Trader of secrets pm-12

by Steve Martini

  After the first night in the hotel, Liquida began to relax, if only a little. He settled in, buoyed by the notion that if the FBI was going to batter down his door, they would have already done it.

  The next morning Liquida got up early. He had a busy day ahead of him. He slipped down the back stairs of the hotel, grabbed a taxi, and told the driver to take him to the Gare du Nord, the train station in North Paris.

  The Gare du Nord is one of six main train terminals serving the Paris area. There Liquida purchased a one-way ticket on the Eurostar, the Paris-to-London run through the Channel Tunnel for later that day. He used his old Spanish passport to buy the ticket.

  The trains ran every hour. The trip on the high-speed rail took two hours and fifteen minutes.

  Liquida pocketed the ticket and then took a taxi out into the northern suburbs. These were neighborhoods of desperation housing thousands of immigrants, mostly from countries in North Africa. A good portion of these were asylum seekers from regimes of repression. Many were living in France illegally, constantly under the hammer of the French immigration service. For many of these people, deportation to their homeland meant torture or worse.

  A few years earlier the French government announced a crackdown, threatening to repatriate any and all immigrants who lacked proper documentation to be in the country. Within days vast fires raged through the northern suburbs. Each night scores of cars were torched as rioters rampaged through the streets.

  The government got the message. It eased its immigration policy, and the riots stopped. But the subterranean tensions between immigrants, most of whom were young, and the French government remained. Many began to look for other lands of opportunity, places where permanent political asylum might be easier to obtain. One such place was Britain.

  Some stowed away on boats and ships; others looked to the Channel Tunnel. They hoboed on freight cars and buried themselves in the cargo on trucks. Some even tried to cling to the undercarriage of the high-speed Eurostar. At least a dozen paid with their lives. French and British authorities tried to put an end to it. The French constructed a double fence along the tracks at the tunnel entrance near Calais. They made efforts to cordon off the rail assembly yards. And while the numbers were down, the most desperate among the asylum seekers continued to try.

  Liquida knew that to the right buyer a Spanish passport and a one-way Eurostar ticket to London would be an irresistible offer. He was prepared to make a generous sacrifice regarding the price, on one condition: that the ticket and the passport were used today. He would even provide transportation back to the northern rail station by way of his own taxi. All he needed was a candidate with a compelling itch to test the waters of asylum in Britain and a passing resemblance to his photograph on the Spanish passport.

  This was easier than it might seem. It was a category of passport fraud generally known as “imposters.” The most common were stolen travel documents with a photograph close enough in appearance to the thief to be ambiguous. In Liquida’s case, many of the asylum seekers in the suburbs were Iranians with dark hair and a complexion similar to his own.

  A good portion of passports, depending on the country of issue, could be anywhere from five to ten years out of date. At times Liquida had used passport photos showing a full beard and mustache, long hair down to his shoulders, only to stride through immigration clean-shaven with his hair cropped short. The inspecting officers never said a word. They saw what they wanted to see-an aging hippie gone straight, the holder of a valid passport walking by in front of them.

  The introduction of holograms, intended to tighten up on passport fraud, only made it worse. Now the immigration officer had a toy to rely on, the ultraviolet light. Either the hologram was there or it wasn’t. Once it was caught in the light, it provided the false assurance that the passport was valid, when in fact the identity and the information on it might well be false. The hologram that was intended to detect manufactured passports became the center of attention and reinforced the notion that the picture was irrelevant.

  Only fools used manufactured passports. Liquida wouldn’t even touch “stolen blanks,” passport documents taken from official stock or purchased from corrupt bureaucrats and completed by somebody else.

  He used only the best, genuine passports issued by government agencies using false identities, usually people who were dead. This was what the Spanish passport was. Except for the fact that the FBI now had it on its radar screen, the Spanish document was triple-A rated. With it you could enter the United States without a visa, as Liquida had on two occasions.

  Because the passport numbers were actually entered into the computer system of the issuing government, the fraud, the fact that everything written on it was false, was virtually undetectable.

  It was why Liquida liked to use Bruno’s services. His people had corrupted half the passport offices in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Asia. Give him a day, and he could get a genuine passport from any member nation of the UN displaying your picture along with the name and vital statistics of Michael Jackson. You could moonwalk through immigration.

  By noon the Spanish passport in Liquida’s pocket would show an exit stamp leaving France through the Chunnel with a matching record in its immigration computer. A corresponding British entry stamp verified by its computers would follow.

  Where the passport went after that, Liquida didn’t care. If he got lucky, it might end up at the North Pole with the bearer disappeared under the ice cap, though Liquida wasn’t counting on it.

  He had actually considered two other possibilities; one, going to London himself on the Spanish passport and coming back on the new one that Bruno had given him. But he couldn’t because the new passport would be missing the British entry stamp. The minute he tried to leave he would be picked up at immigration. The second alternative was burning a body in a car in the suburbs and leaving the partially charred passport as the only identification. But the convenience of that plan was a little too symmetrical for the FBI to swallow. A living, breathing, moving passport was better. It would buy him time, which at the moment was all he needed.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The moment Sarah came back into the room, she heard the tinny voices coming from the telephone receiver. Herman was in the back bedroom talking to Sarah’s dad over the phone in Paris. She remembered the receiver was still off the hook and hung it up. “Sorry.”

  “That’s OK,” Adin said. “You’re busy.” Bugsy, Sarah’s dog, and Adin were still camped at the couch, a budding love affair. “Maybe I should come back some other time.”

  “No, that’s all right. You don’t have to go.”

  “Actually I do,” Adin started to get up. “I was headed to the range to do some targets. I thought perhaps you might want to come along.”

  “You mean shooting?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’d love to. But I don’t know if I can get away.” She glanced down the hall toward Herman’s room. “I need to put together something for his dinner. And I’m not sure I should leave Herman alone with the dog.”

  “Who, this guy?” Adin looked down at Bugsy. “He’s a pussycat.”

  “Yeah, with you. If he gets frisky and jumps on Herman, I’m not so sure.”

  “How bad is he?” Adin lowered his voice so Herman wouldn’t hear.

  “He’s going to be fine. Doctor said he should rest, no heavy lifting for at least six weeks. Let me see what I can find for dinner.” She turned toward the kitchen. “Where do you shoot? Is it a long drive?”

  “I walk. It’s two blocks. It’s at FBI Headquarters. They have an indoor range downstairs. Pistol loads only. But you can do some full automatic stuff if you want, MP5s and the like.”

  “Really? What’s an MP5?” She looked at him from the kitchen, brown eyes big as she pulled a pan out from under the counter. “Would you like something to eat? Sorry, I should have asked earlier.”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Something to drink?”


  “No, really, I should be going.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I said I wasn’t hungry.”

  “Sit down,” said Sarah.

  “If you insist.” Adin slumped back down onto the couch, sprawled his tall, lean frame against the sofa, and draped his arm over the back. Bugsy took the move as a signal to relax and dropped his chin across Adin’s knee.

  “You were going to tell me what an MP5 was.” She hustled about in the kitchen getting dinner ready.

  “Oh. It’s just a light submachine gun,” said Adin. “Used mostly for breaches, hostage situations, close encounters. It has a short barrel. Some people think it’s kinda fun to shoot. There’s not much recoil. I usually just fire the sidearm.”

  “Which is?” Sarah wanted to keep him engaged. She was still weighing the idea of going to the range; that is, if she could get dinner ready and lock Bugsy in one of the extra bedrooms.

  “It’s a bureau-issued Glock 22. They loaned it to me while I’m here. I don’t usually carry, but I can.”

  “Where is it? Do you have it with you?”

  “No, it’s back in my room.”

  “What’s back in the room?” The sound of Herman’s voice caused Bugsy’s head to whip around.

  “Heel!” When Adin looked up, he saw a big black guy, maybe six foot four, standing in the entrance to the hallway. He was wearing a white terry cloth robe that was at least four sizes too small for him.

  “What are you doing up?” said Sarah. “The doctor said you’re supposed to be resting.”

  “Yeah, well, call the doctor, tell him to come over and get flat on his back in bed for three weeks,” said Herman. “I’m fine. I’m feelin’ pretty good.” He looked back toward Adin on the couch. “You gonna introduce me to your friend?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” said Sarah. “This is Adin Hirst; he lives just down the hall. Adin, this is Herman Diggs. Herman works for my dad.”

  Adin started to stand.

  “Don’t get up,” said Herman. “I may be feeling pretty good, but I don’t need a face full of dog. Haven’t seen that animal that relaxed since I moved in.”

  “I think Adin slipped him some Valium,” said Sarah. “I’ve almost got dinner ready; are you hungry?”

  “Eat a horse,” said Herman.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have that, so how about some chicken stir-fry?”

  “Sounds good. How about you?” Herman looked at Adin.

  “I’ve already eaten,” said Hirst.

  “How’d you come to live in the building?” Herman knew that the condo complex was held by the FBI as temporary housing for witnesses in high-profile cases, some of them being slugs on the run.

  “I’m here on a training program with the bureau.”

  “Ah, local law enforcement?”

  “Not quite.”

  “Don’t ask him anything more,” said Sarah. “If he tells you, he’s going to have to kill you.”

  “Oh, it’s like that,” said Herman. “Well, stamping me out when I’m looking like this is not gonna get you many points. You do better hittin’ a bag lady in a crosswalk. Now gimme a few weeks and maybe I can give you a run for your money.”

  “I bet you could. I don’t think I want to go there.” Adin smiled. “Notice how she likes to create conflict? Just like a woman.” He winked at her.

  “What do you mean?” said Sarah.

  “Get two people who don’t even know each other in a fight. Only a woman can do that.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yeah, but I notice in all the patter I still ain’t heard where you’re from,” said Herman.

  “I see what you mean, Sarah. He’s a very good investigator. Once he locks on the target, he’s hard to shake off.”

  “And kissin’ my ass ain’t gonna work either,” said Herman.

  “I’m here on an overseas foreign training program,” said Adin.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m not supposed to say anything…”

  “Adin was just about to go get his gun,” said Sarah.

  “Not on my account, I hope,” said Herman.

  “He’s going to the range. He asked me if I wanted to go. Dinner’s ready.” She moved the pan toward a plate on the countertop and scooped the stir-fry into it. “You want to eat in bed?”

  “No, I’ll eat out here. Watch a little television.”

  “Would you mind terribly if I went? To the shooting range, I mean,” said Sarah.

  “You sure you’re supposed to leave the building?” said Herman.

  “I’m with Adin. He’s got a gun. I think I’ll be all right,” said Sarah.

  “Yeah, but Adin here ain’t givin’ me no references,” said Herman. “And in the absence of your father, I’m what you might call a chaperone.”

  “It’s true, we are going to go shoot some guns,” said Sarah. “But I guarantee you I won’t be coming back pregnant, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She looked at Adin. “Maybe you’d like to chime in and second that?”

  Adin was now standing, the dog sitting on the floor right next to him. “I, ah, I don’t know what to say.” He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor?”

  “Do what you want,” said Herman. “But I was gonna teach you how to shoot, remember?”

  “We can still do that,” said Sarah.

  “How long you gonna be gone?” Herman didn’t like it.

  “We’re only going a few blocks. The FBI building. I’m guessing we’ll be back in, what?” Adin looked at his watch. “Maybe ninety minutes? Two hours tops,” he said.

  “You got a cell phone?” said Herman.

  “I do.”

  “Gimme the number.”

  Adin gave it to him as Herman grabbed the pencil from the pass-through in the kitchen and found the pad. “What’s this?”

  Sarah glanced at it. “Oh, that’s the information Dad gave me. The hotel where he’s staying and the phone number.”

  Herman shook his head and tore the page off the pad. “You don’t want to leave that lying around. Gimme the number again.”

  Adin gave him the cell phone number once more.

  Herman wrote it down, then plucked the receiver off the phone and punched buttons. A few seconds later, the phone on Adin’s belt began to hum. Then it played Mozart. Herman hung up. “Just wanted to make sure I wrote it down right.”

  “I’m putting your dinner on the coffee table,” said Sarah. “You want something to drink?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” said Herman. “You guys go so you can get back.”

  “Maybe I should lock Bugsy up in the back room,” she told him.

  Herman was grabbing a beer out of the fridge. “No, leave him out. He’ll be fine.” He looked at the dog.

  Bugsy was sitting up tall next to the coffee table, sniffing the steam coming off the plate of stir-fry.

  “But you might want to warn him. He eats my dinner and I’ll eat him,” said Herman.

  “He really is a nice dog,” said Adin.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet he’d taste real good.” Herman moved with a sullen stride toward the couch. “Move,” he told the dog. And Bugsy did.

  Sarah got her coat and purse. She and Adin headed for the door. “We’ll be back as quick as we can,” she told Herman as she turned. “And don’t worry.”

  “I ain’t worried,” said Herman. “I ain’t the one goin’ out.”

  “See you later.” Sarah smiled and closed the door behind them.

  Out in the hall she told Adin: “I’m sorry about that. Herman can be a pain sometimes. It’s just that he’s not terribly trusting.”

  “Trust isn’t his job,” said Hirst.

  “Still, it’s insulting.”

  “Nonsense,” said Adin. “He’s looking out for you. I’m not sure I would trust me.”

  She laughed.

  “It’s just that since he’s been laid up he’s gotten worse. You have to understand, Herman is a very phys
ical guy. He’s not used to being down. He doesn’t know what it is to be really sick. I know that sounds stupid for a man who was near death three weeks ago. But to Herman it’s simple. You just overcome something like that by sheer will, like flipping a switch. Problem is, when it doesn’t come fast enough to suit him, he takes it out on the people around him.”

  “I can tell,” said Adin. “How old is the injury?”

  “Two weeks ago he was on a ventilator. Now he’s walking up and down the hall threatening to eat my dog.”

  Adin laughed.

  “If you want someone like Herman to rest, there’s only one way. You’re going to have to drug him and tie him to the bed,” said Sarah.

  “Given what he’s been through, he bounces back well. I’ll give him that.”

  “We better pick up the pace, get your pistol, and get out of here. Otherwise he’ll be doing push-ups before we get to the elevator,” said Sarah.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Do you remember me? I am Joaquin,” said Liquida. He shined a flashlight in Raji’s eyes and woke him up.

  “Oh God, not again. Yes, I remember you.”

  “Get up. We need to talk.”

  “What time is it?” said Raji.

  “You can sleep later.” Liquida turned on the lamp on the table and cocked the shade a little so that the light would hit Raji in the eyes.

  Fareed threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up as Liquida pulled over a chair and sat down just a foot or so away from him.

  Sleep deprivation had now become part of their tactic. Working like a tag team, Bruno and this new man who called himself Joaquin kept Raji awake all hours of the day and night. They would wake him up every hour with inane questions about the targeting software. Some of the inquiries were technical, things that Bruno and this man would never understand. Someone was feeding them information. Fareed suspected it was Leffort.

  “I have been asked to talk to you once more because your situation is becoming very dangerous. The people I work for are running out of time, and unfortunately so are you. We are all running out of time.”

  Raji wiped the sleep from his eyes as he looked into the face of this man who spoke so earnestly to him. They were close enough that in the light of the lamp from the table the pocks on the man’s left cheek bore an eerie resemblance to the craters of the moon.