Daylight (Atlee Pine #3)(38)

“In the meantime, what will you do?” she asked.

“When you’re outnumbered on the battlefield, and the other side is preparing to come right at you with the thought of overrunning your position and wiping you out, there’s really only two things to do.” He looked at her inquiringly.

“Okay, one is to retreat,” said Pine.

“And the other one is to attack. And in this case, my moving forward is the best choice because it would be the last thing they would expect me to do under the circumstances.”

“But who are you going to attack?” she asked nervously.

“My chain of command. But not in the way you or they might think.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“No, otherwise I might inadvertently make you an accessory before the fact. And that would be highly inconvenient for both of us. You’re gonna just have to trust me.”

And on that Puller picked up his pace, and Pine had to hurry to keep up.





CHAPTER





25





SO YOU KNOW TONY WELL?” asked Pine.

She and Blum were sitting across a café table with a young woman named Lindsey Axilrod. She was in her midthirties, medium height, wiry, and fit, with sandy brown hair and pretty features accentuated with a freckled complexion. Axilrod had been on the list that Puller had given her.

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy. I like hanging out with him.”

“And you met him at Fort Dix?”

“Yes. I’m not in the Army. I’m a civilian, like Tony. I do back-office stuff. I’m in IT, so I basically troubleshoot any technology problems we have.”

“You will never be without gainful employment then,” noted Blum. “Folks with your knowledge rule the world.”

Axilrod smiled and folded the paper wrapper she had taken off the straw for her iced tea. “I don’t know about that, but it’s challenging work, which I like. Every day is different, so there’s not much monotony.” She paused and looked up at Pine. “So, why is the FBI interested in Tony?”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“About a week ago. He hasn’t shown up for work lately. Did something happen to him?”

“He’s actually gone missing,” said Pine.

“So something has happened to him, then. I thought so.”

“We’re trying to find him. So whatever you can tell us would be appreciated.”

“I’m not sure what I know that would be helpful.”

“You’ve gone out with him?”

“Yes, both in groups and just the two of us.”

“Any place you’ve frequented over others?”

“No, not really. We went bowling once. He’s a really good bowler. Bars, clubs, basketball games, restaurants, that sort of thing. Nothing really regular.”

“We understand he visits a place in New York?”

Axilrod’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. So you know about that?”

“We’d like to know more.”

“It belongs to some guy. They became friends. Real tight.”

“This friend have a name?”

“Randy, at least I think. He founded some company and then sold it to Google or somebody like that for a gazillion bucks. He’s not much older than me, but he’s set for life, lucky bastard. Place has a doorman, and a private elevator that opens into the foyer.” She shook her head. “I’ve only seen stuff like that in the movies.”

“So you’ve been there?”

“Oh, yeah, a number of times. I go with Tony. Only way I can get in.”

“How did a guy like Tony meet a guy like Randy?”

“Randy wasn’t always rich, apparently. He and Tony knew each other before. Tony was like only eighteen or something. I don’t know particulars, but after Randy hit the big time, he didn’t forget his old friends.”

“Where is this place?”

“Fifty-Seventh Street.”

“Billionaires’ Row, maybe?”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty new building. The parking spot fee is probably five times what I make in a year.”

“And I heard he drives up there in some sort of exotic car?”

Axilrod smiled. “The Aston Martin. Yeah, that belongs to Randy, too. He lets Tony drive it sometimes. If you’d asked me a year ago if I thought I’d ever be driving around in an Aston Martin, well, the answer would have been no! But what a sweet ride.”

“Did you ever meet Randy?” asked Blum.

“No. Tony said on any given day he might be in Beijing or Paris or Rio. He has his own jet. I can’t even imagine a life like that. But apparently the guy likes to share the wealth, so that’s cool.”

“So you drove up there to the penthouse and . . . ?”

“Just hung out. Did some drinking. Played some video games. It’s got this whole room just for gaming. We’re both big gamers, although, not to toot my own horn, I’m a lot better than Tony.”

“So you two are dating, then?”

Axilrod frowned. “I’m not sure I’d call it that. We were just hanging out. There were no plans to get married, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m about ten years older than Tony.”