Blood Money Page 17

  “Do what?” Kelton said. “He hired me to rescue you from the safe house and deliver him to you, and that’s what I’m going to do. What happens after that is out of my hands.”

  “If you say so,” Jessica said. “But—”

  “There are no buts. He’s the one who got himself into this mess in the first place. All this crap about wanting to help the world, and all he was doing was stealing information so he could profit from it. Fuck him. He’s getting what he deserves.”

  Jessica held his stare but didn’t say anything.

  “What?” he said.

  “I just don’t want you to have any regrets about the way it went down.”

  “How could I have any regrets when I’d have you?”

  Jessica punched him in the shoulder. “I’m serious here, Kelton.”

  He locked eyes with her. “So am I.”

  Jessica’s mouth turned up in a tentative smile. “And you’re sure you’ll be able to live with this on your conscience?”

  “I’ve lived with much worse than this,” Kelton said. “I think I can find a way to manage.”

  Her smile growing wider, Jessica stepped closer to Kelton. She put her arms around him and gave him a kiss. “Then let’s do it.”

  They kissed again, then broke off the embrace. Kelton walked towards the door, knocked on it, and stepped back.

  A few seconds later, Nicholas opened the door and strode into the room. “I assume you have come to a decision?”

  “Don’t give me that crap, Nick. We know you’ve been watching and listening to this entire conversation.”

  Nicholas offered a half-smile.

  “But just to make things official,” Kelton said. “Yes, we will help you bring Walter into custody.”

  “In return for a free pass,” Jessica added.

  “Of course,” Nicholas said. “And despite the doubt you expressed earlier, I assure you, if you hold up your end of the bargain, we will hold up ours.”

  “Yeah, well I guess we’ll just have to trust you on that part.”

  Nicholas nodded his head once. “Now, if you do not mind, we have a few more specifics to go over.”

  “Like what?” Kelton said.

  Nicholas again opened his pad of yellow-ruled paper and pulled a pen from his jacket pocket. “First, we need to know how you contact Walter.”

  “I call his cell phone.”

  “From where?” Nicholas asked.

  “Whatever phone I can get my hands on.”

  “Did he not provide you with a cell?”

  “He did,” Kelton said. “But I ditched it last night, before we went on the run, fearing that you may have been able to hear our conversations, or use it to track us.”

  Nicholas scribbled this down. Kelton tried to read his face as to whether this was a valid concern on his part, but it was like reading a marble statue.

  “So he has no way of contacting you?” Nicholas said.

  “Not anymore.”

  “And the cell is the only number you have for him.”

  Kelton nodded.

  Nicholas wrote this down. “And when was the last time you contacted him.”

  “Yesterday morning, from the bathroom of a Chinese restaurant in Riverside.”

  “Before you found the transmitter?”

  “Yes.”

  “When did you tell him you would call him back?” Nicholas asked.

  “As soon as I was certain we’d lost you.”

  “Did you have a deadline?”

  “No.”

  Nicholas again wrote on his paper. “And what was the plan after you had lost us?”

  “We would set up another transfer point and I would deliver Jessica to him,” Kelton said.

  “Did you have a specific meeting place?”

  “No,” Kelton said. “We would have come up with one at the time of our conversation.”

  Nicholas set his pen down and caught Kelton’s eyes. “Am I to assume that he does not know about your little rendezvous with us, or have any other knowledge whatsoever pertaining to where you might be right now? Nor does he know which direction you were heading from Riverside, or any other specific details from that point forward?”

  Kelton shook his head. “Walter knows nothing. He is completely in the dark right now.”

  “Very well then,” Nicholas said. “You will simply call Walter from here and tell him that you have lost your tail. Let him know you are on your way to Las Vegas and that you will call him again as soon as you get there to set up the rendezvous point.”

  Kelton was shaking his head.

  “What?” Nicholas said.

  “I can’t call from here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Walter will know something’s amiss,” Kelton said. “I told him the next time I called him, it would be from a pay phone, and I’m reasonably certain he’s got some kind of number recognition device on his cell. He’ll see the number I’m calling from. And I’m assuming your number wouldn’t show up, while a pay phone would. He’d be suspicious.”

  Nicholas looked pleased, as if Kelton had just passed some test. “Those are all valid points, and I am glad you brought them up.”

  “Yeah, well I wouldn’t want some stupid mistake getting us killed.”

  “Nor would I,” Nicholas said. “What we will do is take you to Baker and have you call Walter from there. After we place a listening device on the line, of course, so we can hear what you two are saying.”

  “What about tracking the call?” Kelton said. “Can’t you get a location on his cell when I call him?”

  Nicholas shook his head. “We have tried numerous times but have not had any success. Whatever setup he is using is beyond our current ability to track, or monitor in any way.”

  “Really?”

  “Certainly you were aware of this.”

  Kelton shrugged. “Walter kept telling me that, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. I always figured any cell phone could be monitored in this day and age”

  “Life for us would be ever so much easier if that were the case,” Nicholas said. “But alas, it is not. Now, if you do not have any other questions . . .”

  Kelton shook his head. Jessica did the same.

  “Very well then,” Nicholas said. He pushed his chair back and stood up. “Let us get started.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  Kelton stood next to a pay phone outside of The Mad Greek Cafe in Baker, California, waiting for the okay to call Walter. Located 90 miles south of Las Vegas just off Interstate 15, Baker claimed to have the largest thermometer in the world. At 134 feet high, the thermometer was visible for miles in any direction, and right now it read 107 degrees.

  To Kelton, it felt more like 150. He was practically sweating through his T-shirt, and not only from the heat. He knew Nicholas would be listening to the impending conversation, which meant that his and Jessica’s futures hung in the balance of this single phone call.

  Kelton looked at his watch and saw that it was almost two o‘clock. He glanced at the Ford Taurus to his right and saw Nicholas give him a thumbs-up through the partially-open passenger’s window. Kelton nodded once, took a single deep breath, then turned back to face the phone. He picked up the receiver and dialed Walter’s cell phone.

  The line was picked up on the second ring and Walter said, “Hello?”

  “It’s me. Kelton.”

  “How are you doing, my friend?”

  “Not too bad,” Kelton said. “What about you?”

  Walter paused for just a moment, then said, “I can’t complain. Well, I could, but it wouldn’t do me any good.”

  “I hear you there.”

  “I’m glad you finally had a chance to get in touch,” Walter said. “I was starting to get a little worried.”

  “Yeah, sorry it took so long,” Kelton said. “I wanted to be certain we were alone before I made the call.”

  “So, am I to assume that you lost your tail?”

  “Yes
we did.”

  “Very good,” Walter said. “And you’re sure they have no idea where you are?”

  “Positive. We had multiple sets of eyes guaranteeing our freedom, and we’ve received a clean bill of health from all parties involved.”

  “That’s wonderful. Where are you heading now?”

  “I was thinking Vegas,” Kelton said. “We’ll get a room, make sure everything still feels right, then give you a call to set up a meeting.”

  “Sounds good. I haven’t been to Sin City in a few years. I wouldn’t mind checking it out again. Where are you planning on staying?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Kelton said. “We’ll figure it out after we get there.”

  “I’ll head down there as well,” Walter said. “Get yourselves settled in, and give me a call at five o’clock tonight. We’ll work out the details for the meet then.”

  “All right,” Kelton said. “Talk to you soon.” He hung up the phone, closed his eyes, took a relieved breath, then started walking back towards the Taurus.

  A tall, wiry man opened the driver’s door, stepped out, and gestured for Kelton to take his place behind the wheel.

  Kelton flashed a smile to Jessica as he climbed into the driver’s seat, then turned around to face the small man in the back seat. The engine was running and the air-conditioner was on the maximum setting but the heat was still stifling.

  Nicholas pulled a earpiece out of his right ear and set it on his lap. “It sounded to me like everything went all right. What did you think?”

  “I think it went fine,” Kelton said.

  “That is good to hear.”

  Kelton nodded, satisfied. “So what now?”

  “You have a room reserved for you at the Round Table Hotel, under the name Philip Crawford.”

  “What if they ask for identification?”

  “Do not worry about that,” Nicholas said. “Everything is already taken care of. Just check in and we will go from there.”

  “The room is bugged, I assume,” Kelton said.

  “Of course.”

  “As is this vehicle?”

  “It is equipped with sight, sound, and a location transmitter,” Nicholas said.

  “Plus I’m guessing you’ll have constant surveillance on us, right?”

  Nicholas nodded.

  Kelton glanced at Jessica before returning his gaze to Nicholas. This was all for her benefit, to make sure she understood exactly what they were getting into.

  “And here I thought we were friends,” Kelton said. “But with all these surveillance measures, it almost makes me think you don’t trust me.”

  “Of course I trust you,” Nicholas said. “The measures are simply precautionary. We just want to make sure that we know every little detail of your conversations. It is for your own protection, more than anything.”

  Kelton laughed under his breath. He knew that Nicholas was lying. And Nicholas knew that Kelton knew he was lying. It was all part of the game. “Our protection, huh?”

  “Yes,” Nicholas said. “That way, if something goes wrong, we will know it was Walter’s doing, and not yours.” He shot a glance at Jessica. “Now, if you do not mind, I am going to leave you two alone.”

  “Ah, come on, Nick,” Jessica said with a smile. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us? It’s always been a fantasy of mine to have a threesome with a government agent.”

  Kelton barked out a laugh.

  Nicholas looked at her impassively. “I assume that is supposed to be a joke.”

  Jessica just smiled at him.

  “Yes,” Nicholas said, turning back to Kelton. “Well, I will see you in Las Vegas. And try not to do anything stupid between here and there.”

  “We’ll try,” Jessica said. “But we can’t promise anything.”

  Nicholas ignored this and stepped out of the car.

  Kelton turned to Jessica. His smile was threatening to split his face in two. “A threesome with a government agent? That was classic.”

  “I thought so too,” Jessica said, returning his smile. “But I don’t think our friend Nick found it very amusing.”

  Kelton slipped the transmission into drive and pulled out into the street. “Ah well, screw him if he can’t take a joke.”

  They drove in complete silence for the first fifteen minutes until Jessica finally said, “This is stupid.”

  “What is?”

  “Us not talking,” Jessica said. “Just because the car’s bugged doesn’t mean we should be acting like we’re at a funeral.”

  “Okay then, what do you want to talk about?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Jessica said. “Anything.”

  “Pick something.”

  Jessica turned, looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  Kelton only saw her in his peripheral vision, but he knew what she was thinking. “You want to talk about my previous life, don’t you?”

  “That depends,” Jessica said. “Are we really going to give this a shot?”

  “You mean us?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “I’d like to,” Kelton said.

  “So would I.”

  “Then I guess we are.”

  “Well then, I think it’s something we need to talk about,” Jessica said. “I don’t want any issues lingering around, just waiting for an inopportune time to strike.”

  “I agree,” Kelton said. “It should be in the open. But right now, with all these ears listening in? I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.”

  “Come on,” Jessica said. “You think those guys give a rat’s ass about your personal life? They’re just listening in to make sure we aren’t planning to betray them or anything.” She looked at him and winked. “We aren’t, right?”

  “Don’t even joke around about stuff like that.” Kelton tried to inject some anger into his voice but was miserably unsuccessful.

  “Forget that,” Jessica said. “If we were going to turn on them, we sure as hell wouldn’t be talking about it when we know they’re listening. At least, not if we had any desire to actually get away with it.”

  “We’re not going to betray them,” Kelton said. “We’re going to do exactly what they said.”

  “Okay, just making sure,” Jessica said. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “You hear that all right, guys? We’re not planning on screwing you over. So just don’t pay any attention to what Kelton has to say for the next few minutes.”

  She smiled, glanced over at him.

  He sent a fake smile back her way.

  “Happy now?” Jessica said.

  “Not at all,” Kelton replied.

  “Yeah right,” she shot back. “Now come on, man, spill your guts. Convince me that you’ll be able to put your past life behind you if we give this thing a shot.”

  “I already told you, it’s behind me,” Kelton said. “I hadn’t thought about it for years before you dragged it out of me. I was completely over it.”

  “You weren’t over it,” Jessica said. “You just ignored it, that’s all. And the moment the feelings came back around, you freaked out. Remember, on the bed?”

  He nodded. Of course he remembered; how could he forget?

  “That’s what we need to talk about,” Jessica said. “If you’re going to freak out every time we start getting physical, then we might as well end this thing before it starts and save us the trouble. Because it sure as hell isn’t going to work.”

  Kelton looked at her with raised eyebrows. “How long have you been rehearsing that little statement?”

  “Don’t change the subject, Kelton.”

  “I wasn’t,” he said. “I was just stalling, trying to figure out how to put my thoughts into words.”

  Jessica laughed. “Well, no need for that. Take your time, think it through. But I’m not going to let you off the hook with this one. We need to talk about it before we get to Vegas. I have a feeling we’re going to be busy once we’re there.”

  Kelton took a dee
p breath and stared at the road ahead. After a couple miles of pavement had passed under their wheels, he said, “You’re right. Earlier, I thought I had put it behind me, but I really hadn’t. But now, I think I have.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “It doesn’t hurt the way it used to,” Kelton said, choosing his words carefully. “When I think back to that day there’s no real emotional attachment. It doesn’t feel like it was me that suffered through the experience, it feels like it happened to someone else; some character in a movie I saw years ago. I don’t know if enough time has passed that I can see things more objectively now, or if I’ve just repressed the memories for so long that I’ve fooled myself into thinking it truly didn’t happen to me, but something has changed. I just didn’t realize it until I let it out into the open.”

  “That’s good,” Jessica said. “That means you’re healing.”

  “Does it? Or does it just mean that I’m a cold, heartless asshole who is doomed to repeat his past because he denies it ever happened?”

  “Don’t talk that way,” Jessica said. “You’re not cold. You’re not heartless. You’re a strong man, Kelton. And deep down, a good man, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Kelton said. “The point is, I am someone else. Whoever I was when my wife killed herself and our two kids is gone. He died shortly after his family did. For good or bad, I’m a new person now.”

  “Is there something wrong with that? Reinventing yourself?”

  “I guess not,” Kelton said. “Still, it feels like I’m betraying their memory by simply forgetting about them like they never existed.”

  “You’re beating yourself up over nothing,” Jessica said. “You haven’t forgotten about them, you’ve simply found a way to move on with your life. That’s what human beings do, we adjust. All of us do it, all the time. You’ve done it before, and I’m sure you’ll have to do it again.”

  “Maybe. But I still feel like a deadbeat.”

  “Well you better get over it soon,” Jessica said. “Because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with a deadbeat. Even one as cute as you.”

  Kelton couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, assuming I don’t screw this thing up, getting us thrown in prison for the rest of our lives by our new, so-called friends.”