

  “I can’t even call Myron,” said Britta, in evident distress. “He doesn’t even have a phone!” She looked like she might start crying.

  Pine hesitated. She was torn between going full-bore after Myron before he possibly struck again and asking Britta a question that was burning a hole in her gut. Finally, the latter won out.

  “Britta, can I ask you something?”

  “What?” said Britta cautiously.

  “The night my sister disappeared.”

  “Yes?” Britta looked surprised at this abrupt change in subject.

  “My parents were at your house, weren’t they?”

  Britta looked down at her feet. “I…”

  Pine walked over to her. “You see, I thought about it and things didn’t add up, on both ends. Our bedtime routine was off. Your recollection was shaky. Myron admitted having friends over that night but couldn’t remember who they were.”

  Britta looked up at her, eyes filled with tears. “They never imagined anything like that would happen, Lee. Never in a million years. None of us did.”

  “They left us alone, two little kids.”

  Britta looked down. “When she woke up, she rushed out of the house. She ran all the way there to check on you both. And…when she got there.…”

  “She found Mercy gone and me nearly dead. So much for never imagining.”

  Britta looked up, her eyes were dry now, her features set hard. This surprised Pine.

  “Your mother loved you. She loved you both. That’s what mothers do, you know, they love their children. They try their best to protect them.”

  “Well, she failed,” said Pine bluntly. “And she had warning beforehand.”

  Now Britta looked confused. “What do you mean? Nothing like that had ever happened here before.”

  “Well, we didn’t always live here, did we?” replied Pine. Changing the subject quickly again, she said, “Please have Myron contact us as soon as you hear from him. And if you find out where he is, please let us know.”

  “But you said he might be in trouble.”