The Bishop's Pawn (Cotton Malone #13)(86)

I nodded. “Stored away safely.”

At the Mail ’N More in Gainesville, Florida, stashed in a locker I’d rented, paid for six months in advance, where no one would ever find them.

“How did you plan to make a deal with Oliver?” he asked me.

“I didn’t.”

He chuckled again. “You have balls, I’ll give you that. I watched as you stole that seaplane in the Dry Tortugas, double-crossing me. That took nerve.”

He stepped away from me and walked over toward where Foster and Coleen sat on the dirty concrete. I noticed Coleen stopped all movement and sat still. Valdez crouched down in front of Foster, unconcerned that he’d turned his back on me, as if he were taunting me with a challenge. I may have been a rookie, but I was no fool and did not take the bait, deciding to wait until the odds were a little better.

He reached down and tore the tape from Foster’s mouth. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. Something your daughter asked me. What did you do to get that Double Eagle?”

Foster said nothing.

But Coleen’s eyes were unmistakable.

She wanted to hear the answer to that question, too.





Chapter Fifty-three


I waited for Foster to reply, wondering how he intended to do so.

“For an operation like Bishop’s Pawn,” Valdez said, “Jansen had to have reliable and continuous information. He was directing me with great care, wanting Ray in a given place at a given time. I moved him around like a player on a chessboard. Each move calculated, and King was right there, every time. Jansen’s field reports talked about a reliable confidential source he used repeatedly. Was that you?”

“I loved Martin Luther King. I admired him more than any man I’d ever known. I still do to this day. I never would have betrayed him.”

I listened to the words, amazed at the sincerity of the lie.

“I stood side by side with him in the marches,” Foster said. “I was there, working to change the country. The FBI was working to destroy us.”

Valdez pointed a finger. “But they knew everything King was doing days in advance. I had Ray actively stalking King from the end of March until April 4. I was told precisely where to have him in Memphis at a precise time. Six p.m. In the bathroom of that rooming house. With a clear line of fire to the balcony outside Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. How would Jansen have known that?”

“You should have asked him those questions,” Foster said.

“I did. Several times. He told me nothing.”

I noticed how Valdez kept his back to me, continuing to dare me to make a move. Or maybe he thought me incapable of challenging him? No matter. I was more concerned with Coleen and what she might do. I liked the idea of her freeing herself, but I preferred a coordinated attack.

Valdez reached over and ripped the tape from her mouth.

“What has your father told you?” he asked her.

“You never answered him,” she said to her father. “Why do you have that coin?”

An element of anger and pleading had entered her voice.

Foster said nothing.

She glared at Valdez and asked, “You never told us back at the restaurant, how did you know my father had the coin?”

“Jansen told me shortly after I was paid mine.”

I saw the surprise on Foster’s face.

So did Valdez.

“Yes, Reverend, I’ve known about you from the beginning. I just never knew your exact role, or why it was worth paying you a Double Eagle. Recently, when I came into a need for money, I decided to locate you.” He motioned at Coleen with the gun. “And if not for you calling me back, I would have never known that coin still existed.”

Valdez stood and stepped back my way.

Coleen quickly worked her shoulders and arms again, still fighting with the bindings to her wrists.

“Where is my coin?” Valdez asked me.

I ignored his question.

“Why can’t you answer me?” Coleen suddenly said.

Both Valdez and I looked her way.

She was staring at her father. “Why can’t you tell me the truth? You’re a man of God. Is not being honest with your daughter important to you? Why do you have that coin?”

Foster kept silent, feigning and stalling, seemingly trying hard to avoid a damaging admission. Finally, the older man said, “Being honest is the most important thing in my life, Coleen. I have never lied to you.”

“But you worked with the FBI, didn’t you?”

“My job was to find the spies within the SCLC. I did that.”

Not an answer, but realization dawned in her eyes. “But you didn’t tell anyone about what you found, did you? That’s why they paid you. To keep silent about their sources?”

“They would have paid a few thousand dollars in cash money for that,” Valdez said. “Not a Double Eagle. Your father had to do much more for that coin.”

“Lieutenant Malone,” Foster said to me. “Surely you knew Oliver and Jansen were not going to be satisfied with blank pages. How did you plan to make a trade with them?”

I got the message. Change the subject.

“He didn’t,” Valdez said. “He’s young and eager to please. His superiors want those files and he intends to deliver them.”