Without remorse - Tom Clancy [332]
'Trying to scare me?' the man demanded over the scratchy phone line.
'No, just trying to kill you,' Kelly told him.
'Fuck!' Piaggi slammed the phone down.
'He says he saw us at the restaurant, man. He says he was right there.' It was clear to the other two that something was amiss. They were looking up now, mainly curious, but wary as they saw their two superiors in an agitated state. What the hell was this all about?
'How could he know - oh,' Piaggi said, his voice trailing off to a quieter tone. 'Yeah, they knew me, didn't they ... ? Jesus.'
There was only one window with clear glass. The others had glass bricks, the four-inch-square blocks favored for letting light in without being easily broken by vandals. They also prevented anyone from seeing out. The one window with clear glass had a crank, allowing the panes to open upward at an angle. This office had probably been set up by some asshole of a manager who didn't want his secretaries looking out the windows. Well, the bastard had gotten his wish. Piaggi cranked the window open - tried to, the three moving panes had only gone forty degrees before the mechanism froze.
Kelly saw it move and wondered if he should announce his presence in a more direct way. Better not to, he thought, better to be patient. Waiting grows hard on those who don't know what's happening.
The remarkable thing was that it was ten o'clock in the morning now, a clean, sunny late-summer day. There was truck traffic on O'Donnell Street, only half a block away, and some private autos as well, driving past, going about their business. Perhaps their drivers saw the tall abandoned building Kelly was in, wondering, as he was, what it had been constructed for; seeing the four automobiles parked at the former trucking building, wondering if that business was starting up again; but if they did, it wasn't worth anything more than a passing thought for people who had work to do. The drama was being played in plain sight, and only the players knew.
'I don't see shit,' Piaggi said, squatting down to look out the windows. There's nobody around.'
This is the guy who did the pushers, Tucker was telling himself as he stood away from the window. Five or six of 'em. Killed Rick with a fuckin' knife ...
Tony had picked the building. It was to be an ostensible part of a small interstate trucking concern whose owners were connected and very careful players. Just perfect, he'd thought, so close to major highways, quiet part of town, little police activity, just an anonymous building doing anonymous work. Perfect, Henry had thought on seeing it.
Oh, yeah, just perfect...
'Let me look.' It wasn't time to back off. Henry Tucker didn't think of himself as a coward. He'd fought and killed, himself, and not just women. He'd spent years establishing himself, and the first part of the process hadn't been without bloodshed. Besides, he couldn't appear to be weak now, not in front of Tony and two 'soldiers' 'Nothin',' he agreed.
'Let's try something.' Piaggi walked to the phone and lifted it. There wasn't a dial tone, just a buzz ...
Kelly looked at the field phone, listening to the noise it made. He'd let it be for the moment, let them do the waiting now. Though the tactical situation was of his design, still his options were limited. Talk, don't talk. Shoot, don't shoot. Move, don't move. With only three basic choices to be made, he had to select his actions carefully to achieve the desired effect. This battle was not a physical one. Like most battles, it was a thing of the mind.
It was getting warm. The last hot days before the leaves started turning. Already eighty degrees, maybe going past ninety, one last time. He wiped perspiration from his face, watching the building, listening to the buzz, letting them sweat from something other than the heat of the day.
'Shit,' Piazzi snarled, slamming the phone down. 'You two!'
'Yeah?' It was the taller one, Bobby.
'Take a walk around the building -'
'No!' Henry said, thinking. 'What if he's right outside?