Net Force - Tom Clancy [123]
He gave her a small smile. Yeah. Well. Still, it kinda felt like Larry and Curly catch a killer, Michaels said.
She looked blank.
Two of the Three Stooges, he said. Hey, Larry! Hey, Moe! Woowoowoowoo!
Oh, yeah. My brothers used to watch those old vids. They must be a male thing. I never thought they were funny. Too violent. She smiled at the irony.
Im really sorry about your friend, the FBI trainee.
Yeah.
There was a long pause. Then: You believe her? he said. About Steve Day?
Toni shrugged. I dont know. She confessed to Genaloni and some others. Why would she lie about Day?
Maybe to screw with our heads, Michaels said.
We have to consider that. Did you believe her?
He nodded. Yeah, I did. I didnt think Days murder was her style before, and this confirmed it for me.
At least she wont be coming after you again.
No. But what that means is, somebody else is responsible for Day.
Somebody who apparently wanted us to think the mob did it, Toni said.
He nodded. Remember that business about Genalonis lieutenant up and disappearing? That they thought the FBI had taken him?
Yes.
I bet whoever swiped his enforcer did it to piss Genaloni off. And whoever it was knew to point the finger at us when he did it.
Looks like it worked, she said. If Genaloni thought Net Force was gunning for him, he might have hired somebody to hit back. In his world, any problem can be solved with money or violence.
He shifted his weight slightly. His leg was beginning to throb pretty good. He considered taking one of the pain pills, then decided against it. He needed his mind to be clear more than he needed to be doped up and pain-free.
So, were back to square one on Days killing, she added.
No. I know who did it.
She looked at him. Who?
The Russian. Plekhanov.
She thought about it for a second. How did you come to that?
He said, It was part of his plan all along, to give Net Force something else to look at while he pulled off his power grab. The attacks on Day, our listening posts, all the rascals he threw in our paths all over the world. He wanted us busy, so we wouldnt notice what he was doing. It all makes a kind of warped sense.
I dont know, Alex. Its possible, but-
Its him. I know it. He was willing to crash systems that caused deaths. Its not that big a leap to hiring a shooter. We were looking in the wrong direction-right where Plekhanov wanted us to look. Hes smart.
Toni looked at him. Assume youre right. How do we prove it? If his computer skills are as good as Jay says they are, we cant get into his files. Without some record, all we have is some very circumstantial evidence, and not much of that.
Plekhanov could open the files for us. He has the key.
He has no reason to do that-even if we had him, which we dont.
Well have to figure out the right way to ask. After we collect him.
She shook her head again. Uplevels wont go for it, Alex. Walt Carver is too much a political animal to risk it. And even if he wanted to, he couldnt convince the Foreign Covert Operations Committee or the CIA to go along. FCOC has been burned too many times with this kind of thing. They havent greenlighted anything military in two years that doesnt have the locals willing to go along, or at least look the other way-like the operation in Ukraine.
This man had Steve Day murdered. And is responsible for the deaths of others. Hes about to rig an election that will make him legally untouchable. And we cant get him because of some bureaucratic crap?
I know how you feel, but well be wasting our time to even ask, she said.
Fine. So we wont ask, he said.
She stared at him. Alex
There is a difference between the law and justice. The only way this guy skates is over my dead body. We never had this conversation, Toni. You dont know anything about this.
She shook her head. Oh, no, you dont. You dont get rid of me that easy. You want to do something stupid, Im going to make sure you do it right. Im in.
You dont have to do this.
Steve Day was my boss, too. I want his killer to pay for it.
Neither of