Redemption (Amos Decker #5)(114)

“And?” said Bogart.

“Back in the forties, KI was sort of a foreign intelligence agency in Russia. KI apparently stands for ‘Committee of Information.’”

“Damn,” said Jamison, while Bogart looked intensely interested.

“How does an old and presumably now-defunct spy agency figure into this?” he asked.

“I look forward to asking Bill Peyton, or whatever his real name is, for the answer,” replied Decker.

“But David Katz built the Grill fifteen years ago,” said Lancaster. “Are you telling me that the Russians were involved in this stuff here all that time ago?”

Bogart said, “People think the Russians just started messing with us. It was long before that. They’ve had spies all over this country ever since the Cold War started.”

“But a spy operation in Burlington?” said Lancaster.

“Softer target,” said Bogart. “Not as many resources. And for a lot of these people, I imagine they don’t end up working in Burlington. I imagine that Gardiner places them all over the country. This is just the launch pad.”

“The map we found in the underground room confirms that,” noted Decker. “These tentacles go all over the country, and to the largest metro areas.”

“So, Gardiner’s a traitor,” exclaimed Lancaster. “And so is Peyton.”

“If they’re even American,” pointed out Bogart. “Now we just have to find them and prove it. I’m calling in more assets, but we want to do this on the QT. We have no idea who else might be involved in this. That’s why I didn’t want to come to the station initially.”

Lancaster looked stunned. “Wait a minute. Are you saying…?”

“What he’s saying, Mary, is that no one is above suspicion,” said Decker. “And I agree with him.”

Lancaster looked put out by this but remained silent.

Bogart gazed at Decker. “You’ve been in the trenches here. And know the territory better. How do you want to do this?”

“BOLOs on both Peyton and Gardiner. Maintain round-the-clock protection on Katz and Mitzi Gardiner. Right now, they’re the only witnesses we have.” He paused. “We need to get a search warrant for Gardiner’s business. Hopefully we’ll be able to find out who he’s placed and where.”

Decker eyed Mars. “And I’m afraid that Rachel Katz would have had to know about all this at some point.”

“But she kept quiet and played along,” said Mars.

“Looks that way.”

“Maybe she had no choice,” said Mars defensively.

“People always have the choice to either be a traitor or do the right thing,” said Milligan sternly.

“And Mitzi Gardiner?” asked Lancaster.

Decker said, “She was an addict who set up her father. She probably didn’t know about the possible spy operation, and she didn’t need to know.”

“But why have Gardiner marry her?” said Lancaster.

“What better way to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid than by having one of the people involved right there every day? And Mitzi turned out to be a great mom and doting wife. For Brad Gardiner it was probably a win-win. He was playing a role and I’m sure he was well compensated for it. There are worse ways to spend your life than being rich.”

Jamison said, “I think I’d rather stay single.”

Bogart said, “We’ll run those leads down and search Gardiner’s business. What else?”

“Bag and tag everything that was in the Grill’s underground room.”

Bogart said, “You were lucky that an apparent fire broke out, so you could search the place and find that room.” He stared pointedly at Decker.

“I’ll always take luck when I can get it,” replied Decker. “Even if I have to make it myself.”





Chapter 73



“STRIPPED CLEAN,” Bogart said over the phone to Decker. “Gardiner’s office didn’t have a thing left in it. He must have had an exit plan in place. As soon as you spooked him, he probably had the place wiped. Same thing for Peyton’s apartment. Nothing left, if there was anything ever there.”

Decker said, “We need to find out all we can about them, Ross. And his house and office have to be full of the guy’s prints. Same for Peyton’s apartment.”

“I already have a team looking for that. Now, these ‘trainees’ you told me about at the American Grill?”

“Yeah?”

“I doubt any of them will show up for work. Peyton would have given them a heads-up. But I’ll have people there just in case they do. And we’ll track down where they were staying and search all those places too.”

“Let me know if you turn up anything,” said Decker.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take a little trip down memory lane.”

*



Decker sat across from Lancaster at her house. In the background he could hear Earl and Sandy getting ready to go out.

Sandy burst into the room. She was a fireball of energy, always in a good mood, until she dropped into the blackness of despair, something that could occur within seconds. Her coat was half on and a ski cap covered her eyes.