End Game (Will Robie #5)(112)

Fitzsimmons explained, “We always slit the lungs so they won’t inflate when the gas builds up as a result of decomposition. And of course the weights and chains serve to keep the body at the bottom. It’s quite deep down there. And impossible to see anything in the depths.”

“Why do I think that’s not the first time you’ve done that?” said Reel. It was clear from the revulsion on her features that if she could have gotten to Fitzsimmons, he would be a dead man.

“Well, it’s not.”

“And I guess that’s where we’ll be ending up,” said Robie.

“I normally leave that up to Patti. But be warned, though I can kill in cold blood, I’m actually simply a humble chemist and genuinely a nice person. She’s far more dangerous than she appears.”

“So are we,” Reel muttered under her breath. “So are we.”





CHAPTER





67


“Do you think Blue Man is dead?”

Robie didn’t answer Reel’s query right away.

They were back in the same cell.

“I don’t think so. Patti said they were waiting for us. Not that I have any reason to believe her.”

“So she figured we’d end up here as prisoners, too?”

“She seems to be a long-range planner,” replied Robie.

“Where do you think those prisoners are coming in from?”

“From the little I could see behind the blue scrubs, they looked to be young and mostly Hispanic.”

“Are they snatching them from their hometowns?”

“Maybe they’re runaways or they came into the country illegally. That might make more sense. You start snatching kids from homes, there’re going to be a lot of questions and people looking for them.”

“You’re probably right.”

“They might have sold them a story of good-paying jobs and a new life before putting bags over their heads.”

“Some life.”

Robie leaned back against the cinderblock wall. “I’m not sure how good our lives are looking right now.”

“Well, I don’t see too many options.”

He said, “We have to wait. And adapt.”

“Story of our lives. What’s Patti’s motivation, do you think? It’s not like she’s living this rich lifestyle. She’s still here in her dirty jeans and boots.”

Robie shrugged. “I mentioned she might have daddy issues. Maybe that’s it.”

“Blue Man didn’t even know he had a daughter.”

“That’s what Claire told us. Maybe she told Patti something else. Or she might have discovered it on her own.”

“But that couldn’t be why she went into a business like this,” pointed out Reel.

“Like Dolph—or Fitzsimmons—said, I’m not a shrink. I don’t know. All I do know is that we’re in a tight spot with very few options.”

“They’re not going to let us sit here long. We’ll be reported as missing at some point.”

Robie said sharply, “By who? Both of the cops in this jurisdiction are out of commission.”

“The Agency. When we don’t get back to them.”

“We can’t count on that saving our lives.”

“I’ve never counted on anyone else saving my life,” retorted Reel.

Footsteps along the corridor alerted them that someone was coming. They both sat up straighter and stared expectantly at the barred cell door.

Patti Bender appeared there. They both noted that her fingers were tapping the butt of her holstered Glock. Then she reached her hand out of sight and jerked on something.

A moment later Blue Man was standing in front of them.

His clothes were dirty, his hair unkempt, and his face unshaven. Yet his eyes were clear and alert and his manner calm and unflustered. Like them, he was shackled.

Both Robie and Reel stood.

Blue Man said, “It’s good to see you’re both still alive.”

“I was about to say the same to you,” said Reel.

“Stop talking, please,” Patti said quietly.

Blue Man glanced at her, and Robie noted something in his eyes that he never thought he would see in his superior.

Fear.

Patti nodded at something out of their line of sight, and a guard appeared. He unlocked the door and Patti pushed Blue Man forward, causing him to stumble as he crossed the threshold. The door was locked after him.

“It won’t be long now,” Patti said ominously. Then she disappeared.

Blue Man wearily sat on the cot against the wall while Robie and Reel hovered in front of him.

He looked up at them. “I trust London and Iraq went according to plan?”

“Not precisely according to plan, at least for me,” said Reel. “But the mission was accomplished.”

“We found your drawing in the gun muzzle,” said Robie. “Atlas. We were just a little slow on getting to your actual meaning.”

Blue Man nodded. “I knew that was a long shot, but I didn’t have much time to consider alternatives.”

“How did you figure out what was going on?”

“I didn’t figure it all out—only enough pieces, I guess, to make people nervous.”