Ratio: A Leopold Blake Thriller (A Private Investigator Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers) (25 page)

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 going 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.”

Jack was fully dressed by then and heading for the door, Leopold and Jerome on either side of him.

“Hey!” June called after him. “Don’t I at least get a kiss?”

Jack turned back to give her one, but Leopold pulled him away, slamming the door shut behind them. June stood alone in the suite for a moment, then wrapped a comforter around herself and went to the door. Peering through the peephole, she was just in time to see the three men disappear around the corner. Jack was gone, and as quickly as that, their weekend together was over.

Chapter 45

LEOPOLD MARCHED DOWN the empty corridor toward the private elevator, practically dragging Jack behind him. Jerome hung back, covering the rear.

“Who’s doing this?” Jack said, as they reached the elevator and stepped inside. “Who’s the target?”

Leopold pressed the button for the lobby. “I don’t have all the details yet. Harper questioned one of the suspects. He was pretty banged up. Tried to escape.” The elevator started moving. “It didn’t go well.” 

“You think the President was the goal?”

“My gut’s telling me he was never a credible target,” Leopold said. “This was all far too showy. Too much attention, too much risk. If you want to take out the President, you got to do it quietly. Use stealth. Lay traps. Be prepared to see it through, even if it means you’ll never get away alive.” He paused. “That’s how I’d do it, anyway.”

“Then who? Me?”

“It’s a possibility. Tell me, Jack. Can you think of anyone who’d want you dead?”

Jack grimaced. “It might be a pretty long list. Probably quicker to tell you who doesn’t.” 

“And Doctor Kato is also a concern,” said Jerome, as the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened. “Her past is suspect, to say the least.” He noticed Jack’s expression. “But I still stand by the fact you’re both safer if we split up. Nobody’s getting upstairs. Except the Secret Service.”

“Speaking of which,” said Leopold, leading the way out into the crowded lobby, “I need to find Special Agent Harper.” He looked at Jerome. “You cover the elevator, I’ll take Jack over and let the Secret Service take over. We’re not set up to handle an evac in this.” He looked around the crowded floor, through to the streets outside. Traffic was a mess, the police roadblocks having caused tailbacks all through the neighborhood. “They can get him to the safe house while we deal with Doctor Kato.” 

Jerome nodded. “Agreed. Get Jack out of here. I’ll make sure she’s okay.” 

***

Leopold spotted Officer Johnson ushering conference attendees out of the auditorium. She had her hair tied up again, her usual friendly expression replaced with a determined scowl. She glanced at Leopold as he and Jack approached, before turning her attention back to the crowd. The group moved slowly, shuffling toward the exit. Nobody looked particularly worried, a low hum of relaxed chatter filling the halls. 

“You looking for Harper?” Johnson said as Leopold got closer. She didn’t look at him. 

“She has information about the threat,” he said. 

“Who’s your friend? He looks familiar.”

“This is Jack Melendez.”

Jack held out a hand. “Pleasure.” 

Johnson didn’t shake. “I’m a little tied up right now. Harper should be in her office. You know the way, right?” 

Leopold nodded. “You got everything under control down here?”

“I can handle myself.” 

“No doubt.” 

She sighed and looked at him. “Listen, I really need to get back to work.” 

“You got it,” Leopold said, catching the note of irritation in her voice. He figured it was a good idea not to press his luck. “We’ll get out of your hair.” 

Johnson nodded curtly and marched off toward the back of the crowd, helping the other security officers shepherd the crowd out through the double doors. She didn’t look back. 

“She seems nice,” Jack said. “In a tense, angry sort of way.” 

Leopold ignored him. “Just keep quiet and follow me.”

***

They found Harper in her office, seated behind her desk. Two other agents were with her, standing. She was giving them orders as Leopold opened the door. She stopped talking and looked over. 

“What’s the word on the suspect?” Leopold said, standing in the doorway. Jack stood next to him, shuffling uncomfortably. 

The agents looked at each other. They were unfamiliar, but dressed in the same ubiquitous dark suits and cropped haircuts as the two men who had joined Leopold and Jerome the night before. Leopold figured the Service had given up trying to blend in to the crowd.