“Can’t do that. But I’ve got a man on his tail right now, stuck in traffic on the Kennedy. Looks like Hardin’s heading downtown. My guy will stay on him as long as he can. If you can round up some troops, my guy will guide them in. What you do with Hardin is your business.”
“I will be in touch. If I get Hardin, I will not forget this.”
“A favor for a colleague,” Corsco said. “You would do as much.”
CHAPTER 83
“You have the money ready to move?” Hardin on the cell with Lafitpour. Hardin and Wilson had just cleared the accident at Lawrence, traffic starting to thin out a little.
“Yes, of course.”
“What do you need to make the transfer?”
“It only takes a phone call,” said Lafitpour. “As long as you have the account numbers and access codes.”
“OK. Hickman there?”
“Yes.”
“Put us on speaker.”
A pause, then Lafitpour, a little distant now, speakerphone voice. “We are on speaker.”
“You there, Hickman.”
“Yes,” Hickman said.
“OK gents,” said Hardin, “We’re making the deal today. Here’s how this works. I will call you with a location, and I will call you soon, so don’t step out for coffee or tie up the line. You show up, both of you, but only the both of you. I give you the rocks, you transfer the money. Then we all take a little ride until I’m sure the transaction has cleared and that nobody is trying to bust me again.”
Lafitpour chuckled. “And why, exactly, would we agree to be your hostages?”
“Hey, we could have played things nice and civil last time, remember? I wasn’t the one who queered that deal. And cut the hostage shit. This whole city is holding me hostage right now. I try to screw you on this deal, there won’t be enough room on the planet for me to hide. I’m selling the diamonds, but what I’m buying is your goodwill. Well, not yours. Hickman’s and the guys in Washington who are pulling his strings. I fuck you on this, I might as well save myself a few really uncomfortable weeks and just eat my damn gun.”
“And if I still don’t like your terms?”
“Then I have to find some new friends and some other way to keep safe. Wilson and me? I don’t think we can get $15 million for a book deal, but I bet I can get something, don’t you? And killing me is going to get a lot trickier after I’ve been on CNN blowing holes in this drugs and terrorists bullshit.”
Hardin heard Lafitpour sigh. “Excitement is rare at my age. I suppose I shall just have to treat this as an opportunity. We will do this your way.”
“OK, and don’t bother making a call and trying to scramble some assets. You don’t have time. I’d see them coming. If I see them coming and I have a clear shot at you, I take it. And then I hit the send button on my phone and reporters from the
New York Times
to
Der Spiegel
get some real interesting e-mail.”
“Some days I do despise technology,” Lafitpour said.
Tommy Porcini’s ass was getting numb, over an hour in this fucking traffic, but it made tailing the Honda pretty damn easy. He was still three cars back, but he could have sat right on their ass ever since O’Hare and they wouldn’t have thought a thing about it. Not like anybody could go anywhere.
Corsco’d called back. He was handing Hardin over to Hernandez, given Porcini’s number to Hernandez’s people. They’d been in touch. Looked like Hernandez had been over on the west side hanging in his crew’s territory. Word was he’d loaded up a couple of SUVs, was en route. Porcini was supposed to stay on Hardin’s ass until Hernandez got there.
“Al Din is on the move.” The surveillance guy talking to Lynch. They’d had eyes on al Din’s car full-time since they tracked it down.
“What’s he doing?” Lynch asked.
“Just sort of circling around the River North neighborhood right now, like he’s waiting for something.”
“OK.” Lynch waved Bernstein over. “We’re rolling.”
CHAPTER 84
Hernandez sat in the backseat of a Ford Explorer, one of his best Skull shooters next to him. One of the blacks from the West Side gang driving, a man who knew the streets, another Skull up front. Hernandez had three more shooters in a Lexus that another gangbanger was driving a couple cars ahead in the left lane. They’d cut north up some surface streets, got on the Kennedy at Fullerton headed back south. Hernandez was on the phone with Corsco’s man. He should be close – a red Cadillac CTS behind a black Honda in the right lane.
Corsco saw a red Caddy five cars up.
“Tap your brakes twice,” Hernandez said into the phone.
The brake lights on the Caddy winked.
“Hardin still in front of you?” Hernandez asked.
“One car up,” said Porcini.
“OK, we got him.” Hernandez hung up the phone.
Hernandez tapped his driver. “Get in the right lane. Call the other driver; tell him to get over, too.”
A few cars ahead, the Lexus cut into the right lane. The red Caddy pulled over into a middle lane. Hernandez’s driver cut into the vacated spot. Hernandez could see the Honda now. The Lexus was immediately in front of it. The Honda signaled a turn, getting ready to take the Randolph Street exit. The other driver was paying attention – he led the Honda up the ramp.
Hardin picked up his phone and dialed. He and Wilson were coming up on their exit. Time to get Lafitpour and Hickman moving.
“You two ready?” Hardin asked.
“Yes,” said Lafitpour.
“OK. Both of you take off your jackets. Either of you has a gun, put it on your desk and leave it there. Hickman got his phone with him?”
“Yes,” said Lafitpour.
“Have him call this number. That will be Wilson. He stays on the phone with her until we meet. You stay on with me. Don’t want you calling any friends, trying to arrange any surprises.”
Wilson’s phone rang, she answered.
“Just keep talking,” she said. A pause. “I don’t care about what asshole. Recite the fucking alphabet if you have to. Just make sure I keep hearing an open line.”
“OK,” said Hardin. “The two of you get outside – you’re taking a little walk.”
“We will lose our cell signals in the elevator,” said Lafitpour.
“Then take the stairs. There’s a parking garage at Franklin and Washington. Walk there now. Right now. Should take you ten minutes. Take the elevator to the sixth floor. Walk to the east end of the floor and stand by the wall, right in the middle. You aren’t there when I pull up, we’re done. And keep the phone by your mouth. You aren’t that interesting so you don’t need to keep talking, but I better hear you breathing.”
Hardin could hear street noises through the phone, could hear Lafitpour’s breathing picking up a little. Ten minutes meant he and Hickman had to hoof it, but Hardin didn’t want them relaxing, didn’t want them thinking. He just wanted them moving. Hardin hit the mute button on his phone. Wilson did the same.
“Hickman still there?” Hardin asked.
“Yeah,” said Wilson. “He’s saying some uncharitable things about you.”
“Looks like we might be alive for lunch,” Hardin said.
“Be able to afford a nice one if we are,” said Wilson.
Wilson cut up the Randolph exit, took Clinton south to Washington, and then turned east.
Hernandez sat at the left turn lane at the light at Wacker and Washington, the Honda in front of him, the Lexus in front of the Honda. The light changed and all three cars headed east down Washington. Just before the end of the block, the Honda turned into a parking garage. The Lexus couldn’t make the turn.
“Lost the other car,” the driver said to Hernandez as they turned into the garage, the Honda halfway up the ramp ahead of them.
“Tell them to circle the block,” Hernandez said. “Have them pull in, block the exit.”
The driver made the call.
The shooter next to Hernandez looked over; saw the boss stroking the barrel of the MP5 like he was trying to make it cum. The shooter smiled. He knew exactly how the boss felt.
CHAPTER 85
Al Din was near the Merchandise Mart when the Honda exited the Kennedy, Tokyo on his phone now, on speaker, guiding him in.
“Take a right, cross over the river on Wells. The target is eastbound on Washington. You’ll intercept in a couple of blocks.”
Al Din caught the light at Wacker, caught the next one at Lake, too. Almost enough to make him wish he believed in Allah so that he could also believe that Allah was smiling on his efforts.
Al Din stopped for a red light at Washington.
“Should have caught them on the traffic cam right at your intersection,” Tokyo said. “They turned in somewhere. Hold on.” A very long couple of seconds. “OK, I’ve got them on a security cam. Parking garage directly across from you on the right. Do you see it?”
“Yes,” al Din said.
“There’s an exit off of Wells. Turn in there.”
The light changed. Al Din accelerated through the intersection and signaled his turn into the garage.
Four cars back, Lynch cussed the jackass who double-parked, blocking traffic.
“We’re going to miss the light,” Bernstein said.
Lynch muscled the Crown Vic left, cutting off a taxi, getting a blast on the horn for that, shot ahead, cutting back to the right lane and into the intersection just as the light turned yellow and al Din’s car disappeared into the garage.
Bernstein got on the radio and called for backup.
CHAPTER 86
Wilson looped around the third floor of the garage, still full, caught the ramp up to the next level. On the fourth level, she started to see some open spots. The SUV behind them wasn’t pulling in to any of them. Shit. She had really hoped they were just looking to park.
“Got a black Explorer on our six,” she said. “Picked it up just before the exit. Still behind us.”
“Yeah,” Hardin said. “Saw that.”
“Looks like four guys in it.”
“Yeah, saw that too.”
“So I guess we shouldn’t make those lunch reservations yet.”
Hardin took out both of the 9mms he taken from Corsco’s men, held one in each hand.
“Not yet,” he said.
“Get up on their ass,” Hernandez said.
“Can’t lose them in here,” the driver said. “We hang back, let them park, hit them as they get out of the car.”
Hernandez nodded. That was the smarter play. Had to relax. Too much blood flow to his cock, he guessed. Just like being with a hot woman. The little head turning off the big one.
CHAPTER 87
Munroe had the chopper spun up and was hightailing it for the Loop. He was tracking the GPS on both Lafitpour’s and Hickman’s phones. Pretty clear they were on foot, walking north across the Loop. And neither one answering – calls going straight to voicemail.
Had to give Hardin credit. The whole west burbs thing was smoke and mirrors. Now he was crashing the deal, pushing Lafitpour into some fast meet where Hardin pulled all the strings.
“How long?” Munroe asked into his mic.
“Be downtown in thirty. Don’t know where I’m going to put this down, though.”
“Wherever I tell you,” said Munroe.
Munroe took a breath, let it out, started thinking. There was what you wanted and there was what you had, and they were almost always two different things. So Munroe started working through what he had.
The deal with Hardin was going to go through. Lafitpour would punch in the numbers and the $15 million would go wherever Hardin had him send it. Munroe was pretty sure that as soon as the money turned up wherever it was going, Hardin would have someone waiting on the other end to spread it out and make it disappear. That was the smart play and Hardin hadn’t done anything stupid yet. Munroe wasn’t going to be able to yank the chain on the transfer, pull the money back.
And, with $15 million and a twenty-minute head start, Hardin could get seriously gone.
Feds in raid jackets had been the plan for the first Hardin meet, but Munroe was hoping this to keep this one unofficial until after Hardin was dead. Guess that wasn’t going to happen. Had to do something to slow Hardin down.
Munroe called the director of the FBI – he didn’t have time to explain who he was to the field office guys in Chicago.
“What can I do for you Munroe?”
“I assume you have a rapid response team on call in Chicago?”
“Yeah.”
“Got a short clock situation here, Bill. Hickman, US attorney in Chicago; used to be one of your guys?”
“Yeah?”
“He’s being held hostage by a Nicholas Hardin and a DEA agent named Wilson.”
“This the thing we were supposed to be in on a few days back? Terrorist, drug lords, lots of other bullshit?”
“Gotten a little hairy since then, but yeah. I don’t have time to explain now, but I’m going to link you to the GPS on Hickman’s phone. Get a tactical team on that signal soonest – and I mean in like ten minutes. I’ll be there in twenty. It is imperative that Hardin and Wilson don’t get in the wind. And tell your boys these are dangerous folk. Hardin’s former scout/sniper, former Foreign Legion. Wilson’s got a mess of cartel notches on her belt, and they’ve both killed people this week.”
“You telling me you don’t want us reading them their rights?”
“You can read them. It just might be better if they can’t hear them when you do.”
“Do what I can, but you may get there before we do.”
Feebs were on their way, but them being on time was going to be a close thing. But the whole operation had officially gone sideways. Things were going to get loud and messy, which was exactly not what the big boys in DC wanted when they tabbed Munroe for this assignment. Munroe went through his mental ledger, started making calls, calling in chits, firing up the threats-and-favors apparatus. When you know you’re gonna ruffle some feathers, it’s good to have all your carrots and sticks lined up.