Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen [100]
“You haven’t given me proof. I gave you your window. That’s it.”
“No, it’s not,” Joe added a thread of steel to the softness of his voice. “You’ll give us as long as it takes. And you’ll ask permission to take your satellite anywhere else.”
There was an astonished silence. “Screw you.”
“Listen carefully, Helder. You like your job? Of course you do. It gives a stunning amount of power to a man whose life was destined to be humdrum. But it can be taken away from you in a heartbeat.”
“By you?” Helder jeered. “You have no authority. I don’t even know why Venable let you become involved. I have ten years’ seniority and experience with the NSA.”
“You also have an arrogance that the general public finds offensive in public servants. Particularly when it concerns their safety. I’ve recorded our conversations. I’m going to play it back to you.” He turned the switch and played the recording. “As you can hear, you stated you cared nothing about aiding Homeland Security. Nor were you willing to stretch the time you allowed us even after it was stated that a public emergency existed. It didn’t sound warm and caring, did it?”
Silence. “What do you intend to do with that?”
“Your boss, media…I haven’t decided. It would be particularly damaging if there was really a national emergency. I think probably a vigilante posse might lynch you.”
“It wouldn’t matter. I’d apologize and say I was goaded.”
“Why bother? The problem goes away the minute you agree to keep the satellite fixed on Catherine Ling’s phone until I tell you it’s no longer necessary.”
Another silence. “I might consider it.”
“You’ll do it,” Joe said. “Because I’ll tell you why Venable thought I could deal with you. I don’t care, Helder. Not about my job, or my superiors, or what anyone thinks of me. You’re right, I don’t have authority because it would just get in my way. That leaves me free to use blackmail or violence or anything necessary to stop that attack from happening. I don’t play by the rules. If you decide having this disk aired won’t bother you, I’ll find another way to take you down.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “Now, do we work together to get this done?”
Helder hesitated before saying jerkily, “The NSA is always willing to cooperate in any security endeavor.”
“Then call me after you have the completed trace, even if you have to wait for another hour.” He hung up.
Venable was gazing ruefully at him. “You realize you’ve put the CIA-NSA relationship in dire danger?”
“Then keep the disk on hand,” he said indifferently. “Or call me, and I’ll have another talk with Helder.”
Venable’s brows rose. “You really don’t care.”
“I care about Eve. I care about my daughter, Jane. I care about my country. None of the rest is worth worrying about.” He checked his watch again. “It’s 2:17 P.M. No call. Catherine is probably ready to explode…”
It was 2:25, Catherine saw in despair as she glanced at her watch.
Rakovac had done it again. It would be a miracle if that NSA satellite was still aimed at her.
And there were at least three men focusing their attention on her. She had been scanning the crowd as she moved from booth to booth and spotted Rakovac’s men. One short, burly man in a yellow Windbreaker, a taller, thin man in an olive green sweatshirt, the third man had been a huge man in a gray cap and red sweater, but he had disappeared from view shortly after she had spotted him. It wasn’t difficult to identify them as Rakovac’s men when they were trying so hard not to look at her and to appear casual in a venue that was clearly not their cup of tea.
It was okay. Now that she knew with whom she had to contend, she could be on watch. They wouldn’t move on her with this many witnesses. The crowds were proving as helpful to her as she had thought when she had set up the call for this marketplace.
Two twenty-six.
Blast it, at this rate, the market would close before she heard from—
Her cell phone rang.
She grabbed it and punched the button. “You took your time, Rakovac.”
“I don’t like orders. And I have all the time in the world. You,