Page 39 of The Accomplice
Seong’s eyebrows knitted together, but not in anger – in confusion.
‘Delaney wanted Lake in on this case. I said no. Delaney’s murder hasn’t changed that. He begged me last night to let him in as a consultant, and I refused.’
‘But he told us he was working …’ I didn’t finish my sentence. The other shoe dropped. Lake had lied to us. He was on a mission all of his own.
‘You can’t trust this guy, Eddie. And he’s dangerous.’
‘Bloch’s pretty dangerous herself.’
‘I can’t say a lot. It’s classified. Files are sealed. All I’ll say is this. He once kicked down the wrong door. Stumbled onto a heroin stash house all by himself, with no back-up. There was four million in cash and fifty pounds of H in that place, and it was well guarded. Ten men. And three of the guys there were ex-military. The commission who investigated the incident found that it was self defense. Word got around. The guy was a fucking super cop. A hero. The Bureau quietly pensioned Lake out of the service on medical grounds because there was another story. It sure started as self defense in that house, but it didn’t end that way. At some point, Lake had a chance to get out. He stayed, and he took down all of those men, even though he was badly wounded. The last one, he put two in the guy’s chest. Then he reloaded, emptied the full clip into the man’s face. He executed those men. He’s a killer, Eddie. I don’t want Lake near any of my people, and you shouldn’t have him near any of yours.’
I thought of the nervous man I had breakfast with. The guy who tapped the table when he spoke, who couldn’t even order a muffin. I decided I would tell Bloch, just in case, but what Bill said and my impression of Lake didn’t quite fit together. I thanked Bill, he didn’t need to tell me anything, but I decided I would make up my own mind about Lake and let Bloch do the same.
I looked around for White. I wanted to talk to him about the bug on Peltier’s phone. Mark his card. Let him know I wasn’t going to let that slide. Tapping a defense attorney’s phone was a career-ending move, even if he managed to get a warrant for it from an amenable judge. It was as low a play as I’d ever heard. If that got out, White wouldn’t be able to get a job sweeping the floor in a law firm.
Harry, Kate and I stepped outside, into a hail of reporters. They were all crowded around White, like blue sharks feeding on a dead seal. When they saw us, some broke off and ran toward us. White turned around, waved a hand and departed into a car that was waiting at the curb.
A young female reporter in a blue pin-striped suit and Coke-bottle glasses was the first to reach us. She shoved a digital recorder into my face, but misjudged it and hit me in the mouth with it as she said, ‘Do you think Carrie Miller has absconded with her husband ? Oh, God, I’m so sorry …’
‘It’s okay,’ I said, checking my lip. No blood, no foul. Before the rest of the journalists made it this far, I said, ‘What’s your name and number ?’
‘I’m Betty Clarke, with theSentinel,’ she said, handing me a card.
‘I can’t make a statement right now, but we’ll be in touch. If we can work something out, I can offer you an exclusive once all of this is over.’
‘What do you mean work something out ? Our paper doesn’t pay for stories.’
‘Good, we don’t want money. We just want a few tips.’
With that, Harry and Kate and I battled our way to the street. Once the reporters realized they weren’t getting anything they soon left us alone.
I approached Ray, who ran a hot dog stand outside the courthouse and used to give me some advertising at a good rate since I got his nephew out of Rikers Island.
‘Three dirty water hot dogs, please, Ray,’ I said, and handed him a fifty.
Some vendors grill their dogs. The best are kept warm in a small steel vat in their cart filled with what looks like water from the East River, but really it’s a blend of cumin, chili, onions, and God knows what else.
‘I don’t want a hot dog,’ said Kate.
‘This is our lunch. We’ve got a ton of work to do. Trust me, you need this.’
Ray loaded us up with three dogs, mustard, ketchup and onions for Harry. Just mustard for Kate and me. We each took a soda, found a bench in the middle of Foley Square, watched the traffic go by. Ate our dogs, drank our Cokes. And I filled them in on what Seong had told me, then I called Bloch to make sure she was okay. She answered straight away.
‘We have a situation. I need you. Have you caught the Sandman yet ?’ I asked.
‘Believe it or not, I’m looking at him right now,’ said Bloch.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BLOCH
‘He didn’t attack her in the apartment because he couldn’t get in,’ said Bloch.
Bloch opened the door, examined the lock faces. There was some scratching around them, but it was hard to tell if it was from an attempt to pick the lock or just a nervous tenant.
‘But it’s just as difficult to grab someone on the street and drag them into a dark alleyway without being seen or heard,’ said Bloch.
‘He wouldn’t have done that. My guess is he persuaded her into that alley,’ said Lake.
