Konrath, Joe - Dirty Martini (19 page)

“I’m sorry, Jack. I like Latham. You’re going to say yes?”

“Yes.”

Herb smiled. “Congrats. If you need a maid of honor, I look great in pink. And your father isn’t dead?”

“He lives in Elmwood Park. My mother admitted that he left us, and she told me he died to stop me from looking for him.”

“Have you spoken to him?”

“No.”

“But you’re going to?”

“I don’t know. I—”

I heard my phone beep. Herb handed me my purse, and I checked the number. The Hothams’ stolen cell.

“It’s the Chemist,” I told Herb.

He picked up his notepad and put his head next to mine so we could both hear. I answered the call, made my voice strong.

“This is Daniels.”

“I’m glad you’re still alive, Jack. You’ve got a great set of lungs on you, if I may say so. How are you feeling?”

“We’ve agreed to pay you. What are your demands?”

“I asked you a question, Lieutenant. How are you feeling?”

I spoke through my teeth, anger masking all of my symptoms.

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Because I want you personally to deliver my two million. Here’s how it will work. I want a hundred thousand dollars in cash, three hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars in platinum eagles, and the remainder in uncut diamonds, at least three carats per stone. No tricks, no transmitters, no laser-engraved serial numbers on the stones, no moissanite, you get the idea. If you screw around with me, I’ll be very angry. Put everything in a leather suitcase, and paint it bright yellow. Then stand outside the Daley Center, near the Picasso, at ten thirty a.m. tomorrow. Got all of that?”

I looked at Herb, who was furiously scribbling notes. He nodded at me.

“I got it.”

“Good. Have your cell phone on you, and wear some running shoes. You’re going to need them.”

“I know about Tracey,” I said, trying to catch him off guard. “And Dirk Welch. You killed him in prison. Were you cell mates?”

There was a pause.

“I’m planning something big. Very big. If everything goes well tomorrow, I’ll tell you what my plan is, and you’ll be able to stop it in time. If anything goes wrong, many will die. If you try to find me, many will die. If you pull any tricks or try to catch me, many will die. The elderly. Women and children. I know you don’t want that on your head. But it won’t stop there. I’ll come after you as well. You and everyone you know.”

He hung up. I stared at Herb. He didn’t say a word, but I could read his mind.

Burglars don’t call you up and threaten you and half the city. Robbers don’t spray poison in your face and put you in the hospital. Thieves don’t attack the people you love.

Yeah, well, he was right. But I couldn’t do anything about it.

A nurse opened the curtain and stuck her perky head in.

“We’ve got a room available, Ms. Daniels.”

I might have protested, demanded to be released, but the nurse divided into two identical nurses and I wasn’t sure which to talk to. Earlier, I’d been told to expect double vision. It wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped it would be.

“Herb, I hate to ask . . .”

He held up his notes. “I’ll pass this along to the super. We’ll work out the details. You get some rest.”

“Thanks. Also, in Records, I was looking for the Alger case file for Tracey Hotham’s murder investigation. The Chemist was in the box. I don’t know if he took it or not. If he did, we need to see if the records are still on file at the two-four.”

“I’ll check.”

“There was a guy named Welch involved, died in prison.”

“Jack . . .”

“I know. We’re not partners anymore. Pass it off on a subordinate.”

Herb nodded, gave me an informal pat on the shoulder, and left.

I asked the nurse(s) for some water, and she gave me a cup and took my blood pressure. As she did, my whole body began to shake. First mildly, and then it became violent enough to make me spill water all over my bed.

“She’s seizing!” the nurse yelled.

A doctor rushed over while the nurse forced something rubber between my teeth. Then I couldn’t see anything else, because my eyelids were fluttering too fast.

“Administering diazepam push.”

I felt a calm flow through me, and the convulsions stopped. The nurse fished out the mouth guard, and I squinted at her, trying to focus.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re fine. TEPP can cause seizures. We gave you some Valium, which will work with the atropine and pralidoxime to relax your muscles.”

“Thanks,” I said. I was pretty freaked out, but the Valium went a long way to helping me over that.

The nurse draped a dry blanket over me, then promised to be back shortly. While I waited, my phone rang again. A blocked number.

“This is Daniels,” I said. My voice sounded kind of thick.

“Hiya, Jackie. How’s it hanging?”

Harry McGlade.

“Hi, Harry. How’s the space suit?”

“A tax write-off. I cornered your superintendent, and she threatened to have me arrested if I didn’t vacate the scene. A real piece of work, that one. Feisty. If her cankles weren’t the size of hams, she’d be my type of woman. Speaking of dates, are you going to PoliceFest on Sunday?”

“No.”

“How about going with me? The mayor will be there, and you could get me an audience. He likes you, right?”

“I’m not going.”

“Of course you’re going. Every cop in the Midwest is going, and this year it’s in Illinois.”

“Every cop but me.” I grinned. Valium was a pretty nice drug.

“You owe me one, Jack.”

“Ask the super to take you. Maybe she’ll do it if you promise to rub lotion on her cankles.”

There was a long silence, which was unusual for Harry.

“Jack, I . . . I gave up my business. No more private investigating.”

“Chicago will never get over the loss.”

“It isn’t funny. Could you stay a cop if you lost your gun hand? I suck lefty. Hell, I can’t even wipe my damn ass lefty. I’m completely useless with a gun. And I had to sell my baby, my Mustang, because of the goddamn stick shift. My electric bill was sent back because they thought a retarded child had signed the check. I even had to pay for sex, because no woman wants to sleep with me.”

“What does that have to do with your hand?”

“Dammit, Jack, my life is destroyed. Show some sympathy.”

Maybe it was all the medication, or the residual effects of the TEPP, but I actually felt for him. “That’s too bad, Harry.”

“If the city doesn’t let me open up this bar, I might as well shoot myself. And I’d need your help doing that too, because I’d miss my fricking head.”

“You think? You have a pretty fat head.”

I laughed at my drug-influenced assessment. He
did
have a fat head.

“Take me to PoliceFest. Introduce me to the mayor. Help me get the liquor license. And I promise, I’ll never bother you again as long as I live.”

“That’s a tempting offer.”

“We were partners once. I know I did wrong by you, but I’ve helped you out several times since then. Please. I need this.”

Harry McGlade had caused me more annoyance than I cared to recall, but in a warped sort of way he was kind of a friend. A friend who needed a hand. Really.

“Fine, McGlade. But I can’t promise the mayor will go for it.”

“Thanks, Jackie. I’ll drop by Sunday morning. You still at the place on Addison?”

“No. I’m a suburban girl now. I live in Bensenville.”

I gave him my address.

“See you Sunday. Maybe afterward I can buy you a beer.”

“Maybe.”

“And after that, sex.”

“Good-bye, Harry.”

“I’ve got this attachment for my prosthesis—”

I hung up before he could finish. Then I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, thinking about PoliceFest with Harry . . .

PoliceFest with Harry? What the hell was I thinking?

Maybe I’d get lucky, and the Chemist would kill me tomorrow so I wouldn’t have to go.

I fell asleep, strangely comforted by that thought.

CHAPTER 25

T
HE CHEMIST SHATTERS
the last bottle of vodka over the garbage can, spraying glass and alcohol on his heavy work gloves, a shard bouncing off the facial netting on his helmet. He’s in his greenhouse. It’s dark, quiet. Night is the best time to work, because insect activity is minimal.

He reaches into the glass shards and fishes out the bottle neck, moving with speed and efficiency. He’s getting near the end, a culmination of years of effort. This should be savored. But all of the recent excitement has put him behind schedule, and he has to catch up.

He places the bottle neck on his workbench and uses a hammer and pliers to break all of the glass away from the aluminum cap. When he’s finished, the cap, with its tamper-proof ring along the bottom edge, is intact.

Next he selects an identical brand of vodka, and twists off its top. The tamper-proof ring separates along the perforated line where it is attached to the cap and remains on the bottle neck. He snips the ring off using nail clippers, pours out four ounces of vodka, and adds an equal amount of colorless, odorless ethylene chlorohydrin. It blends invisibly with the liquor.

Then he takes the intact cap—the one he removed from the broken bottle—and carefully screws it onto the full bottle. It now appears to be new, unopened. He places it in the cardboard box next to the eleven other poisoned bottles of alcohol, and gets started on the beer.

Beer is even easier to tamper with. A local brewing supply shop, the same place he got some of his hydroponics equipment, also sells bottle cappers. He carefully pries the tops off of a dozen popular import beer bottles, adds a few drops of conotoxin to each, and then uses the bench capper to reseal the caps until they’re as tight as when they left the brewery.

After finishing a full case of beer, he stands and stretches. There are things that need to be double-checked. He makes sure the Little Otter has a full charge. He lays out the dry suit, places a bottle of talc next to it. Tests the gauge on the nitrox canister.

Then, outside, he changes out of his protective suit and checks the cement mixer, which has another three yards ready. It takes ten minutes to pour. He’s an expert with the forklift, and gets it into place on the first try. Two more to go. He loads the mixer with three more bags. Adds a touch of aluminum. A dash of diesel. A healthy handful of roofing nails.

Inside, he practices for the last time with the TelePC. He’s adjusted for delays. He’s taken the route himself, so the timing should be perfect. This should all work out.

Finally, he uses spell-check on the letter, and prints out a copy.

This will be a nice surprise for Lieutenant Jacqueline Daniels. A beautiful end to a beautiful relationship.

After six years, three months, and thirteen days, Tracey will finally get her revenge.

And then he’ll get his revenge.

CHAPTER 26

A
GAINST DOCTOR’S RECOMMENDATION, I
checked myself out of the hospital at seven a.m., wearing loaner clothes. A cab took me to my car, which was still in front of the fire hydrant. I drove back to the suburbs, rush hour traffic helping me chase away the groggies.

I felt pretty good, considering. A little weak. A little raw. But ready to work.

Once home, I fed the cat, forced down some oatmeal, hopped into a tepid shower—hot hurt my skin—changed into a pair of boot-cut Levi’s, some Adidas running shoes, and an Anne Klein blouse and jacket—black over white—and called Latham. He was sleeping, but the nurse informed me he was stable. I took that as a good sign.

Next, I climbed in my car and headed back to Chicago. When I got on the expressway, I called Herb.

“Any word on the Hotham file?”

“Missing. That one and the Welch file. From the two-four as well.”

“That’s what I figured. There’s something there the Chemist doesn’t want us to find. What’s the set-up for today?”

“You’ll be carrying a GPS phone, a clone of your cell number. It will track you wherever you go, and has a booster for indoors. They’ve got six cars, two bikes, four teams on foot, and chopper support. You won’t get lost.”

“Any luck finding Tracey’s cell phone, or her car?”

“The Staties found a white Honda in a parking lot in O’Hare. No plates, but the VIN matches. Unlikely they’ll find prints—the car was torched. No ping on the cell phone. They think he’s removing the battery between uses. We’d have to catch him during a call.”

“How about the money?”

“Cash, coins, and stones are all clean, as he demanded. We’ve got the yellow leather suitcase.”

“What’s in it? Radio transmitter? Another GPS?”

Herb didn’t answer.