Spider - Michael Morley [88]
Howie’s first glance showed the obvious contempt that he had for both of them. ‘Senior Supervisory Special Agent Howie Baumguard and Special Agent Angelita Fernandez.’
They all settled around a cheap wooden table that was so flimsy it almost buckled when Howie thudded his meaty arms down on it. Tariq sat back in his seat while Jeffries went in to bat. ‘Mr el Daher and the channel have already made a statement to the New York Police Department, who we understand have operational control. We have delivered a copy of the material we uncovered and we will continue to assist the NYPD to the very best of our ability. Mr el Daher is, as you know, an extremely busy man and we do not think it necessary to waste his time with repetitive processes.’
Fernandez was curious to see how her boss was going to handle this. The bulging veins in his neck and the giant clenched fists hinted that he might be about to go Hulk green, shred his shirt and then pick up the lawyer and beat the smug bastard journalist to death with him.
‘Okay,’ said Howie, sounding surprisingly calm and quiet. ‘Agent Fernandez and I are real sorry to have troubled you. We’ll be on our way now, if that’s all right with you?’
Jeffries smiled and slapped his hands on the table to help him rise from his seat.
‘Sit down, mister,’ said Fernandez. ‘He’s jerking your string. It ain’t going to play like that.’
Howie’s face displayed a cruel smile. ‘I’m afraid the lady’s right. Of course, we could just soak up that bullshit you came out with and leave. But if we did, then I’d only have to come back this afternoon with a court order to seize every computer and video machine in the place and then lock up our extremely busy Mr el Daher in a room even smaller than this crappy matchbox you’ve got us in.’
‘Ridiculous! On what grounds?’ spluttered Jeffries.
‘Withholding evidence. Perverting the course of justice, impeding police investigations. We’ll find the right one eventually,’ said Fernandez.
‘Meantime,’ added Howie, making a point of picking dirt from under a fingernail, ‘every press guy in the world is going to love the story we’ll be putting out, about how your station is endangering the life of a young American woman. Run that one past your CEO, board of directors and financial backers and see how supportive they are of you then.’
‘That’s presuming your footage is for real,’ added Fernandez. ‘Because if we find out that it isn’t, then a fan load of toxic shit is going to be heading your way, and we’ll be fingering the power switch.’
Tariq leant forward and put a hand on the lawyer’s arm to silence him. ‘What do you want, Mr Baumguard?’ he asked in a voice that was so laid back it almost sounded bored.
‘Let’s start with some civility,’ said Howie. ‘And right after that, you can begin at the beginning and go through that whole repetitive process of telling us how you came to have the footage in your possession.’
‘And hey, Mr Lawyerman,’ said Fernandez, ‘while he does that, maybe you could get us a couple of coffees and some doughnuts. We missed breakfast this morning.’
57
San Quirico D’Orcia, Tuscany
The sun was slowly setting in San Quirico, sponging a silky mix of vermilion and gold across the darkening blue sky.
In Terry McLeod’s bathroom, the Vent-Axia panel above the toilet came off easily enough in his hands. McLeod lifted out the stuff he’d hidden inside the metal vent and carried it through to the bedroom. It contained some special photographs and some extra special equipment that he needed to keep very secret.
Paullina the waitress had been a good companion. And, when he’d given her a generous fifty-euro tip on top of the hundred euros fee he’d insisted on her taking for her ‘work’ as his guide, then she’d been more than helpful. Some of the things she’d told him about the Kings would soon prove extremely valuable. She’d spoken at length about