Blindside (Michael Bennett 12)

The driver added, “And Natalie’s purse.”

She handed the purse to the driver.

I felt like I was back in Estonia, staring at the barrel of another gun. When was this shit gonna end?

CHAPTER 98

AS I CONTINUED to sit in the rear seat of the limo, staring at the gun, I took a moment to look at the driver more closely. He was about forty with the smooth face of someone who hasn’t worked outdoors much their whole life. He had an accent, but I couldn’t tell where he was from. In New York, you just rolled with any sort of accent. As long as you could make out the general meaning of what someone was trying to say, everyone was happy.

This guy worked for Henry. He hadn’t said so in words, but someone holding a gun conveys a lot with just a look. I was in deep shit.

The driver kept the gun on me as he opened his door, stepped outside, and opened my door. He said, “C’mon, out of the car, Detective Bennett.”

When I was standing with him on the asphalt, he reached into the car and raised the privacy glass. Then he hit a button that locked the doors. Before he shut my door, he leaned into the car and said, “Natalie, you sit tight for a little while. Don’t even try to slip out of the car.”

Now it was just the two of us. I knew that wasn’t going to last for long. I asked the driver, whose head didn’t come up to my nose, “What exactly is this bullshit?”

The driver said, “Henry isn’t finished with you yet. He thought it was rude the way you left him in Estonia. He says you’re the kind of man who should understand payback.”

“What’s the girl got to do with this? He could’ve left her alone.”

“Henry doesn’t consult me about those kinds of decisions. I just handle problems in New York.”

“What’s he gain from this? How is this good for business?”

The driver shrugged. “I’d save those kinds of talking points for Henry. He’ll be here in a minute.”

“Are you saying you don’t think this is bullshit?”

“I just understand you embarrassed Henry and now he needs to make a statement so people know he’s serious. He keeps all these cyber people in line with fear.”

In a crazy kind of way, that made sense. And because we were talking about a crazy person, I’m sure it made perfect sense to Henry.

I noticed a new Audi rolling toward us along the street and parking maybe fifty feet away. I turned toward it, then glanced over my shoulder at the limo. There was a lot to think about in this encounter.

I worked hard at keeping a disinterested expression when Henry popped out of the Audi wearing a gray Armani suit. He looked like one of the young investment bankers down on Wall Street, except for the Walther .380 pistol in his right hand. He smiled and said, “Detective Bennett, nice to see you again.”

“Wish I could say the same. But I’ll say this, Henry, you have definitely impressed me this time. I’ve only been back a day and you were able to travel across the Atlantic, use the phone you cloned from the mayor, and trick me with the fake text. By the way, the ‘little fat prick’ comment on the text was inspired.”

“Since we’re complimenting each other, let me tell you how impressed I am that you were able to figure all that out on the ride over here.”

Now I gave him a sly smile. The guys who think they’re smarter than everyone else never really see it coming. I said, “I didn’t figure it out on the ride. My son pointed me in the right direction last night. The NYPD tech people confirmed it all this morning.”

That got Henry’s attention. But it didn’t seem to have quite the impact I was hoping it would.

He said, “Then I guess we’ll make this fast.” He racked the slide on his Walther.

I knew racking the gun was more to scare me. But I could tell he wasn’t particularly comfortable holding the pistol.

Henry looked at the driver and said, “Go get Natalie.”

CHAPTER 99

HENRY AND I stood in the wide gap between the two vehicles in the middle of the road, with the sun on us but the park’s large trees masking us somewhat from any afternoon runners or dog walkers. A gunshot might change all that, of course. A few cars trickled by on Vernon Boulevard several hundred yards back, too far away to see what was going on down here. And probably no one from the store came back here. Plus, Henry would’ve easily disabled any CCTV cameras on the building. In short, it was perfect for Henry and whatever his crazy plan was.

I was waiting for the driver. I’d know when it was time to act.

Henry said to me, “I don’t know how you convinced Natalie to betray me, but it ruined a pretty good thing.”