Hit List

going down.”
    “So he starts off knowing who the subject is, but not the shooter.”
    “Has to be.”
    “And he stakes out the subject, or he picks up the shooter coming in, like he did with you in Louisville. New York, that artist, maybe he didn’t get wind of the contract in the first place.”
    “Maybe not.”
    “Or he did, but he couldn’t pick you up on the way in. Nobody met you, nobody fingered the artist. What was his name?”
    “Niswander.”
    “You showed up at the opening.”
    “Along with half the freeloaders in Lower Manhattan,” he said.
    “If he staked out Niswander, waiting for somebody to hit him, well, he’s still waiting, because you went and knocked off the client instead. What came after that?”
    “Tampa.”
    “Tampa. Something something beach.”
    “Indian Rocks Beach.”
    “You were down and back the same day. Even if he was ready to play, it was over and done with before he could have drawn a bead on you. And then comes Boston, and that brings us up-to-date, unless I’m forgetting something.”
    “I think that covers it.”
    “You saw him in Boston, isn’t that what you said? Getting out of a cab and looking at Thurnauer’s house?”
    “It wasn’t Thurnauer’s place. I think it was the girl’s.”
    “I’m glad you cleared that up. Point is you saw him, didn’t you?”
    “I saw somebody. Maybe it was him and maybe not.”
    “Here’s the real question. Was it somebody you saw before?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Like in Louisville, standing around with a sign.”
    “When I saw him get out of the cab,” he said, “I assumed it was Thurnauer. What did I see? A guy in a hat and coat, all bundled up and trying not to get soaked. And I saw him from the back. I never got a look at his face.”
    “So maybe it was the same guy and maybe it wasn’t.”
    “Helps a lot, doesn’t it?”
    “Getting back to Louisville,” she said. “Did you get a good look at him then?”
    “Did I look at him? Yes. Can I picture him now? No, not really. I got a better look at the sign he was holding.”
    “That’s not much help, Keller. He’s probably not still carrying it.”
    “He was wearing a leather jacket,” he said, “and that’s no help, either. He was about my height, not young, but not old, either. Not fat, not thin. Nothing terribly memorable about him.”
    “You could be describing yourself, Keller.”
    “Well, it wasn’t me.”
    “No, you’d remember if it was. What’s his angle? I’ll tell you, he doesn’t sound like the Caped Crusader to me, not the way he stands aside and lets you fulfill the contract before he makes his move. If all this was in aid of truth and justice and the American Way, wouldn’t he go for an ounce of prevention?”
    “You’d think so.”
    “So why does he wait? In Boston he may not have had much choice. He probably couldn’t ID you until you were on your way out of the place. But in Louisville he had all the time in the world. What was he waiting for?”
    “Maybe he was being considerate.”
    “Of whom, for Christ’s sake? Not of Hirschhorn, that’s for sure. Considerate of you? Like he wants to let you have your moment of triumph before he takes you off the board? Somehow I don’t think so. So who does that leave?” Her eyes widened. “Jesus. He was being considerate of the client .”
    “I don’t know who else there is.”
    “But why would he care about the client? Wait a minute. I’m actually beginning to get a glimmer here. He doesn’t want to screw things up for the client, so that’s why he lets the hit go down before he makes a move on the hitter. And what does he care about the client?”
    “He’s in the business.”
    “Which I suppose should have been obvious from the jump. I mean, look at his trademark. Two in the head with a twenty-two? That’s not the gunfight at the OK Corral. That’s a pro signing his work.”
    “But what’s he got against me?” He got to his feet. “It can’t be personal. He doesn’t even know who I am. Is he trying to get me to join the union? I didn’t even know there was one, but I’d pay my dues along with everybody else.”
    “It might be worth it,” she said, “if only for the group medical coverage. Keller, maybe you’re too self-centered.”
    “He wants to kill me because I’m too self-centered?”
    “Maybe it’s not about you.”
    “You know,” he said, “it couldn’t be about me, could it? Because he starts with the contract and waits for the