Ratio: A Leopold Blake Thriller (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers)

by Nick Stephenson

  Too late, the beat-up SUV slammed into the passenger side. Seong-min felt his body forced forward, his internal organs forced up against his ribcage. The airbag deployed, sending a cloud of white powder into his face. He couldn’t see, only the sensation of tumbling through the air. A sickening, gut-wrenching feeling, as though someone had reached down through his throat and turned him inside out.

  A split second later Seong-min felt a crushing blow reverberate through the van and then only darkness.

  Chapter 42

  MARIEL SUCKED DOWN on her third cigarette, filling the tiny room with smoke. Jonny stood in the corner. The basement storage room wasn’t fitted with smoke detectors, but someone was bound to notice the stink eventually. He waved his hand in front of his face.

  “Is this really the time?” he said. The smell of tobacco had already sunk into his clothes. “We need to start thinking about getting the hell out of here.”

  “Are you freakin’ insane?” Mariel said. “If I leave early, the police are going to start asking questions.” She took another drag. “I need to stay here and come up with a good story.”

  “Those aren’t going to help.” He pointed at the packet of cigarettes on the shelf.

  “They help me relax.”

  “Sure, you look real relaxed right now.”

  “Shut up. You’re not the one who’s got to face the police. They’re going to ask about the pillows.”

  “So, tell them you don’t know what happened.”

  Mariel crushed out her cigarette. She lit another. “I need to come up with a good story, or they’re going to start digging. We don’t want that.”

  “Fine. Just say you were on a break or something. There’s enough confusion that someone could have sneaked into the rooms. They can’t charge you with anything unless they’ve got proof, so just don’t give them any.”

  “Yeah, great. Thanks a lot,” she said. “But what about you? You don’t need to be here.”

  Jonny rubbed his jaw absent-mindedly. It still ached. “I have to see this through,” he said. “People are watching.”

  “You mean you need to make sure I don’t screw up.”

  “Take it however you want.” He held up his cell phone. “But I can’t be too far away, or the receivers won’t pick up the detonation signal. And I’m not leaving you in charge.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “I need you to be my eyes. There’s no point setting off the detcord if Kato’s not lying on the bed.”

  “How am I supposed to know that?”

  “They’re confined to their room, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “So, sooner or later, they’re going to get bored. Maybe take a nap. I dunno, maybe even fool around some. I need you to figure out when that happens, then let me know.”

  Mariel shrugged. “I can drop by, see how they look. Maybe they’re already at it like rabbits.”

  “Good. Just be careful not to look like you’re spying on them. Don’t screw this up.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” said Mariel. “And remember, you need me more than I need you.”

  Jonny folded his arms. “Don’t misunderstand me,” he said. “This goes wrong, even a little, and you’ll be thrown in a dark hole for the rest of your natural life. If you’re lucky. They might even decide to send you back to the Philippines, let them deal with you. You want that?”

  Mariel’s face flushed red. “You asshole. You wouldn’t.”

  “Either of us get caught, I’m going to need some leverage. And I’m not the one with an international warrant in my name. They won’t look twice at me, some college kid who overstayed his visa. Worst they can do is send me back to Japan, which is where I’m headed anyway. What do you think they’ll do to you after they run a little background check? I’ll look like Mother freakin’ Theresa compared to you.”

  “You son of a bitch.”

  Jonny laughed. “Now, now. Just do your job and we’ll get through this. Screw anything up, and I’ll send you back to that shit heap you came from. Back to your messed-up family.” He smiled. “What’s left of them, anyway.”

  “I’ll kill you.”

  “Must be second nature to you by now.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “Doesn’t matter what I know,” Jonny said, taking a few steps forward. “Only matters what the police can prove. And, right now, they can prove a hell of a lot where you’re concerned. So I’d act with a little more respect, if I were you.”

  Mariel glared at the floor. Her cigarette burned down to the filter in her hand.

  “What’s that?” Jonny cupped his ear.

  Mariel whispered something.

  “I can’t hear you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mariel said, a little louder. “I’m sorry.”

  Jonny smiled. “That’s my girl.”

  Chapter 43

  HARPER FELT HER heart rate soar, thumping an irregular beat against the inside of her chest. She lived for moments like this. Seattle PD had made the call a little under an hour ago: two Asian men had been involved in a pileup on the I-5, matching the description the anonymous tipster had given. One had died in the collision, the other was being treated for head wounds. The Seattle police chief had put pressure on the hospital to let them question him, and the treating physician had caved. The chief had made an immediate call to Harper’s private line. He had given her the address after she’d dropped Assistant Director Hunt’s name.

  Harborview Medical Center loomed into view and Harper headed for the parking lot. Found an empty space, killed the engine. Left her government parking permit out on the dashboard and headed for the main entrance. The receptionist directed her upstairs after she flashed her ID. A few minutes later, Harper found the room. It was a private ward, the door flanked by two police officers. They checked her ID and waved her through.

  Inside the room, a single bed with a drawn curtain. A Seattle police detective stood nearby, wearing a shabby-looking suit and a light raincoat. He had short dark hair, a little gray round the temples. A notebook and pen were on the table next to him.

  “You Harper?” he said.

  She held up her badge. “Who are you?”

  “Detective Carter. We’ve got the place to ourselves, I asked the nurse to leave us alone.”

  “He talking?” She stepped over toward the curtain.

  “Not yet. Chief said to wait for you. Suspect’s a little out of it.”

  “Condition?”

  “Shattered collar bone, fractures to the arms and legs. Concussion.” Carter sighed. “He was lucky. His partner was dead on the scene.”

  “Anyone else hurt?”

  “Driver of a pickup also involved was pronounced dead on the ride to the hospital. Massive head trauma.”

  “Shit.”

  “Shit is right,” Carter said.

  “He awake?”

  “Just about. The doctor’s said not to cause him any stress.” Carter smiled grimly. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

  “We need him to talk,” Harper said. “There could be something we’re missing. Lives could be at risk.”

  “You’re the boss.” Carter pulled back the curtain.

  Harper stared at the figure on the bed. Roughly five-eight, skinny, the man was Asian, maybe Korean. He looked middle-aged, wrinkles starting to set in around the eyes and mouth, hair flecked with gray, large veins in the hands. He was hooked up to a morphine drip and heart monitor. Eyes open, he stared vacantly at the ceiling, one ankle shackled to the bed frame.

  “He got ID?” Harper asked.

  “Yeah. Name’s Robert Kim. Works for a company called LS Coventry.”

  Definitely Korean. “The company check out?”

  “Found a website, but the number’s disconnected.”

  “You think it’s an alias? A sham company?”

  Carter bit his bottom lip. “Smells like one.”

  “Then the ID’s probably fake too.” She sig
hed. “Let’s see what we can find out, shall we?”

  Carter nodded and Harper took another step forward, leaning over the patient. His eyes flicked over to meet hers, before glancing away again.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Kim,” Harper said. She leaned in a little closer. “You and I have a lot to talk about.”

  The man’s eyes focused a little.

  “That’s it. I know you can hear me.”

  He said something Harper couldn’t understand.

  “And it’s no good pretending you don’t speak English,” she said. “I already spoke with the operations manager at the hotel. He was kind enough to show me some video footage of you and your friend.” She paused. “You two have caused quite a mess.”

  The man closed his eyes for a moment. He mumbled something.

  “What’s that?” Harper said.

  He sighed deeply. “You have no evidence. You have laws. You can’t keep me here.”

  Carter took the opportunity to step forward. “Actually, buddy, we do. We take terrorist activity very seriously in America. As a foreign national, we can declare you an enemy combatant and hold you indefinitely. That little loophole strips you of pretty much every civil right you can think of. Or, maybe you help us out a little and we see what we can do about getting you a lawyer.”

  The man stirred. “Seong-min,” he said.

  “What’s that?” asked Carter.

  “My name. Seong-min.”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” said Harper.

  “Where’s Jun-yeong?”

  “Your friend? I’m sorry, he didn’t make it. Neither did the driver of the pickup you hit.” She paused. “You killed a man in the process of committing a federal offense. That’s a murder charge under federal law, a capital offense. You know what that means?”

  The man called Seong-min nodded.

  “Good. Just so you know the stakes here.” She looked him up and down. “Your passport says you’re from South Korea.”

  He nodded.

  “Now, we both know that’s not true,” Harper said. “Why don’t you level with me here? Nobody from South Korea has reason to threaten a US President.”

  “You can’t prove anything,” Seong-min said. “You don’t have the right to keep me here.”

  “I don’t need to prove anything. We’ve got you on a terrorism and murder charge. Practically speaking, you don’t have any rights at all.”

  Seong-min screwed up his face.

  “Guess you’re in a lot of pain right now?” Harper said. “Maybe we can do something about that. But first, I need to know what you have planned. The President is already diverted, so he’s not showing up. Innocent people don’t have to suffer.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  Harper decided to try another approach. “Look, whoever’s pulling your strings had no intention of you getting out of this in once piece. We had a tip that you were at Seattle Center, right down to a description of your vehicle and appearance. Nobody we questioned at the scene remembers seeing you, and nobody’s come forward. Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd?”

  Still no reply.

  “The way I see it, somebody set you up. If I’m right, the person or people who hired you never wanted you to succeed. Why else would they tell you to plant decoys and then call in the tip? They must have known the President would be immediately evacuated. It makes no sense.” She sighed. “Unless, of course, the plan was never to attack the President in the first place.”

  Seong-min groaned again. His eyes were watering.

  “It’s all coming together now, isn’t it?” Harper said. “You never even met the person giving the orders, did you?”

  The tears began to flow freely. Seong-min bit his lip.

  “You probably felt a little uneasy about the whole thing right from the start, am I right? I get it, I really do. We all want to follow orders, do the right thing. But you knew deep down this wasn’t right. Something didn’t add up. And now you’ve been left hanging out to dry. Somebody used you, got what they wanted, then threw you to the wolves.”

  Seong-min gave up, letting a wail escape from his lips. He seemed to reign himself in quickly, but the tears never stopped.

  “Tell me,” Harper said. “You ever speak to anyone about what you were planning?”

  He didn’t reply.

  Carter piped up. “We’ve got your cell phone. We’ve got your partner’s cell phone. We run the numbers, we’ll find out where the calls have been coming from. Want to bet they’ve got nothing to do with your government?”

  Harper suppressed a smile. She knew he was bluffing. Even with modern technology and help from the NSA, snooping like that still wasn’t a possibility. Still, she had to hand it to him. He was damn convincing.

  “Just one little cell phone,” Carter continued, “and we’ll track down everything about you. You want to save us the trouble and maybe save yourself a trip to Guantanamo?” He seemed to notice Seong-min react. “I can see you’ve heard of it. Why not cooperate? Maybe we’ll even get you a civilian trial. They’ll let you have a jury. Give you a fair shot.” He paused. “If not, we’ll get your phone records and do this ourselves. Let the military courts deal with you.”

  Harper was impressed. This guy knew how to hustle. Not for the first time in her career, she was glad there were no lawyers in the room.

  “So, what’s it gonna be?” Carter said. “You want to deal with me, or the US military? Safe to say, I’m probably going to be gentler on you.”

  “I can have the Attorney General sign the papers this afternoon,” Harper said. “We’ll have you in a civilian facility with access to a lawyer. If something else happens that you could have stopped, we’ll make sure they throw you in the darkest, deepest hole we’ve got.” That time, Harper knew, she wasn’t bluffing.

  Seong-min tried to sit up, then flopped back onto his pillow. A look of defeat spread across his face.

  Harper folded her arms. “I need your answer. Now.”

  Seong-min closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. “Yes,” he said. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  Carter smiled. “You ever talk to anyone about what you were planning?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who?”

  Seong-min shook his head. “I don’t know. I swear. He sounded American.”

  “You’re not from South Korea, are you?”

  He didn’t reply.

  Harper jumped in. “They don’t let people out of the North without official clearance. Where’s yours?”

  “I never had official papers.” Seong-min screwed up his face again.

  Harper sensed she was getting somewhere. “Someone had you smuggled out,” she said, listening to her gut. “They knew it was important that you were from the north, make it look like a plausible threat against the US. And impossible for us to verify with your government.”

  No reply.

  “And I’m guessing your government doesn’t know anything about what you’re doing, do they?”

  “I believed what I was told.”

  “You’re not answering me straight, here,” Harper said. “You know not to screw with me.”

  Seong-min nodded grimly. “I’ll answer your questions, but it won’t make any difference.” He looked Harper in the eyes. “You’re already too late.”

  Chapter 44

  LIGHT STREAMED IN from behind the blackout curtains and June knew it was still early afternoon. With a sigh, she punched and fluffed her pillow, turned over on her other side, and cuddled up to Jack’s back, basking in the warm glow of his body. Just as she was dozing off again, a hammering came at the suite door. Both she and Jack looked up and before they could even move, the bedroom door crashed open.

  “Up and dressed, now!” Jerome said. He was looking down at Jack. “We need to get you out.”

  Jack pulled off the covers, looking for his boxer shorts. June pulled the comforter up to her chin and blinked the sleep away.

  “What’s goin
g on?” Jack asked. He slipped his underwear on, and started looking for a shirt. To June, it was as if it was something he had practiced, an emergency drill rehearsed countless times.

  “External threat just called in to the hotel. Special Agent Harper made the decision to move everyone out.”

  “What was it?” Jack asked.

  “Something about a potential attack on the building. She’s not giving us much detail. The hotel is locking down. We need to hustle.”

  “Okay, so turn around so I can get dressed,” June said, pushing over to the side of the bed.

  “You’re not coming,” Jerome replied. “We’ve told you several times that if the shit hits the fan, Mr. Melendez is our primary focus. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own. But rest assured, as soon as we have Mr. Melendez out, we’ll come back for you.” He looked at her, regret in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.”

  “I’m not leaving her here,” Jack said.

  “You’re the more likely target. She’ll be in more danger if she’s in close proximity to you.” Jerome paused. “It’s safer to leave her behind, away from you.”

  Jack didn’t reply.

  “But what the hell am I supposed to do here?” said June. “Wait for terrorists to invade, or some damn bomb to go off? Been there, done that, remember?”

  “Mr. Melendez is our number one priority,” Jerome said. “We can’t look after you and keep him safe at the same time. If we can get him out of here, we should be able to come back for you.”

  June shook her head. “How do I know someone already isn’t inside? Or that a bomb isn’t right here on the seventh floor? Or in this room?”

  “We’ll be back for you as quickly as we can,” Leopold told her. “Just stay in the room and keep the door closed and locked. I need to have a little chat with Special Agent Harper.”