Hidden Prey

Terry said.
    “If you jump right on the story, it oughta work. I’m not worried about rumors: I just don’t want Micky on the TV news, where out-of-towners are gonna hear about him. These guys, these Russians, I don’t think they have local sources. They won’t hear the rumors.”
    “Do what I can,” Terry said.
     
    L UCAS HAD MET Micky Andreno on a case in St. Louis. Andreno had retired early from the St. Louis Police Department, had a decent pension and a part-time job at a golf course, and, in his middle-fifties, was good undercover. He looked more like an Italian grocer than a cop. Lucas had used him twice before, on minor lookout jobs.
    They found an all-night diner out on the highway, got a booth in the back where they could talk, and ordered cheeseburgers. Andreno said, half laughing, “Hell of a night.”
    “I’m sorry about this,” Lucas said. “I never thought you’d get tangled up in anything rough.”
    “Hey, I like it,” Andreno said. “I’m having a good time. I’m just sorry I got busted so fast. I could use an ID. If I’d had an ID, it would have cooled things out a lot quicker.”
    “I’ll get you something,” Lucas said. “When did you get here?”
    “Flew in at noon. Rented a van.”
    “Nothing going on until this?”
    “Hard to tell. Must’ve been two hundred people in and out of the bar. Any one of them could have been talking to Spivak that I couldn’t see.”
    “Nothing we can do about that,” Lucas said.
    “One thing: the guy who hanged Spivak. Spivak said tall and thin and dark haired. I don’t think tall. And he didn’t look especially thin, either. I don’t know about the hair. I couldn’t see him when he was inside and only got a quick shot when he came banging out of there. But . . .”
    Lucas nodded. “Spivak is bullshitting us. About a guy who tried to hang him.”
    “It’s a goddamn good thing I didn’t go chasing this asshole, if he really had a silencer on the gun. Don’t want to go running after any pro fuckin’ executioners with nothing in your hand but your dick.”
    “You had your dick in your hand?”
    The waitress came with the cheeseburgers; she had a small smile on her face, and Lucas thought she must have overheard the last question. When she was gone, Andreno said, “So. I’m headed home?” He sounded unhappy.
    “No. I’ve got another thing for you.”
    “Excellent,” Andreno said. He rubbed his hands together and looked around. “I like this town. This is like a town in the old country. Maybe they could use an Italian restaurant.”
    “They’d have to find somebody who could cook Italian food,” Lucas said.
    “Little wine, little checkered tablecloths, fat guy with an accordion . . .”
    Lucas drifted away for a moment, then shook his head: “That fuckin’ Nadya. She’s fuckin’ with me, Micky.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’d beat the shit out of her if I were you,” Andreno said. “Pass the ketchup.”
     
    T HOUGH IT WAS late when Lucas got back in his truck, he decided to call Andy Harmon, the FBI counterintelligence contact. Once clear of Virginia, on the highway, he found Harmon’s cell-phone number in his address book. Harmon answered on the first ring, in a quiet, wide-awake voice: “Harmon.”
    “This is Davenport. You awake?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you always awake?”
    “No.”
    “Good. I’d hate to think you went around sleepy all the time.”
    “Is this about something, or did you just call to chat?”
    Lucas told him—the hanging of Spivak and the call from the unknown woman. He didn’t mention Andreno. When he was done, Harmon whistled: “This is turning into something.”
    “The big question is, do I confront Nadya? She must’ve sicced this hangman on Spivak. Unless it was Reasons, but I don’t see Reasons being involved in any of this.”
    “He has a Russian wife.”
    “That crossed my mind, but I’ll tell you: I don’t believe it. From what Reasons has said, she was one of those people who got out of Russia when the getting was good. She worked for an optician in Russia, and she works for an optician here.”
    “So it’s just a coincidence . . .” Harmon said it with a brooding tone, doubt right on the surface.
    “Hey, it’s your call. I’m not going to spend any time with it, but if you want to check Reasons out, be my guest. My main thing is Nadya. I feel it in my bones, she set this thing up with Spivak.”
    “Let me make some calls.