Henning stood up from a front-row seat. “The device was really overkill, so we’re having trouble reconstructing the triggering mechanism. It was wired to the floor-button panel, so we think there may have been a way to disarm it from inside the elevator car, something as simple as a three- or four-digit code typed into the panel. Either it malfunctioned or the person we believe is Radek, having been shot in the leg and hand, forgot the code, or maybe he simply panicked and punched in the wrong one. Steve Vail fired a shot into the elevator just as the doors were closing. Maybe the shot fatally wounded him. It could be a week or more before we have a better idea.” Henning wrote his pager number on the board. “I strongly suggest you call me before executing any more search or arrest warrants in this case. These people have a history of booby-trapping everything. You’re aware of the tunnel and the elevator. And I understand that Kate and Steve ran into a car that had its trunk rigged, so don’t hesitate to call.” Henning shot a smile at Kate as he sat down.
“One other thing we found at Radek’s apartment,” Hildebrand said, “was a complete set of identification in the name of William Thompson, no middle initial. Since Radek convinced the others that the money had been deposited in a bank under aliases, we feel there’s a possibility that he has all of it stowed in a bank under that alias either in accounts or in a safety-deposit box or boxes. So ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to wear out some shoe leather. We’re sending out instructions to every office in the Bureau to contact every bank. Our division will be searching most of Southern California, unless someone feels they have a better idea.” When no one spoke up, Hildebrand said, “Okay, see your supervisors for assignments.”
Kate looked back at Vail and sensed that the briefing had not answered all his questions. Kaulcrick walked up to them. “Kate, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, Don.”
“LAPD homicide is in the SAC’s conference room. They’re going to need your statement.”
She got up slowly and said to Vail, “I hope you didn’t rat me out.”
“Yeah, like you’re not about to give me up.”
When she was gone, Kaulcrick said, “I need to talk to you, Steve. How about in Kate’s office in a half hour?”
Vail couldn’t tell what the assistant director had in mind. That he wanted to talk to him alone was probably not a good sign. At least it had never been in the past. There usually came a point with Vail when enough had been accomplished, and the unfinished balance wasn’t worth the disruption of having him around. That time may have arrived.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
WHEN KAULCRICK WALKED IN, he found Vail sitting behind Kate’s desk, pushing 9mm rounds into a magazine for an older-model Sig Sauer automatic that was sitting on the desk beside him. He had just drawn it from the firearm vault. Kaulcrick sat down and Vail set the clip aside. “So what’s up?”
“I’m wondering why you and I are never on the same page.”
“Don, if you’re going to cut me loose, I understand. I’m the one who predicted it, remember? So let’s skip the hand-wringing search for the reasons.”
“Nobody’s cutting you loose. I am genuinely curious why you don’t come to me when you find something.”
“We told you about Pendaran, and we called you last night, but things just got out of hand when it looked like an agent was in trouble.”
Kaulcrick smiled and shook his head slowly. “In both instances, you were conducting your own investigation and called only when you couldn’t take it any further. Steve, I just want the truth.”
“Do you want me to be honest? Before you answer, think about it.”
Kaulcrick was sitting with his legs crossed and tapped his index finger on his thigh in brief contemplation. “Yes, I do.”
“Okay,” Vail said. “The FBI’s large bureaucratic structure, especially in this case, is what the Pentad targeted. Knowing how you did things, they were able to use it to their advantage. Recognizing this, I let you follow the Pentad script of false leads to lull them into a false sense of security. With them thinking the Bureau was falling for it, I was able to work behind the scenes and find a few of their weak spots.”
“So we were nothing more than a decoy for you.”
“You were following the logical leads. Which had to be done.”
“I don’t like being a decoy.”
“No one does.”
“And given the least provocation, you’d do it again, wouldn’t you?” Vail shrugged, implying he wouldn’t contest the assistant director’s assumption. “Can you think of any circumstance that would allow us to work together to find this money?”
“I was brought into this precisely because I am not a team player.”
“What if I found a way to make you want to work with me?”
“I’d be interested in hearing it.”
“What if I developed the best lead to recover the money?”
Vail laughed. “Then why would you come to me?”
Kaulcrick smiled caustically. “I said ‘developed the lead,’ not that I had figured it out completely.”
“You found something at Radek’s apartment.”
“Yes.”
When Kaulcrick didn’t say anything else, Vail said, “Am I supposed to guess?”
“No, I’ll tell you on one condition.”
“Which is?”
“I’m with you every step of the way.”
“How good a lead is it?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, I guess not,” Vail said. “Agreed.”
Kaulcrick handed him a clear plastic evidence envelope with a slip of blue paper inside. On it was written: “2M-8712.”
Vail looked at it and turned it over, finding the back side blank. “Is that the same paper as the death notes, the tablet that was planted at Bertok’s?”
“It looks the same. We found it hidden in a book that was on a shelf over his desk.”
“And no one has any idea what it means?”
“None. But it’s got to be important. Why else hide it like that?”
Vail didn’t answer right away. “The first demand note had the amount written out in numbers. The second note shorthanded the three million dollars as a dollar sign with a 3 and an M. The 2M could mean two million dollars.”
“What about the four numbers? Could they be an address, like he knows the street but wants to make sure he remembers the numbers correctly?” Kaulcrick asked.
“Possibly, but he knew how to get there, and it’s unlikely that he would trust anyone else enough to send them to get the money.”
“On the off chance it is an address, I could get some analysts to start running through the reverse directories just looking for those four digits.”
“This is a big city. There could be a hundred of them,” Vail said. “What was on the desk?”
“At his apartment? Just a cell phone in a charger.”
“Since he was keeping the piece of paper that close to the phone, it could be a phone number.”
“But it’s only four numbers.”
“Salton had a cell on him, and at least one of those guys last night had a phone. And I saw one in a charger at that house where we found the Honda. They’re probably all throwaways with the preloaded minutes. Why don’t we try all the exchanges on them with 8712?”
“If you’re right and we wind up with a dead guy’s cell phone number, how’s that give us a location?”
“One thing at a time. Let me get Tom Demick up here. Can you have someone bring us those three phones?”
A half hour later Demick sat at Kate’s desk examining the three cell phones, scrolling through Menu options. He wrote down their phone numbers. Two of them had the same exchange. Vail then turned one phone on and dialed it from Kate’s desktop landline. It rang four times before a beep sounded without a greeting to leave a message. He hung up and dialed one of the phones that was not turned on. It rang once before the beep. He then dialed the exchange of the two that matched followed by 8712. He held the phone away from his ear so the other two men could hear. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.” He dialed again, this time using the other cell phone exchange followed by the same four digits. He held it out as it rang four times before the beep. “It’s turned on.” He looked at Demick. “So far, so good.”