by David Dun
“I’m going to fifty-nine.”
“And I suppose by some marvelous coincidence you’re going to Dyna Science Corp,” she said.
“I can’t believe it. Is that where you’re going too?”
“Sam, I have a private meeting.”
“Oh, absolutely. So do I.”
“Who are you meeting?”
“Dr. John Weissman.”
“Well, I’m meeting somebody else.”
“Whose name is?”
“I’m sure you already know.”
Sam pushed the button for the fifty-first floor.
“Why are we doing this?” Anna asked.
“Fool the followers. A little-distraction-never hurts.”
They stopped at the fifty-first floor and exited.
“Now what?” Anna said.
“The stairs.”
They climbed eight flights to the fifty-ninth. By the last stair her thighs and calves were burning. She knew Sam was watching her and she could detect the mirth at the corners of his mouth. As far as she could tell he was completely unfazed by the fast climb.
According to the placard as they exited the stairs, the floor was occupied by Dyna Science Corp. Even the hall outside the offices was elegant with blue red-trimmed carpets, wall tables with blue vases, some paintings of the neoclassical period, and the occasional chair. Everything picked up on the blue and red, whether by echo or contrast.
“I want to attend to my business alone.”
“Okay. We’ll all wait inside in the lobby.”
“I’d prefer you wait here.”
“Okay,” he said, but continued walking toward the door.
“You said okay.”
“Okay, I understand you want me to wait out here.”
“So you’re refusing to wait out here.”
“Why would I wait out here?”
“To respect my privacy. To allow me to attend to my business uninterrupted.”
“Okay.”
“Screw you,” she said, walking in the double doors with Sam and the entourage following.
“To these people I am Robert. Don’t tell them otherwise. Get behind me, eyes on your toes. Leave your hat and sunglasses on no matter how dumb it feels,” Sam said in her ear. Instantly she took off her sunglasses and her hat and turned to look Sam in the eye, radiating her displeasure. Then she gave the receptionist her best infectious smile.
“Good morning. I’m here to see Dr. Carl Fielding.”
The receptionist’s face lit up. “Anna Wade. How exciting to meet you. They told me Anastasia Wade, not the Anna Wade.”
“Robert,” the receptionist said, still looking at Anna but talking to Sam. “Look at who you’ve brought us.”
“Quite an event, huh?” Sam said.
“It’s very nice to meet you, May,” Anna said. “You’ve got a great place here and I’ll bet that is your daughter?” Anna looked at a small picture on the woman’s desk.
“She’s my pride and joy.”
“She looks to be at that age where everything is exciting.”
“That’s so true.”
“What grade is she?”
“She’s in the second grade.”
“Well, give her an extra hug for me, would you?”
“I will. And I know you’re here to see the professor.”
“Dr. Carl Fielding. I’m wondering where I might find him.”
“Well, I was about to say that Dr. Fielding is not here but he suggested you see Dr. John Weissman. Who also has an appointment with Robert.”
“This Robert?” Anna asked.
“Well, yes. That’s our only Robert.”
“This is Sam,” Anna said.
“Nickname,” Sam said. “We just need one of the small conference rooms for twenty minutes. That’s it.”
“Okay, let’s see. Two-B. And it’s open for the next two hours.”
“Great. Anna and I will be in the guest office for a couple of minutes if you could get that call going for me.”
May nodded.
“We’ll be right back.” Sam led Anna toward a small office off the lobby. Anna knew how to allow her publicist and agent to handle her and her activities when she so desired. Sometimes it was easier to think about her work and not sweat the details. But right here, right now she wasn’t going to be handled. She stopped and turned to May.
“May, did Carl Fielding actually speak with you when he left a message for me?” Anna said.
“Yes. like I said, he suggested you see Dr. Weissman.”
“I see.” She turned to Sam. “Somehow this was your doing.”
“Only partly,” he said. “We can clear this up in this office if you’ll just come and listen.” This time she allowed herself to be ushered inside. Sam closed the door. “Dr. Weissman is the guy.”
“And why are you the one to determine that?”
“Good point. How would you like to decide this?”
“I thought I was doing okay.”
Sam stuck his head out the door. “May, is Dr. Fielding on the line yet?”
“Just coming, I’ll patch him through.”
Sam put a phone in Anna’s hand.
“You spoke with my ex-husband, Joshua Nash?” she asked Dr. Fielding, by way of introduction.
“I did indeed. I assume we’re talking about Jason Wade’s work?”
“Yes. I understood you would meet me.”
“Yes. I’m so sorry if I disappointed you by not being there. Dr. Weissman and I have been friends since graduate school. He would be most familiar with Jason’s work. We don’t really have a handle on all that Jason is doing, but I could do you no better than John. I would have been there today but I’m teaching this quarter and I’m a little strapped at the moment.”
“Well, thank you very much, Dr. Fielding. You’ve been very helpful.”
“If you need anything else…”
“We’ll let you know.”
“So who do you choose?” Sam asked Anna after she had replaced the receiver. “Will John fit the bill? He’s Carl’s man.”
“Carl’s or yours?”
“You talked to Carl.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all this?”
Sam shrugged. “I knew you’d overlook any unintended slight.”
“Let’s go talk with Dr. Weissman,” she said.
“If that’s your choice I can live with it.”
John Weissman was a tall balding man with a confident smile and a fringe of once-blond hair. Sam immediately pulled the curtain over the interior glass wall of the conference room, giving them privacy from reception.
“Sam tells me that you would know more about Jason’s work than Carl Fielding.”
“He’s probably right, as far as I can tell,” John said. “Based on what little we know of Jason’s work, that is. If this is about the modeling Jason’s doing with the neurology people-trying to model consciousness-I don’t think anybody understands it.”
“Well, whatever my brother is working on,” Anna said, “he insisted I take this disk. I have no idea what’s on it.”
“Well, we can take a look and see what’s there, at least generally. Now why is it he gave this to you?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m sure it’s highly confidential.”
“I will say nothing. This will be a personal matter, just between us.”
Anna removed the CD from her purse, now in a Bob Dylan jewel box, and handed it to Dr. Weissman.
At that moment Shohei came in unannounced.
When Jill and Spring went to town to shop, Grady was too savvy to use the phone in the beach house. They had taken her cell phone.
As she considered how she might call Guy, she spied two young men walking onto the back patio of the neighboring beach house, obviously contemplating the barbecue and carrying a large piece of red meat.
She would ask for a quick ride to the nearest store, use the phone booth.
“Hi, guys,” she said easily with a good solid smile.
“I wondered if I could impose on you to give me a ride to that store down the road. I want to get some orange juice.”
“Yeah.”
“Sure,” Seth followed up.
“Who is the guy who brought you here?” Clint asked on the way to the store.
“You were watching?”
“We just got here ourselves and saw the Porsche.”
“You should see his other car.” In some detail she described the Vette.
“Who is this guy?”
“I don’t know. He was hired by Anna Wade, my aunt.”
“You don’t mean the Anna Wade? Not the movie star Anna Wade?”
“That would be who I mean.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Relax, fellas. I don’t even speak to her.”
When they got to the store she managed to send Clint and Seth to find a patio hummingbird feeder, a marvelous excuse that came to her as they were driving. She went to the phone booth with her enthusiasm mysteriously drained.
“I’m still in the program. I’m doing great. Still can’t talk long.”
“Where the hell are you?” asked Guy.
“I told you, California coast somewhere.” It amazed her that she was lying and she wasn’t certain why.
“I want to see you.”
“Keep your shirt on and you will. Right now you have to give me a little space to do the program, that’s all.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you that a little snort won’t fix.” His voice was strong with an edge and quite different.
“I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Yeah, well, you’re probably right. Hey, I miss you. I love you. I’d just feel so much better if I knew where you were.”
“I know. I’ll call soon.”
“They are now two floors below. Temporarily confused, I’m sure. And not too subtle in their searching,” Shohei said.
“Go,” Sam said.
“What’s happening?” Anna said.
“This is the part where you were to have kept on the hat and the sunglasses and let me do the talking so May wouldn’t have a clue that the Anna Wade was here.”
“Well, I didn’t do that. So how about plan B?”
Sam took out a radio. “Grubb in, Scott in,” he said.
Sam looked at her, then at John. “If you want to escape what might conceivably be a serious risk of death or injury, you should do exactly as I say.”
Seconds later one of her escorts from downstairs, a large black man in a suit looking like a linebacker on steroids, came through the door, followed by a leaner fellow nearly as tall and sporting a platinum-blond crew cut. Even in the loose-fitting suits it must have been an effort for the men’s tailors to contain the muscle.
“One in. One out. Anybody strange comes that May doesn’t know, stop them-whatever it takes, exclusive of shooting, unless they use heat first. Then kill them. Grubb,” he said, addressing the black man, “why don’t you stand out front? You make a good red flag.
“Anna and John, come with me.”
Anna and John followed Sam out the door and down the hall, away from reception. Sam was watching May, as if to make sure that she didn’t see which way they were headed. Glancing back, Anna saw Grubb take a position outside the conference room door with one hand in his suit jacket.
Offices lined the outer wall, each simple and fairly small. To their left were cubicles with four-foot dividers and the usual array of baby and spouse pictures, grade-school artwork, and the typical postings of office humor.
People were moving past them through the hall, looking busy and distracted.
They stopped at an empty office with the placard announcing Norman Rawles and went inside.
Sam closed the door. “I told you I hoped this wouldn’t happen, John, and I’m sorry. But it’s probably a little safer for you on the roof with us. On the other hand they will expect that you are there. What’s best for the safety of this data is for you to use the computer in this office to upload it to your computer at the university.”
“I can do that. Hopefully they have a fast pipe here to the Internet.”
“It’s a couple of T-ones,” Sam said.
“I’ll do it.”
Sam called a woman named Olivia and got a password that would access the computer. “John, you are Norman Rawles until I call and tell you otherwise. Close and lock the door. Leave the blinds open. Start the download, put your feet on the desk, and call the police. Tell them that you have reason to believe a robbery is in progress. If you hear shooting call them again and let them know about the guns. Don’t come out for anything. After the download is complete, hide that CD in a drawer or the computer. Don’t take it out until you leave. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Look natural and absentminded, like you haven’t a care in the world. Come on, Anna.”
At the end of the hall a placard announced the offices of one Oscar Feldman, obviously an executive.
Sam and Anna walked in. “Head down, hat on, and stay behind me,” he said.
Oscar, a balding man with black bushy brows, barely had time to open his mouth in surprise. Sam bee-lined for a back door that led to a hallway with rest rooms and janitorial and utility rooms. They came to a plainly marked door with a green sign that said ROOF-HELIPORT. Through this door they came to another hall, which led to a set of stairs.
“You’ve been here before.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was illegal to land helicopters on rooftops in Manhattan.”
“It is. But this building has always had one and if you know the right Feds you can get a permit. Cost me a big favor, though.”
As they climbed the stairs, Shohei fell in behind them. On the roof waited a large, white Bell jet ranger helicopter.
Sam paused, turned to Shohei. “It was supposed to be a twin engine.”
Shohei shrugged. “I don’t know how they screwed it up.”
“I never put my clients in a single-engine anything. We’re not going.”
Shohei appeared surprised but nodded agreement.
“Tell the pilots to leave or stay; their choice. Tell them there is danger.”
Shohei ran to the chopper. Anna studied Sam, who frowned and studied the roof.
She let her eyes follow his. Well out of rotor range, the roof accommodated the house over the stairwell, an elevator room, a storage room, and beyond these a lounging area complete with a planter box garden. The patio furniture was bolted down.
The helicopter began to make a loud whining.
“Now what?” she said above the din. “How do we get out of here?”
Sam handed his radio to Shohei. “You might want to tell Scott and Grubb to follow those guys up here.”
Just then the chopper lifted off, climbing steeply and away from the building. Perhaps three hundred yards from the building the jet engine skipped horribly, went silent, and the bird dropped with its rotors nearly motionless. A loud crash came from the street level a quarter mile or more distant.
“Come on, come on,” Sam said to a stunned Anna. “I need your shoes.” She looked bewildered but took them off. Inside the utility building in the far corner, Sam found a green tarp and some sacks of fertilizer and vermiculite for the potted flowers. Turning the shoes upside down to create the appearance of someone kneeling, he jammed the heels under the bags and allowed the very tips of the soles at the toe end to protrude from under the tarp. With the tarp over the bags it was a powerful and convincing illusion.
“Sam, what are you doing?” He was rummaging through some tools; he pulled out a big wrench.
“Stay here,” Sam said, walking out the door to the elevator building. Sam used the wrench to break off the door handle with one big whack. The building was a mechanical room for the elevator motor, the cables, and assorted equipment.
Sam returned and grabbed a ladder from against the wall.
“Crawl
up on the shelf,” he said.
“What are you gonna do?” she asked as she climbed.
“I’m going to invite some gentleman to beat me up. We hope it will be a form of aversion therapy. Shohei will be right here and he will make sure that nobody hurts you.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Self-defense is the only way we can legally break their body parts.”
Eighteen
Things were not going well for Gaudet. When he exited the rest room he saw Chellis’s little squad standing outside the glass entry door to the Dyna Science offices. He didn’t want them coming in and making people nervous. Reversing course, he got on the cell as he went back to the rest room.
“Go up to the roof. Verify that Anna and her group have left in the chopper. If they are still there call me. Don’t kill them unless and until I say so.” There was a second part to the plan, if they didn’t take the chopper. The backup was known only to Gaudet and he savored it. But he detested being thrown into a situation where he had to work with others. He hoped the morons could follow instructions.
Anna’s group had left an obvious meat man outside a conference room door. Good trick. Two seconds later a big blond athletic sort, the guy who no doubt could hook and jab in blurs, exited and Gaudet breathed a sigh of relief. Then he realized they also might be headed for the roof. With a throng of body mechanics up top he couldn’t be sure what would happen.
Gaudet peeked in on the man who’d met with Sam and Anna Wade. The good doctor looked like the real thing with his feet up on the desk, talking on the telephone. Gaudet walked swiftly but calmly to May at reception.
“I need to get into the offices and I forgot my fob. At the end of the hall they told me I might obtain a general-purpose fob that will access the various office doors.”
“For all but the executive offices,” she said. “I’ll need to check with Olivia or Mr. Feldman, though, before I hand it out. I’m sure you’re authorized, but they are so careful about giving these to contract maintenance personnel.”
“Of course. Maybe you could just come with me to Olivia’s desk? They asked if I’d go get you.”
She looked uncertain but rose anyway, then touched a button on her phone.
“Grace, could you handle the calls for a minute? I’m going down to see Olivia.”