Chapter 35
The first thing Emma did when she woke up Tuesday morning was call Ronan.
“Hello?” he answered, his voice full of sleep.
“I don’t want to wait.”
“Hold on.” There was the sound of movement from the other end. “What are we talking about?”
“Marty.”
“Ah, right. I take it you’ve been thinking about this all night.”
“Of course I have. He’s trying to steal my work!” She paused. “Sorry. I’m not mad at you, I’m just still so angry.”
“I would have been surprised if you weren’t. What would you like to do?”
“Fire him the minute I get to the office.”
“I get that. But if you fire him now, he walks away. Think of how much better it will be if you wait until you can have him thrown in jail, too.”
She huffed out a breath. “You’re right. But you know me. I’m not going to be able to hide my feelings when I see him.”
“Then don’t hide that you’re mad,” he said.
“You basically just told me I have to play nice with him.”
“What I mean is, since you can’t hide your anger, pretend you’re upset for another reason.”
“Like what?”
“Like the obvious.”
“The obvious reason is that I know what Marty’s trying to do.”
“That’s only obvious to you and me,” Ronan said. “Not to Marty.”
“Then what?”
“Have you forgotten about your trip to the police station yesterday?”
“What about it?”
“Most people would still be upset about being falsely accused of murder.”
“Wilson’s an idiot. Besides, Herb Fisher said I have nothing to worry about.”
“Most people wouldn’t put it behind them that quickly. It’s a good excuse to use, if you come off angry.”
She thought about it. “I guess so.”
“Trust me.”
“Fine. But I still want Marty out of there as soon as possible.”
“I have an idea about that. If, that is, you’re up to doing a bit of acting.”
“I’m a terrible actor.”
“Even if it’s to set Marty up to be caught?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Perhaps you can give me a few tips.”
—
Marty had slept in fits and starts the previous night. Any time he did drift off, his dreams were filled with Popov and his men punishing him for failing to come through.
He finally gave up trying at four a.m. and decided to go to the office, in hopes of fulfilling at least part of what he’d promised Popov.
He’d completely forgotten about Vladimir watching him until he pulled out of his garage and onto the street, and the single headlight of a motorcycle appeared in his rearview mirror.
He unintentionally slammed on the brake and nearly knocked his head against the steering wheel. When he sat back up, Vladimir was idling beside the driver’s door, motioning for him to get a move on it.
He then followed Marty all the way to RRE.
Not wanting any data breach to be linked back to him, Marty used one of the accountants’ computers and began downloading files that he hoped would mollify Popov.
He had no idea how long he’d been at it when he heard a noise from somewhere in the building.
He checked his watch, thinking it wasn’t even six a.m. yet, and no one else should be here, then jumped to his feet when he saw that it was twenty minutes after seven. He snatched his thumb drive from the computer, put the machine to sleep, and made a beeline for his own desk.
He was still a few steps away when he heard the reception-area door opening. He glanced back and cursed under his breath when he saw Emma and her dog enter.
He ducked down before she noticed him and crept the remaining distance to his cubicle. Keeping his head low, he climbed into his chair.
“You’re in early,” Emma said, her voice flat.
He glanced up to find her stopped in the aisle nearby.
“Oh, hey, Emma,” he said. “I didn’t realize anyone else was here.”
She stared at him, unsmiling.
“I, uh, I thought I’d get an early start. It’s a busy week.”
“Where were you yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“In the afternoon. Susan was looking for you.”
“Oh, right. Um, something personal came up that I had to deal with. It took longer than I expected.”
“No one could get ahold of you.”
“My-my phone died. Didn’t realize it until later. Sorry.”
“I assume you’ll let HR know you took the afternoon off.”
“Uh, yes. Absolutely. I’ll send them an email right away.”
“Copy me on it.”
“Will do, boss.”
She held his gaze for another few seconds, then headed to her office with her dog trotting at her side.
As soon as they disappeared into the executive hallway, Marty’s agreeable expression vanished.
How dare Emma talk to him like he was a child? He deserved some respect.
His computer dinged with the arrival of an email. He woke up the screen and saw the message was from Emma, with the subject line: Reminder. He opened it.
Martin—
Per our discussion, please inform HR about your absence yesterday.
Emma
His eyes narrowed.
As terrifying as Popov was, Marty could hardly wait until the guy took over RRE and booted Emma to the curb.
—
The first thing Teddy did upon waking that morning was check for messages from Vesna.
There was only one.
Call me.
He did so.
“And the sleeper awakes,” she answered.
“Careful, I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
“Maybe you should call me back after you have.”
“Not necessary. I will endeavor to behave in a civilized manner.”
“If you don’t, I’m hanging up.”
“As would be your right,” he said. “Can I take it from your message that you have something for me?”
“More that I might have something.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Popov and his henchmen—”
“Henchmen?”
“I hear this phrase in American movies. Is it not correct?”
“It’s perfectly fine, if a bit antiquated.”
“Then should I use something else?”
“Absolutely not. It suits you.”
There was a beat of silence before she asked, “Are you making fun of me?”
“I make a point of not doing so to anyone as lethal as you.”
“Good answer.”
“So, about Popov and his henchmen?” Teddy asked.
“Right. They arrived back at the bungalow not long after nine p.m. The only one Popov talked to was someone he called Aleksei.”
“Describe him.”
She did.
“That’s one of the brothers.”
“Brothers?”
“I assume they’re brothers,” Teddy said. “The other one looks just like him except for being several years younger.”
“This one I did not see.”
“He left earlier. I think he’s keeping tabs on someone.”
“Interesting.”
“In what way?”
“I will get to that. Most of what Popov and Aleksei discussed last night seemed unimportant. I will send you a rough transcript in case there is something you see that did not stand out to me. There is one thing that I thought could be of interest, though.”
“Go on.”
“Popov asked Aleksei if there was anything new about ‘the woman.’ Aleksei said he would check, then pulled out his phone. I was able to get a few glimpses of his screen, and it looked like he was scrolling through news websites. He stopped on one article with a headline that started ‘Police Question Person…’ I couldn’t see the rest. He then told Popov nothing else had come up. Does it mean anything to you?”
“It might,” Teddy said, pretty sure he knew what the article concerned. “Did they say anything else?”
“Not really. Popov seemed disappointed, and then he went to bed.”
“That’s it?”
“No. Aleksei was woken up by a phone call at four-thirty a.m. After listening for several seconds, he said, ‘His office? Now?’ I obviously couldn’t hear the response, but it appeared to be positive.
Aleksei told the person to keep watching and report back if anything changed.
Based on what you told me, I am now thinking he was talking to his look-alike brother. ”
“That would be my guess, too. Did Aleksei receive another call?”
“As a matter of fact, he did, just ten minutes ago. My understanding is that someone arrived at ‘the office.’ Aleksei referred to the person as a ‘she,’ so I assume it was a woman. He told the caller to continue watching and that was it.”
Teddy had a hunch he knew who the woman was, too. “Has he told Popov about the phone calls?”
“Popov is still asleep.”
“Ah,” he said. “Thank you, Vesna. I appreciate the help. Please let me know if anything else of interest pops up.”
“So you are saying I’m not done.”
“Remember, I’m paying you by the hour.”
“Then you should know I am into overtime now.”
“Not at the amount you charge.”
She chuckled. “It was worth a shot.”
“Goodbye, Vesna.”
“Goodbye, Teddy, or whoever you are at the moment.”
Teddy hung up.
It was possible that the woman Aleksei and his younger clone talked about was someone other than Emma, but Teddy wasn’t willing to take that chance.
He made another call.
“Mike Freeman.”
“Hello, Mike. It’s Teddy Fay.”
Mike was a member of the small group who knew about Teddy’s various personas. Mike, himself, was also living under an assumed identity due to events that had occurred decades ago.
Like Teddy, he’d carved out a very successful career under his new name, in his case as CEO and president of Strategic Services.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” Mike said.
“I believe you have offices in Palm Springs?”
“Yes. It’s a satellite of our L.A. office. Can I assume that is where you are at present?”
“You can. And I’m hoping you can provide some assistance.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
Teddy gave him a pared-down summary of what had been going on and told him about what he’d surmised from the phone calls Vesna had overheard.
“You’re concerned about the woman and want us to provide protection.”
“Emma Perez, and you got it in one.”
“Can you give me a description of the man you believe is watching her office?”
“I can do better than that. Hold on.”
Teddy brought up the pictures he’d taken at the Mountain View Resort and texted the ones of Marty and the motorcyclist to Mike.
“Photos received,” Mike said.
“The one in the leather jacket is the watcher. The other one is a guy named Marty Lundstrom. He works with Emma.”
“I assume you want my people in place right away.”
“Yes, please.”
“Let me make a call.”
“One thing,” Teddy said. “I don’t want Emma or the watcher to know your people are there.”
“Understood. And consider your request handled.”
“Thank you, Mike.”
“Happy to help. I’ll have the team leader report directly to you.”
Teddy hung up and got out of bed.
Thirty minutes later, Teddy was showered and once more disguised as Raymond Talbert. After enjoying a lovely breakfast by the pool, he stopped by the reception desk.
“Good morning, Mr. Talbert,” the clerk said. She was the same person who’d checked him in the previous afternoon. “How may I assist you?”
“Sadly, business calls and I must leave town this morning.”
“That is unfortunate. Let me get you checked out.”
“Actually, that won’t be necessary. The daughter of a friend is coming to town this afternoon, and I’ve passed on word that she can use the remaining night of my reservation.”
“Can I have her name, please?”
“Stacy Lange.”
She entered the name into the system. “Done. Will she be responsible for tonight’s bill?”
“No, continue to put all charges on my card. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you scheduled a full spa treatment for her at, say, three p.m.”
“That’s very kind of you. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Finding time in my schedule so I can get a massage, too?”
“That’s above my pay grade, I’m afraid.”
“Pity.”