The Darkness of Evil

by Jacobson, Alan

  “So you’re off work for a few days?”

  Vail harrumphed and grabbed her temple. “Ow, don’t make me laugh. But before you give me a speech on following doctor’s orders—”

  “How’d you know that’s what I was gonna do?”

  She looked at him. “Did you really just ask me that?”

  “Fine. But you really should listen to the doctors.”

  “It looks worse than it is.”

  “Does my father know?” Robby asked, referring to Vail’s boss, ASAC Thomas Gifford.

  “Negatory. And neither does my unit chief.” Vail placed a hand on Robby’s. “And it’s going to stay that way. I didn’t go to one of the Bureau’s medical facilities. I just went to a doc in the box, told them my fiancé punched me around a bit. A cop should be by in half an hour to talk to you.”

  Robby shook his head. “This is not funny, Karen. You need to take care of yourself.”

  “I’m not having any problems thinking, concentrating, or remembering. But if you notice me getting angry or emotional, that could be a bad sign.”

  “I’m not sure I could tell the difference.”

  Good one. “Look, this could all be better by the morning. And I’m taking the rest of the evening off.”

  “It’s 7:30, Karen. There’s not much left of the evening.”

  “As long as Marcks is still out there, none of us can let up. Because he’s not going to let up. He’s going after Jasmine, I’m sure of it. And I haven’t heard from her in almost two days.”

  Robby sighed. “It’s hard to argue with you when I’d do the same thing in your place.”

  “Come lie with me on the couch.”

  He kicked his shoes off and unhooked his holster, then snuggled up to Vail.

  She had just gotten comfortable when her phone rang.

  “Leave it,” Robby said.

  Vail groaned. “I can’t.” She fished it out and sat up quickly. Too quickly.

  “Sorry I went off the grid.”

  “Jasmine?” Vail glanced at the number. “You using a different phone?”

  “I think I saw my father. He was a block away, but if it was him, that’s too close for my taste. I freaked, holed myself away. Tossed my phone again. Sorry.”

  “I want to meet with you, tell you what’s been going on. Ask you some questions.” And ask you one more time to accept police protection.

  “How about now? Have you had dinner?”

  Vail closed her eyes. Shit. “Uh, actually I haven’t.” She glanced at Robby, who was now sitting up as well, shaking his head no. “If you don’t mind me bringing my fiancé along, I’d love to have dinner.”

  “I don’t know, Karen. I—”

  “I’ve got a concussion. I’m not supposed to drive, especially at night.”

  “What happened?”

  “Your father happened. A couple of right hooks.” Or backhands. Who remembers?

  “You serious?”

  “Robby’s a federal agent. You can trust him. Where should we meet you?”

  “There’s an Indian restaurant on New Hampshire at M Street. Rasika. It’s a wedge-shaped building and the bar sits in the corner with walls that are all windows. I can keep an eye on both streets, make sure my father’s not coming. And he’s not likely to look for me in DC.”

  Does that mean she’s been staying somewhere in DC? Or maybe she is now.

  “On our way. Give me some time to get out there.”

  Vail hung up and dialed her compatriot in her other life, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Aaron “Uzi” Uziel, head of the Washington Joint Terrorism Task Force—and fellow black ops team member.

  “How’s my favorite redhead warrior princess?” Uzi asked.

  “At the moment, you don’t want to know. But I need your help and I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “You know all you’ve gotta do is ask.”

  “I need some kind of tracking device,” Vail said. “Something tiny that I can put on someone, something they won’t know is there. It has to give me the ability to find them if I need to—and without them knowing.”

  “I’ve got just the thing.”

  “You do?”

  “No. I just thought that’s what you wanted to hear.”

  “Uzi, I’m not really in the mood.”

  “Yes, I have something you can use. You really doubted that I’d come to your rescue? I’m your knight in shining armor.”

  “Robby’s sitting two feet away.”

  “Right. Tell him I said hi. And that I didn’t really mean the knight thing. Just a figure of speech.”

  “I’m headed into the city to meet the target. Can you bring it to 23rd and M?”

  “I will cancel my dinner plans and meet you there.”

  “Oh—sorry.”

  “Just kidding. No plans. I’ll be there in … twenty?”

  “That’d be great. I do miss working with you, Uzi.”

  “I know.”

  ROBBY DROVE AND PARKED in front of a bus stop on the corner. Uzi pulled in behind them and Vail and Robby got out. It was a relatively dark street, with only a couple of streetlamps on the entire block.

  Uzi kept his headlights on and, judging by his expression, immediately noticed the condition of Vail’s face.

  “What happened?”

  “Don’t ask,” Robby said as he gave Uzi a shoulder hug.

  “Seriously. You okay?”

  “Nothing a little time, Tylenol, and ice won’t cure.”

  He gave her a long look, then reached into his leather overcoat and pulled out a small case and popped it open, revealing a tiny device. “GPS tracker. Stores locations internally but also transmits and triangulates a signal using local Wi-Fi networks. It’s not 100 percent accurate but it’ll get you pretty close—assuming there are active Wi-Fi networks nearby.”

  Vail took it from him. “Does it need a power source?”

  “All electronic devices need a power source. But this is a low power unit and it’s fully charged, so it’ll last about a month.”

  “Plenty of time.” Better be.

  “One last thing. Give me your phone.”

  She handed over the Samsung, and he tapped a few times then handed it back. “Open that Find/Me app I just installed.”

  Vail did as instructed. “Okay, now what?”

  “It has to initialize and communicate with the tracker. In a few seconds you’ll see a string of coordinates. GPS coordinates. If you ever want to see where that device is, or where it’s been for the past week or so, open the app and let it download the data from the server. If it takes a long time to connect, there’s something interfering with the signal. Could be any number of things. You can try moving to a different location, but it may not be you. It could be where the tracker is.”

  She saw the numbers populate and then tapped them and a map loaded, showing their current location. Perfect. “Thanks, Uzi.”

  “This is a beta, but it’s performed very well so far. Next version will have cell capability so tower pinging can be used for positioning as well as burst updates to the server. We’ll be able to tell if its signal is being interfered with and determine the interference type.”

  She turned to Robby. “I love it when he talks techy. So sexy, don’t you think?”

  “One last thing,” Uzi said, ignoring her dig. “It’s technology.”

  Vail tilted her head. “Yeah. What does that mean?”

  “It means it gives you awesome capabilities. But it can also be the scourge of your life. Shit happens. It’s not foolproof and sometimes these things have glitches.”

  “Is that your way of apologizing before it goes haywire?”

  “Didn’t say it would. But I know you, you’ll want to put a fist through a wall when it doesn’t work the way you wa
nt it to work, when you want it to work.”

  “I’m not like that.”

  Uzi looked at her, his lips thinning. Holding back a smile.

  “Fine. But I have confidence in you. Your last gift paid dividends again.”

  “My last gift—the tanto?” He grinned fully. “Tzedek?”

  “It saved my life today. I mean that.”

  Uzi’s face went slack. “I’m—” His eyes again found the bruises on her face. “I’m glad you’re okay. That knife has some serious mojo forged into its steel.”

  “Thanks for sharing some of it with me.”

  “How are things with you?” Robby asked. “Good?”

  “Yeah.” Uzi pulled his eyes away from Vail. “All things considered. The way things are headed, counterterrorism will keep me gainfully employed until I’m a frail old man. How’s the drug business?”

  “Unfortunately, I can say the same thing.” He gave Uzi another hug. “Stay safe.”

  “You too, brother.” Uzi looked at Vail. “I’d tell you to stay safe too, but judging by the looks of you, I think that train’s left the station.”

  46

  Robby turned onto New Hampshire and came to a stop in front of the restaurant to let Vail off. “You sure you want to do this?”

  “Meet with Jasmine?”

  “The tracking device. That’s a bit over the top, no?”

  “Absolutely not. Look what happened to me today. There’s no way she would’ve gotten away from Marcks. I have no idea what he has planned for her—other than death—but I’m guessing he’d keep her around for a bit, to prolong her suffering—give her what he perceives she gave him. With this thing, if she goes missing, I’ll be able to find her. Hopefully in time.”

  “Hey, this is your case. I’m just giving you some unsolicited feedback.”

  “I’m still going to try to convince her to let us put her in a safe house. I felt helpless these past two days. I feel responsible for her.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “It may be ridiculous but it’s how I feel.”

  “Okay.”

  Vail gathered up her purse and wrapped her fingers around the door handle. “You think I’m wrong?”

  “About putting a tracking device in someone’s purse without her knowing?”

  Vail frowned. “About wanting to move her to a safe house.”

  Robby looked out at the street. “I don’t know, Karen.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “On the one hand, I do think it’d be smart. As a law enforcement officer, yeah, that’s what I’d say. But I also know what goes on behind the scenes. Sometimes cops don’t do their jobs, shit happens, and in the end—if you know what you’re doing—it might be safer if you took care of yourself. But that’s only if you understand the criminal mind and the principles of staying off the grid and keeping safe.”

  “Yeah, if it was you or me, maybe that’d make sense. Maybe. But in this case?”

  “From what you’ve told me, she’s done okay caring for herself. She seems self-aware and security conscious.”

  Vail scoffed.

  Robby turned to face her. “Look, you tell her what you feel is best for her. Like I said, it’s your case.”

  “Noted.” Vail opened her door. “Go park. I’ll meet you inside.”

  She passed by an outdoor dining area—vacant because of the cold weather—and entered through the glass doors, stepping into a dimly lit contemporary restaurant abuzz with patron chatter. Vail checked in at the hostess station on the left. The woman grabbed a couple of menus and led her past a wall of stacked wine bottles that led to the main dining rooms and into the bar’s lounge, which, as Jasmine described, was shaped like a wedge and bounded by tall windows.

  Jasmine was seated at the corner table with a view of both 23rd and M Streets.

  Vail pulled her chair away and gave Jasmine a hug, then took a seat. She studied her blond wig and dark-rimmed glasses and cocked her head. “Nice disguise. I think.”

  “Hey, if it keeps him from recognizing me, it’s worth it.”

  “You really think that’s enough to hide from your own father?”

  She looked away. “Maybe he feels that bond. I just feel betrayed.”

  Oh, he feels betrayed, too.

  “You look awful,” she said, leaning forward and appearing to notice Vail for the first time.

  “I don’t feel so great, either.” Vail forced a smile. “Robby’s parking. He’ll be here in—”

  “I think he just walked in.” She gestured over Vail’s left shoulder.

  “Ladies. Jasmine, good to meet you.”

  “Same here.”

  Vail saw her eyes flicker wider for a moment. “Down, girl. He’s mine.”

  Jasmine giggled. “Lucky woman.”

  Robby sorted out the cramped space in front of him. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “I would,” Jasmine said, “but I can’t. I need all my faculties.”

  Vail waved her off. “You’re here with us. You can relax for an hour, we’ve got your back.”

  She sighed. “Karen, that’s the point, isn’t it? I don’t want anyone having my back. I can’t do it that way. I tried that once and—”

  The waiter interrupted with a “Welcome,” and proceeded to talk to them about the menu and specials—and then asked if they needed more time.

  “We just got here,” Robby said, “so—”

  “You asked me to trust you,” Jasmine said. “Will you trust me to pick out the dishes?”

  Vail and Robby shared a look. “Okay.”

  After asking about dietary limitations and dislikes, Jasmine ordered Calamari Balchao, prepared with Kashmiri chilies; Tawa Baingan, eggplant with spiced potato and peanut sauce; Lamb Kashmiri, set with caramelized onions, ginger, and fennel powder; and a couple sides of chili olive naan.

  “You just made me very hungry,” Robby said. “And thirsty. I’ll have a Bengali Tiger IPA.”

  “So how’ve you been holding up?” Vail asked as she handed her menu to the waiter.

  Jasmine lifted her water glass. “Let me answer that with another question: how close are you to catching him?”

  Vail palpated her swollen jaw. “Not close enough.”

  “What happened? You said he hit you? If he hit you, you were … with him?”

  Vail recounted the events of the day.

  Jasmine shook her head. “I’m sorry you got hurt. At least you fared better than his other victims.”

  The waiter brought Robby’s beer and told them the appetizers were en route.

  “My ordeal aside,” Vail said, “I wanted to ask you about Booker Gaines, your dad’s childhood friend. Know much about him?”

  “He’s a bad guy. Lots of run-ins with the law. I didn’t like it when my dad hung out with him.”

  “Anything else?”

  “They were really good friends. Spent a lot of time together.”

  “What did they do when they hung out?”

  “What did my father do most of the time when he wasn’t killing people or working? Bars. He spent a lot of time at bars.”

  “What kind?”

  Jasmine drew her chin back. “What kind of bars? What do you mean? Where they serve alcohol and—”

  “Were they gay bars?”

  Jasmine’s face stiffened.

  Robby glanced at Vail, lifted the beer to his lips, and refrained from interrupting.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Jasmine said with a laugh. “I just—I just wasn’t expecting that. So you think my father is gay?”

  “I know about the incident with Vincent Stuckey when you came home unexpectedly from your soccer tournament.”

  The waiter brought the calamari and eggplant with spiced pot
ato and set them in the center of the table.

  Jasmine reached for the calamari and put some on her plate.

  “Do you remember that? When you came home with—”

  “Yes.” She stuck a piece of food into her mouth, as if that would relieve her of the obligation to say anything further.

  Vail scooped some eggplant onto her plate to give Jasmine a minute to answer.

  “He was gay or bi,” she finally said. “He was married, remember?”

  “Yeah. Although there are gay men who marry because they don’t want to come out and it gives them cov—”

  “I know,” she said, conceding Vail’s point. “We never talked about that night, about what I saw.”

  “Is Booker Gaines also gay?”

  “No idea.”

  Vail nodded slowly and accepted her answer, moved on. “Is that a sensitive subject for you?”

  “My father is a sensitive subject. My childhood is a sensitive subject. I’m sorry I wasn’t completely forthcoming with you earlier. I thought I had a normal father who loved me. No, check that: I thought I had a normal father. Period.” Jasmine took a long drink of water, as if composing her thoughts—or herself. “I could write a book about it,” she said with a derisive chuckle. “Oh wait. I did.”

  Vail decided to drop that line of questioning as well. She observed the tension in Jasmine’s face as she brought the glass again to her lips.

  The waiter set the remaining plates on the table.

  “I think you should consider letting us protect you.”

  Jasmine stopped drinking suddenly and set the water down. “He sent me an email, you know.”

  Vail threw a glance at Robby. “When? What’d he say?”

  Jasmine kept her gaze on the food. “That he was going to make me pay.”

  “For turning him in?”

  She shrugged. “And for what I wrote in the book, probably. I don’t know. It was just that one sentence. He didn’t sign it, but I knew it was him.”

  Vail set her fork down. “This is why we need to protect you.”

  “No.”

  “We’d move you to a safe house, guarded by the Marshals Service. They do this every day, Jas. Your case doesn’t present anything new or different for them.”

  “Do they protect witnesses from serial killers?”