One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [124]
That fucker. “You haven’t called, have you?”
“No, not yet.”
“Don’t. Just go where you told me you were going. I’m on my way. Do not call Kurt.”
“Pike, what’s going on? I’m scared. I think someone’s following me. I keep seeing the same guy. He jumped on the Metro at the last minute, and now he’s been thirty feet behind me ever since. I don’t want you to think I’m paranoid, but I think it’s real.”
I spoke slowly and clearly. “I think it’s real too. Stay in crowded areas. Don’t pay him any attention. If he thinks he’s burned, he’ll either do something drastic or be replaced by someone else. Better to know who’s following you than to have to figure it out. Move to where you said you would meet me. Anybody tries anything, kick them as hard as you can in the balls, then run off screaming. Run in a zigzag pattern. I’m on the way. Can you do that?”
I heard her take a deep breath. “Yeah ... Yeah, I can do that. I’m not going to ask why the zigzag pattern. I don’t want to know what you’re going to say.”
“Don’t worry. I’m coming. Hold tight. I’ll be there in minutes.”
IN THE COURTYARD OF THE ATRIUM, Mason saw Pike leave the room three floors up. He called his teammate. “Get ready. He’s coming down.”
The man was just outside the elevator exit, waiting. He watched Pike exit and head to a stairwell.
“He’s not going to the Metro. I say again, he’s not going to the Metro.”
Mason cursed. “Stay on him.”
“He’s going to the parking garage. If I go into the stairwell with him, I’m burned.”
“Hold on. Sit tight. Let him go. He spots you and we’re going to have a gunfight right here. Don’t take him on one-on-one. Remember, he took an MP5 from the mounted team this morning.”
Mason thought about his options. He decided he needed to punt to his higher headquarters. He called Lucas and relayed the news.
In the Crystal City office, Lucas took the call, feeling punched in the gut with the latest report. Jesus. Predicting this guy’s actions is proving impossible. He knew that he was now going to have to earn his salary. The hard way. It pissed him off. Screw drinking a beer with him. Prima-donna SMU asshole. When I get him I’m going to castrate his sorry ass.
“Let him go. Head back to the office. We need to regroup. This seat-of-the-pants shit isn’t working.”
I PARKED THE RENTALand entered the mall. Standing at the railing of the first level, I looked down into the basement level of the food court, spotting Jennifer. I knew that if she’d seen one man, there were several more. Nobody with any training tried to conduct surveillance alone, and these guys had training. I gave her a call, watching as she answered.
“Hello?”
“It’s me. I’m in the mall. Don’t look around, but I’m looking at you right now.” I saw her raise her head and couldn’t resist teasing her. “I said don’t look around! ... Just kidding.... Listen, I need you to—”
“Jesus, Pike, this isn’t a joke!” she said, speaking in a fierce whisper. “Come get me! The man I saw is directly behind me. He’s been sucking on that small Coke for twenty minutes.”
I spoke in soothing tones. “Okay, okay, slow down. Everything’s just fine now. I need to identify who else is with that guy. I need you to get up and walk toward the stairwell to your left front. Just casually get up and walk that way, going up the stairs. Don’t rush.”
I watched the crowd. As soon as Jennifer began moving, a man to her right front stood up, moving with her, slightly behind. One. I watched Coke man. Coke man looked over at another man, who rose as well, moving toward the stairs ahead of Jennifer. Two. Jennifer was halfway up the stairs, one man in front, one man behind, when Coke man rose. Three. He must be the last one. I faded into a store.
I called Jennifer. “You have three of them on you. We’ve got to slim it down. I need to get you with just one guy. Go into a store for a little bit to give me time to set up. I’ll call back in a minute.”
I heard a little panic in her voice. “Wait! Don’t hang up. I don’t know who they are. They might kill me here.”
“Jennifer, trust me. They won