Blood Money (13 page)

“You know how I feel about cell phones . .
.”

“The line is secure. I already told you
that.”

“So you say.”

“You think I’d be using it if I wasn’t 100%
certain it was safe?” Walter said. “Just tell me.”

Kelton took a deep breath, exhaled audibly.
As much as he didn’t want to, he said, “Riverside.”

“That’ll work. Do you know where the
Riverside Valley Mall is? Off the 91 Freeway?”

“No, but I’m sure we’ll be able to find
it.”

“Be there at noon,” Walter said. “Take a
seat in the outdoor porch area of the food court. Buy a drink from
Hot Dog on a Stick if everything is kosher. If you think something
might be amiss, get your drink from Burger King.”

Jessica was sitting up in bed when Kelton
came back into the room.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“I was just out in the hall,” Kelton said.
He dragged his gaze away from her exposed ankle and looked her in
the eyes. “Walter called.”

“Why did you take it outside the room?”

“Because I didn’t want to wake you up.”

She smiled and said, “Oh, how sweet,”
without any trace of irony.

Kelton felt a dull warmth spreading
throughout his chest and immediately scolded himself for being such
a softie. This was no time for emotion. This was work.

“Did you two work something out?” Jessica
said.

Kelton nodded and rehashed the conversation
for her.

Jessica took it all without comment. After
he was finished, she said, “So I guess that means we’re in the
clear with the Feds?”

“It appears so. For the time being at
least.”

“Well, that’s good,” Jessica said. “Maybe
you can actually get me off your hands this time. If you’re
lucky.”

Kelton faked a smile and nodded his head.
“Yeah,” he said. “Maybe.”

Jessica gave him a funny look, as though she
could see right through his façade, but thankfully she didn’t call
him on it.

Three hours later, Kelton and Jessica were
sitting at a table on the outdoor balcony of the food court at the
Riverside Valley Mall. Directly in front of them was a courtyard
with a large fountain. To their right was the main entrance to the
movie theatre, and on their left was a row of restaurants. A large
lemonade from Hot Dog on a Stick sat in the middle of the
table.

Even though Walter had said the Feds were
nowhere near the area, Kelton had followed his general rule of
always being prepared, and had chosen a table that had easy access
to multiple escape routes. There were three different avenues
leading to the enormous parking lot that surrounded the mall like a
moat, an escalator to the second floor was ten feet away, and the
entire mall with its multiple exits was at their back. In addition,
they were both wearing hats and sunglasses that they’d picked up on
their way to the mall.

They had arrived a full hour before they
were supposed to meet Walter and had been people-watching the whole
time. At first, the crowds were minimal, but as the morning wore
on, the number of people began to slowly increase. Now, at just
before noon, the courtyard below them was a mass of activity, with
the vast majority of the patrons being either under 20 years old or
over 70.

“Seen anything suspicious yet?” Kelton asked
Jessica.

“No. Have you?”

“Nope. I’ve been watching the outskirts of
the area, but haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Of course,
from where we’re sitting, it’s impossible to pick everything
up.”

“I’m sure we’re fine.”

Kelton looked at his watch. 11:45. He stole
a glance at Jessica, caught her profile as she gazed out at the
courtyard. He took in her face—thin, pouty lips, slightly upturned
nose, smooth, tea-colored skin—as though allowing himself to truly
see them for the first time.

He was surprised to feel a anxious flutter
in his stomach; nervousness was not an emotion he had experienced
in at least five years. After all, to be nervous, one had to care.
And he hadn’t cared in a long time. About anything.

Apparently things had changed. He could only
hope it was just a temporary phase.

“So what’s your story,” Kelton said, mostly
to take his mind off the idea that he only had fifteen minutes left
to spend in Jessica’s presence.

She gave him a curious look. “Why? I thought
you didn’t care.”

“When did I ever say that?”

“You didn’t,” Jessica said. “But you
certainly never asked me about myself, even when I was probing
about your past, so I just figured that you weren’t
interested.”

Kelton shifted in his chair. “Sorry if you
got that impression. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that I
try to keep things professional when I’m on a job. The less I know,
the less chance of me getting emotional.”

“What’s wrong with emotions?”

“They can skew your decision-making
process,” Kelton said. “Compel you to do things that you know
aren’t in the best interests of the job.”

Jessica smiled. “Somehow I just don’t see
you making that mistake.”

He chuckled under his breath, looked down at
the table. “Oh, you’d be surprised,” he said, thinking specifically
about Jason Preston. “For the most part, I’ve learned to control
myself, but back in the day, I was a bit of a firecracker. I could
go off at any time.”

“Really?”

Kelton nodded. “I’ve spent the last couple
of years systematically altering my nature, forcing myself to
become a new person, one step at a time.”

“Why? Just for the hell of it?”

He shrugged. “I just didn’t like the old me.
I didn’t like feeling like I wasn’t in control. So I decided to
make a change.”

“Well, it seems to have worked,” Jessica
said. “I don’t think I’ve ever come across someone with your
self-control.” She smiled, cocked her head slightly. “Although, if
I would have had a couple more days . . .”

“Yeah, I think you might have broken me,”
Kelton said.

“Might have?”

He smiled. “I guess
could have
is a
better phrase.”

“
Would have
is the term you’re
looking for,” Jessica said, smiling herself now. “Another 24 hours
and I
would have
broken you.”

“Perhaps,” Kelton said. “Too bad we won’t
have the chance to find out.”

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes boring into him.
“Too bad.”

Kelton held her gaze for a moment, then
looked down at his watch. Three minutes until noon. Three minutes
until he was alone again. Three minutes until his life was back to
normal. He didn’t know if he should feel relief or
disappointment.

His cell phone rang.

He pulled it out of his pocket, flipped it
open.

“Hello, my friend,” Walter said. “How are
you doing?”

“Better than you, old man,” Kelton
replied.

“Oh, I beg to differ.”

“Beg all you want, it won’t change
anything.”

“Glad to see you could make it,” Walter
said. “But I’m afraid we have to take the party elsewhere.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Walter said. “I just prefer to
make the exchange someplace where there aren’t so many potential
witnesses.”

Kelton shook his head in annoyance.
Then
why did you set up the meeting here in the first place,
he
thought. But all he said was, “Where?”

“A warehouse on the other side of town,”
Walter said. He proceeded to give Kelton detailed directions,
adding, “I’ll be waiting for you inside,” before ending the
call.

Kelton closed his phone and stuck it in his
pocket.

“Was that him?” Jessica asked.

Kelton nodded, pushed his chair back, and
stood up. “Come on,” he said.

“Where are we going?” Jessica said.

“To meet Walter.”

“I thought he was going to come here.”

“So did I,” Kelton said. He started walking
towards the parking lot. “But apparently he has something else in
mind.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Jessica said as she
came abreast of him. “Is everything all right?”

Kelton nodded. “My guess is that Walter was
never going to meet us here. I think he just wanted to get a look
at things in a public setting, make sure nothing funny was going
on.”

“You think he was watching us?”

“Most likely,” Kelton said. “And after he
saw that everything was kosher, then he decided to move on to stage
two.”

They stepped off the curb and onto the
cement surface of the parking lot.

“Is there any way to know if he’s actually
going to be at the next place?” Jessica said.

“He said he’d be waiting for us.”

“He also said he would meet us here at the
mall, and that didn’t happen.”

“True enough,” Kelton said as they reached
the car. He turned off the alarm and opened the driver’s side door.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Welcome to the bowels of hell,” Jessica
said under her breath.

They were driving along West 47th Street in
a desolate part of Riverside, surrounded by abandoned warehouses,
the empty streets littered with trash, the buildings dotted with
graffiti. The sun was buried behind a thick, overcast sky, giving
the day a gray tint that only added to the dreariness.

It was 12:17 when Kelton saw the warehouse
that Walter had designated as the exchange point. He pulled to the
curb on the opposite side of the street and parked. Reaching under
his seat, he pulled a Smith and Wesson M1911 .45 caliber pistol
from the quick-release holster, double-checked the magazine, then
stuck it in his waistband.

“Do you really think you’re going to need
that?” Jessica said.

“No,” Kelton said. “But you know my motto.”
He looked in his rearview mirror, saw no cars approaching. “Are you
ready?”

Jessica nodded and they both stepped out of
the car.

The warehouse looked like it hadn’t been
used in years. The floor was empty, save for scattered trash, loose
piles of ashes, and various other signs of previous squatters. The
windows were blacked out, limiting the amount of light throughout
the empty space.

“Hello,” Kelton said. “Anyone here?” The
only reply was his own echo.

Jessica sighed. “What now?”

“Good question,” Kelton said. “I guess we
wait for a little while, see what happens.”

“How long do we give him?”

Kelton shrugged. “Ten minutes. Fifteen at
the most.”

“And if he still doesn’t show up?”

“We’ll figure it out then,” Kelton said.
“But for now, we’ll just wait.”

His cell phone started ringing. He dug it
out of his pocket and flipped it open.

“Hello, my friend,” Walter said. “How are
you doing?”

“Better than you, old man,” Kelton replied,
his voice reflecting his annoyance.

“Oh, I beg to differ.”

“Beg all you want, it won’t change
anything,” Kelton said. Then, before Walter had a chance to say
anything, “This is getting a bit ridiculous, all this running
around. I feel like a chicken with its head cut off.”

“I know,” Walter said. “And I apologize. But
there’s a good reason for the madness, I can assure you.”

“And what would that be?”

“You’ve got company.”

This caught Kelton completely off-guard. He
took a moment to gather himself, then said, “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Walter said.

Kelton pinched the bridge of his nose,
fought the urge to scout the surrounding area.

Jessica mouthed the words, “What’s
wrong?”

Kelton held up a finger. Into the phone, he
said, “Who?”

“We’ll get to that later,” Walter said.
“Right now, I just need you to listen. Our connection is safe. But
that doesn’t mean they can’t hear what you’re saying by using
traditional listening devices. So what I need you to do is find a
place where you can have some privacy, and call me back. Until
then, watch what you say. We have to assume that they can hear
everything that comes out of your mouth. Especially while you’re in
the open, or in your car. If you can, mislead them.”

“Okay.”

“And don’t worry about getting intercepted,”
Walter said. “They’ll let you go unmolested. They don’t want to
make their presence known yet.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Walter said. “I’ll explain it all to
you later, don’t worry.”

“All right,” Kelton said. He closed the
phone, stuck it in his pocket and looked over at Jessica. “Come on,
let’s get out of here.”

“What about Walter?”

“Something came up,” Kelton said. “He
couldn’t make it.”

“Shit.”

Kelton nodded.

Jessica said, “So what happens now?”

“We wait to hear from Walter again to set up
another rendezvous,” Kelton said. He turned and started walking
back towards the car.

Jessica hurried to catch up.

They had just pulled away from the curb when
Jessica turned towards Kelton and said, “So, are you going to tell
me what the hell is going on here or what?”

“What do you mean?” Kelton said, keeping his
eyes on the road.

“I mean this pathetic cover story about
Walter not being able to make it to the warehouse.”

“It’s not a cover story.”

“Oh come on,” Jessica said. “Don’t treat me
like I’m stupid.”

“I’m not,” he said.

They arrived at a stop sign, and even though
there were no cars visible, Kelton came to a full and complete
stop. He turned towards Jessica, and talking slowly and distinctly,
said, “Something came up. Walter couldn’t make it to the warehouse.
He’ll get back to us in a few hours and we’ll set something else
up. It’s that simple.”

Kelton let his gaze linger on her for an
extra beat, hoping she’d get the point, then started making his way
through the intersection.

Jessica shrugged and said, “Whatever.” She
was clearly upset.