Page 19

CHAPTER 19

I asked for leftover lasagna for lunch, and Rose said, “Anything you want, Reddy,” so when lunch was done, I said, “Anything?” and we went upstairs.

It was weird being this comfortable, life being this warm and easy. For the first time in my life, I trusted somebody completely, somebody I’d only known a month, but it was Rose, so of course. Tangled in the sheets, drowsing with her after sex, our arms around each other . . . that was not me, and yet, now it was.

But somebody was putting out hits, so we got out of bed and went back to work. I knew Rose wasn’t aware why we made love after visiting Melissa’s, but needing sex after seeing death was a primal instinct. As if one had to prove they were alive in the face of it. And also, we were good at it.

I went out the back door so I could get a satellite signal without anybody seeing me and asking for something. Even just one morning back, two different people had come looking for Rose, wanting her to solve their problems. Which she did, of course. I got the feeling Rose was handling some of the stuff Ozzie had, smoothing things out. Things had evolved in Rocky Start, even though I’d only been gone two weeks.

But Rose was still Rose, and that’s all I cared about, as long as nobody was killing people.

I wandered down the alley to the river road and walked along it, careful of my footing in the ice and snow. The sound of water cascading over the rocks didn’t soothe my spirit, probably because I’d been dunked in the Little Melvin a few too many times.

When I reached the picnic table, I cleared the snow off and sat. I noticed that the initials that had been carved in the top had been sanded out. I suspected Luke had done that; attention to detail.

Then I called he whom I did not want to call, also known as Herc, my former boss in the covert world and the man who had helped Oz and Pike set up Rocky Start.

“Max,” Herc said when he answered after only two rings. “Why can I assume you are bringing trouble into my life? You never call to see how I’m doing.”

His voice brought an immediate reaction of a feeling of dread, and I realized it always had. It had been part of my old normal, which I now knew had been anything but normal. I wasn’t going to get caught up in his nonsense today. “Someone tried to kill Coral yesterday morning.”

“Is she still alive?”

“You know she is.” Herc could dip into the surveillance feeds of State Street and the highway that the Ferrells had in the SCIF that Herc had so graciously gifted to Rocky Start. He had not done it out of the kindness of his heart.

“I’m not happy about the damage to the SCIF,” Herc said, as if he could read my mind, easily dismissing the attempt on Coral’s life. He was referring to the short-circuit Geoffrey Nice had caused in the SCIF to try to take out the evidence of his killing Harvey.

“Tough shit. And we didn’t do it. That nutjob Geoffrey Nice did it.”

“Careful, Max.” And the way he said it, I knew I needed to rein it in. You can only poke the bear so often before it rips your head off. I decided not to tell him about the snake in the oven because, given his reaction to the attempt on Coral, I didn’t want to deal with his apathy toward Rose.

I shifted the topic. “Two dogs from the Cauldron were stalking me on the Appalachian Trail.”

“Really?” He sounded bored.

“Why?”

“How the fuck should I know?”

“You told me the new person in charge of the Cauldron didn’t care about Serena.”

“They don’t.”

“Then why were two of them after me?”

“Did you ask them?”

“We didn’t chat,” I said. “Why would someone be after me? And the person who tried to take out Coral was also from the Cauldron. Coral had nothing to do with Serena’s death. What’s going on?”

“Max. You don’t work for me anymore, remember? Unless you want to get back on the job and are looking for a contract, I suggest you lose my number. Also, remember, dogs work for money.”

“Who is running the Cauldron now?”

“No one you know.”

“Junior Stafford?”

“Not likely.”

That was a shift from his earlier statement. Almost an admission. I figured there wasn’t anything to lose. “Is it about the treasure?”

There was a very short pause. “What treasure?”

“The one Oz and Pike took from the Russians in Afghanistan way back when. Part of the gold from the Bactrian hoard.”

“I heard that rumor, ‘way back when,’ as you say. But Oz and Pike never said anything. The Russians never said anything. And nothing ever came of it. The Bactrian hoard was in the public eye after their mission. Did a tour of museums around the world. Hard to do that if Oz had it.”

Talking with Herc was like speaking another language. Often what he didn’t say was more important than what he did. What struck me is he didn’t deny the rumor. He talked around it. Also, he seemed unusually knowledgeable about something he said didn’t amount to anything. On the other hand, that was his job. To know stuff.

“Not really,” I said. “The Bactrian hoard was dug up by a Soviet archeologist. We know what he reported finding. But we don’t know what he actually found. It’s not like the Soviets were big on the truth. Especially the KGB. They were always looking for ways to fund their operations off the books. And to enrich themselves.” I was holding back on the details of what Dmitri had told me about the seventh grave because if I mentioned it, Herc would want to know where I got the information. I also didn’t point out our own government, including Herc and the CIA in general, also financed some of their own ops in various unique and nefarious ways. Some much worse than hoarding treasure.

“Why do you give a shit, Max?” Herc asked. “I thought you were off walking the damn Trail again.”

“I was. Until the two dogs showed up.”

“And where are they now?” Herc asked.

“Pushing up daisies.”

“What about the one that went after Coral?”

“You know already.”

“Then your problems are solved.”

“Not if there are contracts out on us. If they’re Cauldron contracts, there will be more coming. And we don’t know who let the contracts.”

“I got nothing for you, Max.”

“Can you find out who put out a hit on us with the Cauldron?”

“No.”

“Was it Junior?”

“You think Junior could run the Cauldron?”

Another non-answer. “You owe me.”

“I do not owe you, Max. We had a business arrangement. I paid you for your services. Anything outside of that is in your imagination.”

I realized my hand was hurting from gripping the phone so hard. I was experiencing the side of Herc that he showed to those he didn’t need. It should have made me angry. Instead, it gave me a hollow feeling. As if he’d just vacated years of my life and rendered them worthless. I’d never really focused on the money for the contracts I’d taken over the years; always the mission and whether it fit within my ethical boundaries, such as they were. I’d even turned down some that I’d felt were sketchy. That was the biggest reason I’d gone from being a government employee to a contractor for Herc; since I didn’t have to follow orders I didn’t agree with. I’d always believed I was working on the side of good.I still believed that, but . . .

Herc cut into my musings. “Why are you asking me about the Bactrian hoard? What’s happened? It was just a rumor. What’s changed?”

Herc was not dumb.

“Still just rumors,” I said, realizing that I’d make a mistake. I’d assumed Herc knew about the treasure from Oz and Pike or his own sources. Of course, it was likely he probably knew all about it and was fishing to add to what he already knew.

I was getting really tired of all the games.

“I don’t think Oz and Pike could keep a treasure under wraps for three decades,” Herc said.

“Bullshit,” I replied. “Oz was perfectly capable of doing that. He had the microfilm that long. I want to find out why these people are coming. And who is sending them.”

“I’ve told you enough times to get out of Rocky Start, but you won’t listen to me. Are you planning on staying there, Max?”

A couple of seconds of silence ticked off. “Yes.”

The line went dead.

I sat on the table, trying to make sense of it, and the only thing I could think of was that Herc had been far too interested in getting me out of Rocky Start. In fact, he was far too interested in Rocky Start for a guy who ran a powerful organization, given the fact he really didn’t give a shit about the people who retired here.

So the question was: Why?

My musings on the convoluted workings of Herc’s mind were interrupted by Dmitri coming around the corner of the Wok Inn toward me. Just what I needed.

“My wandering friend,” he said as he arrived. He wore the same heavy fur coat and very nice winter boots. Which reminded me that I was cold in my old jacket.

“What do you want, Dmitri?”

“My treasure.”

“I thought you were going to look up Betty?”

“All in good time. You mentioned Oz was looking for the treasure.”

“I did not.”

“Not in so many words, but in essence.”

I’d had a little time to think about it. If Oz had found the treasure, it was a big liability for Rocky Start. I’d prefer it to be Dmitri’s liability. “There are maps.”

Dmitri perked right up. “Ah! Maps are good. Let us go look at them.”

“They’re just maps. No big flag on them saying ‘Here there be treasure.’”

“But there could be clues.” Dmitri frowned. “You look unhappy. I do not see how a man with such a beautiful woman can?—”

“Give it a break, Dmitri,” I said. “We’ve got problems here in Rocky Start. And you’re one of them.”

Surprisingly, he nodded. “Yes. You do have problems. I am the least of it, though.”

“You’re standing in front of me right now. And I think you’re a lot more trouble than you pretend.”

“Perhaps, when you are in better mood, we might discuss the maps?”

“Don’t count on it.”

“Seeing the maps?”

“A better mood.”

He shook his head. “We must talk maps very soon. And in exchange I will tell you other things, things you need to know.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me with the feeling that everyone knew a lot more than I did.