Page 28 of Tightrope

“No. Evidently Smith did not appreciate the way he was treated. On his way out the door, he murdered his employer, who happened to be the only person who knew his real identity. To top things off, Smith stole his own file and an unknown quantity of intelligence documents. Then he vanished. According to Luther, very few people were even aware that Smith existed. No one knew his real name or anything about his past. He became a legend in spy circles.”

“Smith was a code name, I assume?”

“Right,” Matthias said.

“Why does Luther Pell care about this former spy turned gunrunner and murderer?”

“Let’s just say that Washington asked Pell to take on the investigation. Pell, in turn, called me.”

“Are you telling me that the director of some intelligence agency back in Washington asked a nightclub owner with mob connections for help in a matter that involves national security?”

Matthias looked amused. “Yes.”

“But why would someone in Washington trust Luther Pell?”

“The individual back in D.C. doesn’t have much choice,” Matthias said. “He needs Luther.”

Amalie decided she found that very humorous. “Because the black market deal for the Ares machine was set up by a mob broker and the man back east probably doesn’t have close ties with the criminal underworld. Luther Pell does.”

“The gentlemen who run our country’s intelligence agencies don’t like to dirty their hands by consorting with men who might have mob connections.”

“Except when they need someone with those connections.”

“Except for those situations.” Matthias drank some more coffee andlowered the cup. “This isn’t the first time someone in Washington has picked up the phone to ask Luther for a favor.”

“I’m just surprised that they think they can trust Pell. Talk about life’s little ironies.”

Matthias’s jaw hardened. “Luther may have mob connections, but he is a genuine hero of the Great War.”

“Yes, I did hear something about that,” she said. She paused, trying to read his grim expression. “There’s a lot you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

“A lot,” he admitted. “I’d rather not lie to you if I can avoid it.”

“I appreciate that.”

Matthias chose to ignore the sarcasm. “Lying gets complicated fast.”

“Why did the Broker contact Mr. Pell to tell him about the cipher machine deal?”

“Let’s just say the Broker owed Luther a favor.”

“It must have been a heck of a favor,” Amalie said.

“It was. But returning to our subject, Luther is convinced now that Smith has been operating out of Los Angeles for quite a while. Hollywood, to be precise.”

“The perfect place for an ex-spy to hide, if you ask me,” Amalie said. “Nothing is what it seems in Hollywood.”

“True.”

“Well, obviously things did not go according to plan.”

“They definitely didn’t go according to Pell’s plan,” Matthias said. “Somehow Smith figured out that he was being set up. He changed the location and the time of the transaction. Instead of taking place in the parking lot of the Paradise Club, it happened onstage at the Palace.”

“Very daring, when you think about it.”

“Yes. But I’m beginning to wonder if things went wrong for Smith, too.”

“Well, what you have described was a very intricate strategy,” Amalie said.