Reckless (44 page)
Authors: Andrew Gross
The kid smiled guiltily. “Sorry.”
Watching from his car, Hauck felt his eyes well up with tears. The older man said to the boy, “You go inside. You’ve got homework to do. I’ll go over to the Kendells’ and retrieve it.”
The boy yelled, “Thanks, Grandpa,” and ran into the garage.
Hauck stepped out of the car. The older man came down the driveway toward him. Hauck was about to go up to him. He had practiced in his mind what he would say, how he would handle it. But he felt something, a sudden caution, rooting his feet. A memory rushed into his mind and it made him stop.
April took him outside the dry cleaner’s to the street. “There’s someone I want you to meet…”
She took him over to the Mercedes, the soft freckles on her cheeks seeming to beam, and looked at the boy sitting in the rear car seat.
“His name is Evan…Evan Ty Glassman.”
Hauck stared at the child and before he could wave hi, before he could even speak, he knew. He knew what it was April had brought him out to see and with a glisten in her eye, what she was trying to say. A wave of emotion hit him head-on.
“He’s your gift to me, Ty…To all of us. Something I can never repay.”
“You don’t have to repay me for anything, April…”
He looked at her. Then back to the boy. There were parts of who he was inside he felt he owed to her. There were parts of her he felt as close to, even after all these years, as if they were part of his own skin.
“The only reason we have him is because of you. Because of what you did. Every once in a while I just look at him and it takes me back. We both made it through, didn’t we?”
He looked at her, his heart expansive. “Yeah, we did.”
She opened the door and the four-year-old finally looked up. “Hi, Mommy.”
“Evan, I want you to meet a friend of mine. Lieutenant Hauck. He’s a policeman here in town. The top cop, I hear.”
“In my own mind, at least,” Hauck said, chuckling. He winked at the young boy. “Hey, guy.”
Evan smiled.
He saw what he’d once found so special about his mother in the softness of Evan’s green eyes and his light brown hair.
“He’s beautiful,” Hauck said. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Ty.” Her eyes grew shiny. “I don’t know what to say…”
He put his hand on April’s cheek and let it rest, their eyes meeting, really meeting, for the first time in years. Since she had turned and saw him across from her in her hospital bed. A moment that seemed so far away now. “You promise me, Ty, that you’ll keep an eye on him. If anything ever happens to me.”
Proud—proud of her as well—he nodded. “Of course. I promise.”
I’ll do whatever it takes.
Marc’s dad came toward him as he wound around the fence to retrieve the ball. Maybe he saw Hauck staring. Maybe he noticed the look that was on his face, that made him appear lost.
“Looking for someone?” the older man came up and said.
I did it for him, April. For the boy
. How much Hauck wanted to tell him. How much he felt in his heart like he was about to burst. But not now. One day he would find a way in. He’d offer to take him to a game, introduce himself as an old friend of his mom’s. Tell him a story. But not now. He fought back tears.
I did it for him, April.
“No, not lost.” Hauck smiled. “Just passing through.”
Two weeks later
A
gent Blum…Mr. Hauck…”
The heavyset government lawyer sat across from Naomi and him in his law offices on K Street in Washington, DC.
“As you know,” he said as he turned on a small digital recorder, “we’re here as part of the special prosecutor’s charge on this case to take additional depositions from you both on the matter we will call, for now,
The United States Government versus the Gstaad Gang.
Specifically referring to Messrs. Keaton, Hastings, and Simons, and any actions they might have participated in against the United States…”
Hauck glanced over at Naomi. She was dressed in a slim black pantsuit, a light blue top, a U.S. flag pinned on her lapel. Her hair was down to her shoulders. Her arm was out of the sling. He hadn’t seen her since their separate depositions right after Keaton’s arrest.
Despite the official proceedings, he couldn’t help but admire her. She looked great.
Naomi nodded smartly to the lawyer but shot a glance toward Hauck.
He caught her smile.
“This office will be interested in any and all matters related to the events, no matter how small or how seemingly unimportant. I guess we might as well start at the beginning.” The lawyer turned to Hauck, pushing the microphone his way. “I think it was this past March sixth when you first became involved in this case?”
Hauck looked back at him and shrugged. “This’ll take a bit of time.”
“We have as long as it takes, Mr. Hauck,” the lawyer said. “I hope you don’t have anything more pressing…”
“No, nothing more pressing.”
“You, Agent Blum?’
“No, nothing,” she replied, that familiar twinkle in her eye.
Hauck winked at her and started in. “Okay, then, here goes…”
He took the lawyer through the first time he heard of April Glassman’s death. That morning with Annie. Leaving a few choice details out. His first efforts to follow it up, then Merrill Simons, Thibault. Donovan. Even Campbell, the New York cop. After a couple of hours they were only up to Naomi’s arrival on the scene.
At noon, the lawyer looked at his watch and asked if they’d like to break for lunch.
That left Hauck and Naomi alone for the first time.
“So how goes it?” he asked. They packed up their cases, got up, paused at the conference room door.
“
Swamped.
Totally swamped. I got a promotion. My boss is moving on. I’ve been put in charge of my department now.”
“Mazel tov!” he said. He held the door for her. “Deserved.”
“Maybe you’ll want a job yourself one day.” She smiled. “You’ve shown a real knack for this kind of work. I happen to have a nice basement office for you. The heat knocks a bit, and I’m afraid there’s no view. If you’re interested, I can see what I can do.”
“Thanks,” Hauck said, grinning, “but I’ve already done my time with the government. Anyway, I’m gonna stick it out for a while at Talon. See what comes up…By the way, you’re looking great,” he said, totally out of the blue.
“Thanks.” She blushed and put on her sunglasses. “Amazing what not getting shot at can do for you.”
“The arm’s doing well?”
“Well enough,” Naomi said. “Yours?”
He raised his elbow. “Good as new.”
They headed out to the elevator bank. He pressed the button. “So you want to get some lunch?” he asked. “We have an hour.”
“Do you think that’s entirely professional? I mean, this is supposed to only be about what happened on the case.”
Hauck couldn’t take his eyes off her. “To me this is one hundred percent about what happened on the case.”
The elevator came. She stepped inside. “Good. I know a fish place we can walk to from here.”
He followed her in and pressed the button for the lobby. Leaned with his back against the railing. It was a small office building, and they were alone.
She said, “You know, much of this may never come to light. The government wants a thorough job. But they also want to move forward, I’m told…Some things might never come out.”
Hauck shrugged. “That’s okay. My résumé’s already long enough.”
Naomi smiled. “Mine too.”
Suddenly the elevator jerked and came to an abrupt stop. Between floors. The lights flickered out.
Naomi said,
“Oh, shit.”
“Generator must be down,” Hauck said. He pushed the buttons for several floors, but nothing happened. “Hope you’re not the type who gets all nervous in the dark.”
She shot back, “I’m the one who had to hide in Thibault’s closet, remember? You’re the one who couldn’t even follow the guy in a car. Anyway, have you ever known me to get flustered?”
He was about to chuckle,
Yeah, I can think of just a couple of times,
but Naomi pushed past him and started pressing buttons at random.
“Hello! Hello…”
One was the red alarm. Seconds later, someone from the building came on. “The generator’s down,” the scratchy voice replied. “There’s a camera on the console. You guys okay in there?”
Hauck felt Naomi next to him. “Yeah, we’re okay.”
“This might take a few minutes. Fifteen, maybe more…We’ll try to get the auxiliary power back up. Make yourself at home.”
“Fifteen minutes?” Naomi groaned.
“Or more,” Hauck said.
She sighed. “That’s half our break.”
“Damn.” Hauck called back to the voice,
“Don’t hurry.”
She looked at him.
“You have a great tattoo on your back,” he said. “I’d like to see it again some time.”
“
Some time…?”
Even in the dark Naomi saw where he was heading. She shook her head. “No chance.”
“Fifteen minutes, it’s an eternity…”
“Zero,”
she said again, the tiniest crack in her defiance. “You’re wasting your time.”
He could feel the flutter of her heart going crazy against him. The scent of her perfume was driving him wild. He lifted her sunglasses.
“I have a better one on my butt,” she said. “The opening of Glass’s ‘Music in the Shape of a Square’…Very seminal piece.”
A crackle came out of the speaker, something sharp and barely decipherable. Hauck took off his jacket and draped it over a button, covering the lens.
“Now, this is totally unprofessional,” Naomi said. Actually it was more of a sigh. “I’m head of the department now.”
He pulled her close to him. Even in the dark he saw the smile light up her eyes.
“So write me up, Agent Blum,” Hauck replied.
A warm thanks to so many people who played a hand in the writing of this book.
To Roy and Robin Grossman for the discussion of things financial and myriad other aspects of the story and book as well. To Janusz Kryszynski, head of the U.N.-Kosovo Peace Mission, Tasha Alexander, Nicholas Gross, and Andrew Peterson for assistance on some of the many diverse settings and other details that bring a book to life.
To Mark Schwarzman, Liz Scoponich, and Brooke Martinez, and other early readers of the draft. I appreciate you all!
Several books and articles also figured into the formation of the story and the background of the financial meltdown.
House of Cards
by William D. Cohan, “The Quiet Coup” by Simon Johnson in the
Atlantic Monthly,
“The Big Takeover” by Matt Taibi in
Rolling Stone,
“The Omen” by James B. Stewart in
The New Yorker, The End
by Michael Lewis, “The Worst Is Not Behind Us” by Nouriel Roubni in
Forbes,
as well as various postings by Frank Rich and Naomi Klein. And
Big Boy Rules
by Steve Farineau on the wild life of security personnel stationed in Iraq.
My usual thanks to David Highfill, Liate Stehlik, Lynn Grady, Pam Jaffee, Gabe Robinson, and my whole team at William Morrow, and that goes all the way to the top! Very few writers ever get to feel the belief and partnership you’ve given me.
And to Simon Lipskar of Writers House, a partner in the book in every way.
And of course, to my wife, Lynn, whose healing touch always keeps me whole, and my three kids, all making their way successfully in life and of whom I am very proud.
And, oh yeah, my mom, Leslie Pomerantz, my biggest fan, who never thinks I mention that enough.
See!
ANDREW GROSS
is the author of
New York Times
and international bestsellers
The Blue Zone, Don’t Look Twice,
and
The Dark Tide,
which was nominated for the Best Thriller of the Year award by the International Thriller Writers. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including
Judge & Jury
and
Lifeguard.
He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife, Lynn. You can follow Andrew Gross on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and at AndrewGrossBooks.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Don’t Look Twice
The Dark Tide
The Blue Zone
NOVELS BY ANDREW GROSS AND JAMES PATTERSON
Judge & Jury
Lifeguard
3rd Degree
The Jester
2nd Chance
Jacket design by Mary Schuck
Jacket photograph © by Anne Ackermann/Getty Images
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
RECKLESS. Copyright © 2010 by Andrew Gross. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.