The Closers (40 page)

"Look," he said. "Nobody could have seen all of this coming. Whatever you need me to do or say, just let me know."

"Yeah, thanks. What I might need is a job."

"Well, then you've got it."

Renner moved from the desk and lowered himself into a chair. His face was screwed up from the pain. Pierce wished he could do something.

"Look, man, stop moving around, stop talking. Just wait for the paramedics."

But Renner ignored him.

"You know that stuff Zeller was talking about? About when you were a kid and you found your sister but didn't tell anybody?"

Pierce nodded.

"Don't beat yourself up on that anymore. People make their own choices. They decide what path to take. You understand?"

Pierce nodded again.

"Okay."

The door to the man trap snapped loudly, making Pierce but not Renner jump. Gonsalves came through the door.

?n->

4*.

"They're on the way. Everybody. ETA on the ambulance is about four minutes."

Renner nodded and looked up at Pierce.

"I'll make it."

"I'm glad."

Pierce looked back at Gonsalves.

"You call Vernon?"

"Yes, he's coming."

"Okay. Wait upstairs for everybody and then bring them down."

After the security man was gone Pierce thought about how Clyde Vernon was going to react to what had happened in the laboratory he was charged with protecting. He knew that the former FBI man was going to implode with anger. He would have to deal with it. They both would.

Pierce walked over to the desk where Cody Zeller's body was sprawled. He looked down upon the man he had known for so long but now understood he hadn't really known at all. A sense of grief started to fill him. He wondered when his friend had turned in the wrong direction. Was it back at Palo Alto, when they had both made choices about the future? Or was it more recently? He had said that money was the motivation but Pierce wasn't sure the reason was as complete and definable as that. He knew it would be something that he would think about and consider for a long time to come.

He turned and looked over at Renner, who seemed to be weakening. He was leaning forward, hunched over on himself. His face was very pale.

"Are you okay? Maybe you should lie down on the floor."

The detective ignored the question and the suggestion. His mind was still working the case.

"I guess the shame of it is, they're all dead," he said. "Now we may never find Lilly Quinlan. Her body, I mean."

Pierce stepped over to him and leaned back against a desk.

"Uh, there's a few things I didn't tell you before."

Renner held his gaze for a long moment.

"I figured as much. Give."

"I know where the body is."

Renner looked at him for a long moment and then nodded.

"I should have known. How long?"

"Not long. Just today. I couldn't tell you until I was sure you would help me."

Renner shook his head in annoyance. "This better be good. Start talking."

Pierce was sitting in his office on the third floor, waiting to face the detectives again. It was six-thirty Friday morning. The investigators from the county coroner's office were still down in the lab. The detectives were waiting for the all-clear signal to go down and were spending their time grilling him on the moment-by-moment details of what had happened in the basement of the building.

After an hour of that Pierce said he needed a break. He retreated from the boardroom, where the interviews were being conducted, to his office. He got no more than five minutes by himself before Charlie Condon stuck his head through the door. He had been rousted from sleep by Clyde Vernon, who had of course been rousted from sleep by Rudolpho Gonsalves.

"Henry, can I come in?"

"Sure. Close the door."

Condon came in and looked at him with a slight shake of his head, almost like a tremor.

"Wow!"

"Yeah. It's 'wow' all right."

"Anybody told you what's going on with Goddard?"

"Not really. They wanted to know where he and Bechy were staying and I told them. I think they were going to go over there and arrest them as co-conspirators or something."

"You still don't know who they worked for?"

"No. Cody didn't say. One of his clients, I assume. They'll find out, either from Goddard or when they get into Zeller's place."

Condon sat down on the couch to the side of Pierce's desk. He was not wearing his usual suit and tie and Pierce realized how much younger he looked in knockabout clothes.

"We have to start over," Pierce said. "Find a new investor."

Condon looked incredulous.

"Are you kidding? After this? Who would-"

"We're still in business, Charlie. The science is still the thing. The patent. There will be investors out there who will know this. You have to go out and do the Ahab thing. Find another great white whale."

"Easier said than done."

"Everything in this world is easier said than done. What happened to me last night and in the last week is easier said than done. But it's done. I made it through and it's given me a hotter fire than

?>

ever.

Condon nodded.

"Nobody stops us now," he said.

"That's right. We're going to take a media firestorm today and probably over the next few weeks. But we have to figure out the way to turn it to our advantage, to pull investors in, not scare them away. I'm not talking about the daily news. I'm talking about the journals, the industry."

"I'll get on it. But you know where we're going to be totally screwed?"

"Where?"

"Nicki. She was our spokesperson. We need her. She knew these people, the reporters. Who is going to handle the media on this? They'll be all over this for the next few days, at least, or until the next big thing happens to draw them away."

Pierce considered this for a few moments. He looked up at the framed poster showing the Proteus submarine moving through a sea of many different colors. The human sea.

"Call her up and hire her back. She can keep the severance. All she has to do is come back."

Condon paused before replying.

"Henry, how is that going to work with you two? I doubt she'll consider it."

Pierce suddenly got excited about the idea. He would tell her that the rehire was strictly professional, that they would have no other relationship outside of work. He then would show her how he had changed. How the dime chased him now, not the other way around.

He thought of the book of Chinese characters he had left open on the coffee table. Forgiveness. He decided that he could make it work. He would win her back and he would make it work.

"If you want, I'll call her. I'll get"

His direct line rang and he immediately answered it.

"Henry, it's Jacob. It's so early there. I thought I was going to get your voice mail."

"No, I've been here all night. Did you file it?"

"I filed it twenty minutes ago. Proteus is protected. You are protected, Henry."

"Thank you, Jacob. I'm glad you went last night."

"Is everything okay back there?"

"Everything except we lost Goddard."

"Oh my gosh! What happened?"

"It's a long story. When are you coming back?"

"I'm going to go visit my brother and his family down in Owings in southern Maryland. I'll fly back Sunday."

"Do they have cable down in Owings?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure they do."

"Keep your eye on CNN. I have a feeling we're going to light it up."

"Is there"

"Jacob, I'm in the middle of something. I have to go. Go see your brother and get some sleep. I hate red-eye flights."

Kaz agreed and then they hung up. Pierce looked at Condon.

"We're in. He filed the package."

Condon's face lit up.

"How?"

"I sent him last night. They can't touch us now, Charlie."

Condon thought about this for a few moments and then nodded his head.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sending him?"

Pierce just looked at him. He could see the realization in Condon's face, that Pierce had not trusted him.

"I didn't know, Charlie. I couldn't talk to anybody until I knew."

Condon nodded but the hurt remained on his face.

"Must be hard. Living with all that suspicion. Must be hard to be so alone."

Now it was Pierce's turn to just nod. Condon said he was going to get some coffee and left him alone in the office.

For a few moments Pierce didn't move. He thought about Condon and what he had said. He knew his partner's words were cutting but true. He knew it was time to change all of that.

It was still early in the day but Pierce didn't want to wait to begin. He picked up the phone and called the house on Amalfi Drive.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book could not have been written without the help of Dr. James Heath, professor of chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, and Carolyn Chriss, researcher extraordinaire. This story is fiction. However, the science contained within it is real. The race to build the first molecular computer is real. Any errors or unintended exaggerations within the story are solely the responsibility of the author.

For their help and advice the author is also indebted to Terrill Lee Lankford, Larry Bernard, Jane Davis, Robert Connelly, Paul Connelly, John Houghton, Mary Lavelle, Linda Connelly, Philip Spitzer and Joel Gotler.

Many thanks also go to Michael Pietsch and Jane Wood for going beyond the call of duty as editors with this manuscript, and as well to Stephen Lamont for the excellent copy editing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Connelly is a former journalist and author of the best selling series of Harry Bosch novels, including, most recently City of Bones, and the best selling novels The Poet, Blood Woi\, and Void Moon. Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and novels, including an Edgar Award.

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