Collision(63)
De La Pena doubled up, tried to pull Green on him as a shield. Pilgrim let him. Then he grabbed the dead man’s head from behind, pounded it again and again into De La Pena’s face.
“I’ll talk!” De La Pena finally screamed. “I’ll talk!”
Pilgrim hit him twice more for measure, then dropped Green’s body to the side.
De La Pena stayed still.
“If you move, if you look at me funny, I’ll kill you. Son of a bitch.”
“I understand,” De La Pena said through bloodied lips. The blood was not all his own.
“Who sent you?”
“Teach did. But . . . there’s a man. This guy, ex-military, kidnapped me last week. Brought me here. Kept me in a conference room, beat me. Beat me for no reason.” He blinked through the blood. “He knew I was ex-CIA. Knew my real name. Said Teach would be here soon to talk to me.”
“And she was.”
“Last night. She looked like she’d been in a fight. She told me the new guy was a partner, we’d be working with him. I could read the writing on the wall. He’s muscled his way into the Cellar and she’s letting him.”
“You know the guy’s name?”
“No. She didn’t tell me. He’s older but you can tell he’s definitely from our line of work. Cold eyes. He smiles like how I think a ghost smiles.” He paused. “His house is fancy.”
“Describe him.”
“Tall, late forties or early fifties, silver-haired, but very fit.”
“Anyone else?”
“There’s one other guy. Young. Irish accent.” He shrugged.
“Dressed in black? Like Johnny Cash?”
“Yeah. This new guy’s got Teach deep in his pocket. You may say she’s kidnapped but clearly she’s working with him.”
“Only because he’s threatened her or us. She’s being coerced; Teach wouldn’t ever betray us.”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s voluntary,” De La Pena said. “Teach loses control of the Cellar, I go with the flow. Whoever runs the Cellar runs me.”
“Tell me where this house is.”
“You’re entirely missing the point. These guys, they’re not keeping her at the point of a gun. They’re keeping her because they found us. This guy owns our asses because he can expose us.” De La Pena stared up at him through the blood. “What’s the CIA going to do when we come to light? Wash their hands of us. You know we can’t be acknowledged, we all made the deal when we signed up. We’ll get brought up on federal charges.” He spat a trickle of blood. “You should just vanish. Give up on trying to get Teach back. It’s a new day, man.”
“Your loyalty is an inspiration. Teach gets you out of the gutter, gives you a second chance, and you won’t fight to help her get free.”
“She’s not fighting this guy.” De La Pena shrugged. “Why should I?”
Pilgrim stood, went to the far side of the room, retrieved his gun.
De La Pena said, “Uncuff me, man; he’s dead, uncuff me.” He jerked his arm, and Green’s dead arm moved in unison. “I told you what you need to know, let me go; I never saw you, and we’re square.”
Pilgrim stood unsteadily, groped in his pocket for the weight of Barker’s passports. “If you move, I’m going to leave him bound to you and lock you out of this house. I can’t wait for you to explain to the neighbors why you’re walking the streets with a dead guy chained to you.” He picked up the phone, hit redial, listened to the phone beep a number. The number display showed 504. New Orleans area code. After the third ring, a woman briskly answered: “Hotel Marquis de Lafayette, how may I assist you today?”
“I’m trying to locate your hotel but I think I’ve taken a wrong turn.”
“We’re near Poydras and St. Charles, sir. Where are you coming from?”
“Oh, I had the address down wrong, I can find it. Thanks so much.” Pilgrim hung up the phone. He tried to imagine Barker’s last day in this house, preparing for a traitorous operation, one where he had to fool both Teach and Pilgrim, set Pilgrim up for death, isolate Teach for a kidnapping. And the last phone call he makes is to a hotel in New Orleans.
Who was there? Why New Orleans?
“Tell me where she’s being held.”
“First, unhook me from him, man,” De La Pena said.
“Tell me.”
“No,” De La Pena said. “Uncuff me. You’re going to have to trust me, I can help you rescue Teach. But I could tell you and you’ll kill me like Green.”
“You tried to kill me.”