1 tilted a little farther back in his chair, contin- to watch Missus Frakes relentlessly pull apart the i with her teeth and claws. at’s the way, all right, he thought. Work the bas\
the Safe Car-ha-ha-Palardy had understandably vked with resistance. Quiros’s errand would bounce l from the role of informant to killer, and he’d never for things to escalate that far. But Quiros bringing up what dirt he had on him, and that s him shut his mouth and agree to cooperate. It was Variation of a theme Lathrop had seen repeated time I again in the territory he chose to prowl, though one We distinction about the enactment featuring Quiros Palardy was that neither had been inclined to get up in Gordian’s assassination. That Quiros was elf muscled into it. This had become apparent from protestations to Blondie and a couple of indirect nents he’d made to Palardy-the latter being mo- i of commiseration and empathy that hadn’t exactly Lathrop’s eyes to mist. But he supposed he was |:cynical audience, having maybe seen the basic plot
old once too often. i* After that night at the harbor, Lathrop had concen- on the script he’d drafted for Quiros and Lucio without their knowledge. It had netted him a et take, and the blowout climax promised to be re- liing fun. But in another twenty-four hours, it would
275
Tom Clancy’s Power Plays
be time to move beyond it. Turn a bend, head on out toward virgin soil.
If he’d needed any incentive to urge him along, nothing could have been better than the news reports about Gordian’s hospitalization.
Lathrop glanced around at the pretty lady on his computer screen and remembered the afternoon he’d followed Enrique to his rendezvous with her. Remembered watching the carousel make its slow rotations with the “Blue Danube” piping in the background, the rowdy, stoned-out teenagers on the lead horses rising from their saddles, stretching their arms to reach for the silver and brass rings above them, only the gleaming brass worth a prize.
A smile ghosted at the corners of Lathrop’s mouth again.
The brass ring.
He’d gotten hold of it. Without ever climbing aboard the platform, stalking the periphery on his ceaseless, solitary hunt, he’d been the one who caught hold. And that left him having to make two major decisions.
Namely when to claim his prize and how best to trade on its indescribable value.
“Third time I’ve called, and still no answer except from his machine,” Ricci said. “Where the hell is Palardy?”
“Who knows? Maybe he went out for some groceries.”
“He’s supposed to be sick.”
“Doesn’t have to mean he’s bedridden. A person has to eat, no matter how lousy he feels. If there’s no food in the house, you live alone, you go buy some.”
“Third time in an hour, Pete. If I’m under the weather
276
BIO-STRIKE
1 need orange juice or something, I might ran over to i corner deli. But I wouldn’t make a whole shopping on out of-”
Megan said, putting up her hand. “I think i. two are getting way ahead of yourselves.” ey looked at her from their chairs in Nimec’s office. fow so?” Nimec said.
could be that he’s turned off the ringer on his to get some sleep, or doesn’t hear it, or just n’t want to answer.”
maybe he was feeling better and went out for air,” Scull said. “For all we know, the guy had a ch bug and is already back to normal.” |Tf that’s the case, why wasn’t he at work today?”
shrugged. “He might not have felt normal till tonight. I’m only agreeing with Meg that-” I^You see me phone his section chief ten minutes ago?
i remember our conversation?” f “Sure I do-”
: he told me, this section chief, was that the last : anybody heard from Palardy was when he phoned ^yesterday, and that the guy sounded sick as a dog, : he was supposed to call back today to report how pS was doing. And never did.” |*”I said I remembered-”
?i**The section chief, his name’s Hernandez, also said ‘ thought it was very odd that Palardy didn’t call. In , I’m pretty sure he started to use the word irrespon-
too, but checked himself.” I^Probably didn’t want to get him in hot water with ‘ Thibodeau said. “I agree. But that doesn’t change anything,” Nimec 1 “The sweeps aren’t a haphazard affair. If they be277
Tom Clancy’s Power Plays
be time to move beyond it. Turn a bend, head on out toward virgin soil.
If he’d needed any incentive to urge him along, nothing could have been better than the news reports about Gordian’s hospitalization.
Lathrop glanced around at the pretty lady on his computer screen and remembered the afternoon he’d followed Enrique to his rendezvous with her. Remembered watching the carousel make its slow rotations with the “Blue Danube” piping in the background, the rowdy, stoned-out teenagers on the lead horses rising from their saddles, stretching their arms to reach for the silver and brass rings above them, only the gleaming brass worth a prize.
A smile ghosted at the corners of Lathrop’s mouth again.
The brass ring.
He’d gotten hold of it. Without ever climbing aboard the platform, stalking the periphery on his ceaseless, solitary hunt, he’d been the one who caught hold. And that left him having to make two major decisions.
Namely when to claim his prize and how best to trade on its indescribable value.
“Third time I’ve called, and still no answer except from his machine,” Ricci said. “Where the hell is Palardy?”
“Who knows? Maybe he went out for some groceries.”
“He’s supposed to be sick.”
“Doesn’t have to mean he’s bedridden. A person has to eat, no matter how lousy he feels. If there’s no food in the house, you live alone, you go buy some.”
“Third time in an hour, Pete. If I’m under the weather
276
BIO-STRIKE
[ need orange juice or something, I might run over to s corner deli. But I wouldn’t make a whole shopping sion out of-”
Megan said, putting up her hand. “I think two are getting way ahead of yourselves.” fpiey looked at her from their chairs in Nimec’s office, tow so?” Nimec said.
could be that he’s turned off the ringer on his to get some sleep, or doesn’t hear it, or just n’t want to answer.”
maybe he was feeling better and went out for air,” Scull said. “For all we know, the guy had a ch bug and is already back to normal.” “If that’s the case, why wasn’t he at work today?” JfcScull shrugged. “He might not have felt normal till
tonight. I’m only agreeing with Meg that-” iff “You see me phone his section chief ten minutes ago? itou remember our conversation?”
“Sure I do-”
|jf”What he told me, this section chief, was that the last anybody heard from Palardy was when he phoned yesterday, and that the guy sounded sick as a dog, he was supposed to call back today to report how 1 was doing. And never did.” “I said I remembered-” | The section chief, his name’s Hernandez, also said thought it was very odd that Palardy didn’t call. In I’m pretty sure he started to use the word irrespon- le, too, but checked himself.” “Probably didn’t want to get him in hot water with ‘ Thibodeau said.
| “I agree. But that doesn’t change anything,” Nimec “The sweeps aren’t a haphazard affair. If they be277
Tom Clancy’s Power Plays
came disorganized, we start to have countersurveillance lapses.”
“Exactly,” Ricci said. “Guys on these teams show up for duty at five-thirty, six o’clock in the morning. And unless it happens that one of them wakes up feeling too sick to come in, like Palardy did Monday-”
“Or a last-minute emergency comes up … car breaks down on the highway, kid’s got a fever-”
“Which wasn’t the case-”
“Then Hernandez has got to have his people give him notice the day before,” Thibodeau said, finishing Ricci’s sentence. “Arrange to pull a replacement off another team. Be sure every area in the building due for a sweep is covered.”
Ricci nodded.
“Especially when it’s a team leader who’s going to be out,” he said. “Hernandez is sticking with his man until he learns the score, and I’d do the same. But Pa- lardy being MIA is a bigger deal than he wanted us to think.”
Megan shook her head. “I’m still not sure I understand what the three of you are saying-”
“What I’m saying is Palardy might be too sick to call. Might’ve passed out same as the boss.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
“You’ve made quite a huge leap,” she said. “It’s possible we’ve hit on a disciplinary problem rather than anything having to do with Gord.”
“Meg’s right,” Scull said. “Don Palardy appears for work tomorrow morning, fit as a fiddle, your whole discussion’s moot. Like I said before, I can’t see reading a whole lot into his absence. Not at this stage.”