“Okay,” Walter said. “He’ll have to run it through borough command in Brooklyn, but that shouldn’t be a problem if he wants to help us.”

“Good. Good. So I’ll arrange a meeting with him. Today.”

“If you can.”

“Oh, trust me. I can make this happen.”

Walter looked at his watch. It was an old digital Casio that showed the time and date. “What is it, not even eight? Still early in the day. I’d say the sooner I meet with him, the better.”

“I’ll set it up. How soon do you think they can arrest these men and put them away?”

“Well, if I talk to your bureau chief today and he kicks it into gear, late tonight, early Friday morning sometime. But you have to file a complaint, and get a court to issue an arrest warrant.”

“Don’t worry about that. My lawyer said he can get that done in a matter of hours.”

“Good. You want me to drive out to the location, verify that Beck is there?”

“No. We don’t have time for that. As soon as I get the warrants I want you to meet with this bureau chief.”

“What’s his name?”

Milstein looked at a legal pad near his phone. “Waldron. I want the cops to take over now.”

Walter figured he’d teed up Milstein just enough.

“Well, that’s all fine, Mr. Milstein, but you and I have to come to an agreement.”

Milstein’s brow creased. It took him a nanosecond to know that Walter was about to put the squeeze on him.

“What do you mean?”

Walter laid his big arm on Milstein’s desk and leaned toward. “Let’s not bullshit each other. You were about to drop the hammer on me, Mr. Milstein. You’ve never brought me up here before. You were about to fire me.”

Milstein frowned. He had underestimated Walter Pearce. He’d grown accustomed to seeing him as a big slow plodder. He’d made a mistake. Walter might be a lummox physically, but there was nothing slow about his brain.

“Is that what you think?”

“Yes.”

Milstein narrowed his eyes. If Walter was going to walk, he would have already done it. So now it was just a matter of negotiating.

“I see.”

“Apparently there’s not a lot of job security around here.”

Milstein settled into his negotiating stance.

“You have an employee contract with us, don’t you?”

“And it says I can be let go with two weeks’ notice. And vice versa.”

Milstein nodded. Might as well get right to it.

“So what are you saying here, Walter? You saying you’re not going to give me the information I need until we come to some sort of agreement? The information that I paid you to get. The information obtained while you were drawing a salary from me.”

Walter didn’t hesitate. “That’s what I’m saying.”

Milstein said, “Are you looking to get sued for breach of contract, Walter?”

“Sure, why not.” Walter laughed. “Sue me. That’ll get you what you need.”

Milstein let out a slow breath. “All right, Walter, before this gets any more acrimonious, tell me what you want.”

“Everything I can get,” he replied.

“Oh come on, Walter. Don’t play the tough guy asshole. It doesn’t suit you.”

“I always heard, whoever says the first number is the loser.”

“Not when the first number is the last and final number. You really want to play this game with me?”

Now Walter leaned back.

“All right. Here’s where I stand. First, I’ve got information that cost me a lot. A lot of time and wear and tear. But it also cost me putting myself at risk. Getting information out of NYPD databases is a risk I don’t need in my life. I get caught at that, I could lose my PI license. Maybe even my pension.

“As far as getting a high-up bureau chief to help you, you might like it, but I don’t. The minute he sees what I have, he’ll suspect I tapped into inside information. Maybe this chief won’t have any cause or chance to do anything to me about that. Maybe he will. Bottom line, it doesn’t help me.”

“So then I’ll meet with him,” said Milstein.

“We both know that’s ridiculous. You won’t know where to start. You won’t know if he’s just bullshitting you. And he’ll know you didn’t do the legwork. Which means he won’t trust you, and he’ll do nothing for you. Certainly not until he vets everything you tell him, and you want this taken care of now.

“Lastly, you were sitting here ready to dump me if I hadn’t come up with the information you wanted on Beck.” Walter raised his hands. “Hey, that’s your prerogative, but I end up with nothing after a lot of sweat and putting myself on the line for you. How is that fair?”

Milstein started to speak, but Walter cut him off.

“On the plus side, except for your idea that I should be at your beck and call 24/7, you gave me a cushy job for about eighteen months, and fairly decent pay.”

“Are you done?”

“No. Here’s how I see it.” Walter lifted his big hands palms up, weighing each option. “On one hand, I walk out of here, you get nothing about Beck, and I get nothing from you. Clearly, you wouldn’t even pay me the lousy two weeks’ severance. But I’m free and clear, and that would mitigate the risk that anybody in the department finds out that I dipped into classified information.

“On the other hand, I give you the information on Beck, you thank me, and wait for the right time to fire me. Either way, I’m screwed.”

Milstein nodded. “Now are you done?”

“Last point, I’ve demonstrated to you that I’m not a dumb fuck that can be exploited, which ultimately makes me a much more valuable guy to have around.”

“So again, what do you want?”

“Again, what are you offering?”

Milstein could see Walter had maneuvered him into making the deal so he got to it.

“Okay, fair enough. How about this. I give you a fifty-percent increase in salary. Your contract goes until April, if I remember right.”

“End of April.”

“Right. End of April. I’ll make the increase start first of April, and guarantee to renew your contract for another year, at the increase. It’s a very good deal, Walter.”

“It is. I appreciate it. But I also want a twenty-thousand-dollar bonus for this year’s work. That’s chicken feed for a year-end bonus around here. And just so you don’t get second thoughts, you guarantee if you fire me, for any reason, you have to pay off the balance of the new contract.”

“You realize I’m losing my biggest client.”

“Hey, that’s the whole point here. This information on Beck will go a long way toward showing your client that you’re taking care of him. You tell me, is that worth twenty grand or not?”

Milstein needed Beck out of the picture. And he had to at least try to keep Markov from leaving Summit. Or give him a reason to come back.

“Fifteen thousand, plus the increase in salary and guaranteed contract extension, and we have a deal. But only on the condition I keep this client. If he goes, the firm will either close or cut staff drastically.”

Walter shook his head. “No deal. That leaves me taking all the risk.”

Milstein pushed. “Well I can’t take all the risk either, Walter.”

Walter paused. “Okay, here it is. I get the bump in salary. If the firm goes south, I get three months’ severance, plus the twenty-thousand signing bonus, and you cover two grand in expenses today, which you owe me anyhow.”

“Walter, come on, you have to do better than that.”

After a pause, Walter said, “Shit. Final offer, or I walk. I’m already tired of this. I’ll agree to the fifteen bonus, in my next salary check. You pay me the two grand in expenses today. And you start my salary increase today. Not at the end of the month.”

Milstein immediately did the math in his head. He wondered if Walter had actually figured it out. Starting the salary increase two weeks earlier just about met him halfway on the fifteen versus twenty thousand. Milstein made a note to watch Walter Pearce much more carefully.

He put his hand out. “Okay, we have a deal.”