Cold Snap (48 page)

"Certainly, he will have my head if you don't
show due caution. If you suspect that the bad people see you,
run—"

"They see me already."

"Nonsense. You have to leave the Sprinter,
first." Ari saw the woman from Lowe's, the woman who had inserted
herself into Pastor Grainger's running group, and the woman (he
suspected) who had been driving the blue van at the motel come into
view of the camera. "Benjamin is ready, too, in case a distraction
is required. Now go—and don't forget the device."

"Oh shit," Ahmad said. "I almost—"

Ari hung up and focused on the screen.

"Pretty girl," said Lawson. "She looks
familiar..."

"Remove the fog from your remaining eye," Ari
said.

"I've still got my dick," said Lawson. "The
third eye sees what the other two can't."

"Don't bestir yourself. I believe this woman
is a killer."

Lawson grunted in disappointment. "Is that
another Middle Eastern complexion I see?"

The woman walked slowly but easily, as though
surveying the parking lot for scenic sights. But she knew where she
was going. She came within fifty feet of the rear door and
stopped.

She stared at the surveillance camera.

"She knows we're watching her." Lawson turned
away, as though he could not bear to be stared at.

"I don't think so," said Ari. "But I don't
understand what she's up to. Wait..."

The woman raised one arm and arched it over
her head.

"The cameraman," Ari hissed tensely. "I knew
it..."

Perhaps Lawson was wrong. The bomb could have
arrived in a thick envelope that the insurance investigator would
not consider a package. It could be lying in his drawer.

The woman frowned and took a few steps
forward. She repeated the odd gesture.

"Looks like she's practicing a ballet move,"
said Lawson, who had turned back to the monitor screen. "In the old
days I would have run over with a bouquet in one hand and my
johnson in the other."

"Who is Mr. Johnson?"

"You should know. I think he originated in
Italy."

Ari was at a loss, but the woman's frown had
deepened and she was moving closer to the building.

"A siren," said Lawson. "She's calling to me.
Wish she'd take that coat off so I could see more."

"Like the machine gun strapped to her
waist?"

"Give the cripple a break." He paused. "Oh
shit, I think I need to piss."

"Use your cup. It's large enough."

The woman stopped and again stretched out her
arm sideways, more slowly this time, like an athlete preparing for
a long haul at the weights.

"What the hell is she—?"

"Where did you throw away the dolls?" Ari
asked.

"In the—hey, wait. Now I know where I saw
that girl. She was a temp—"

The screen went white-orange-red. Lawson's
computer monitor waffled back and forth as the building shook. The
blast was accompanied by Ms. Perch's scream in the next room. But
that was not the focus of the explosion.

"Where did you throw away the dolls?" Ari
repeated. Lawson had pressed upward on his cane, amazed.

"In the dumpster."

The monitor colors readjusted to normal. The
surveillance camera had survived, although it was now skewed
sideways. The woman had been flung several yards from where they
had last seen her. She was stretched out on the blacktop.

"Justice is served," Ari murmured.

The blue van hove into view, the skewed
camera making it look as if it was arriving from under the earth.
Ari was tempted to call Ahmad, but was uncertain if the young man
had put Abu Jasim's phone on vibrate mode.

Three men piled out of the van and ran up to
the woman. One of them favored his arms. From a different odd angle
a furtive figure ran out from between parked cars and bent down
behind the van.

"Excellent," said Ari.

"Was this the distraction you were talking
about?" Lawson asked.

"A slight change in plans," Ari grinned. "It
happens to the finest generals."

"I thought you said you were a colonel."

By the time the men from the van had gathered
up the woman, Ahmad had finished his business and was slipping
unseen through the nearest row of cars.

A noise louder than the explosion caused both
Ari and Lawson to leap out of their wits.

"Goddamn fire alarm for the hearing
impaired!" Lawson shouted.

A bellicose voice interrupted the alarm.

"Exit the building in an orderly fashion. Do
not use the East exits!" And then, even more loudly, the building
manager bellowed, "GET OUT NOW!"

"All the fuss comes when everything's over,"
Lawson complained, holding up his coat. "You mind?"

Ari helped him with his coat. Taking a peek
into the front office, Lawson found his secretary long-gone.

"Let's go out my usual way," he said to Ari,
turning back. "Everything that's going to ignite has already
ignited. Besides, I can hear all the screaming over the alarm. My
maniac coworkers would end up knocking me down."

In the small rear hallway they found the door
blown off its hinges.

"Smells like almonds," Lawson said. "Think it
was C-4?"

Thousands of fragments of scorched paper
drifted in the air.

"Beats shredding," said Lawson. "Where's your
torture car?"

"I had a ride."

When Abu Jasim pulled up, Lawson balked.

"You want me to ride in a van with Saddam
Hussein driving?"

"He was, by all accounts, a magnificent
driver," said Ari, giving Lawson a mild shove as Ahmad slid open
the panel door from inside. He sat on the cushioned bench next to
Lawson and pulled out his phone, which had been vibrating for some
time.

"We are all right," he told Ben. "We are
departing. The frightful spying device is in place. Follow us."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Ah yes, I slaughtered my foes by the tens of
thousands," Abu Jasim declaimed from behind the steering wheel,
taking full advantage of the obvious fact that Lawson was still
half-convinced he was the genuine Saddam Hussein. "I crushed the
Iranians, pummeled the Kurds, squashed those wormy Kuwaitis. They
now all shit in their pants at the mere sound of my name."

"You didn't mention the Americans," said
Lawson with patriotic defensiveness.

"Ah, the Americans...we shall wait and
see."

"We pounded you good and hard."

"What's a little pounding? Tomorrow you will
be licking our—"

"Take a right up here," said Ahmad, his eyes
focused on his laptop.

"You dare interrupt?" Abu Jasim bellowed.
"How shall I deal with this puny thing from Chicago? Let me
see...discretely, as with a garrote? Or shall I simply blow out
his—"

"Chicago's a great town," Ahmad shot back.
"And don't forget the right turn."

"Ha! Chicago! Didn't your beloved team flee
Miami, their tight little pants sprinkled with pee?"

"Right turn," Ari said gruffly from the back
of the Sprinter.

"Yes, Colonel," said Abu Jasim, though not as
contritely as Ari would have desired.

"He calls you 'colonel'?" Lawson said. "Are
there many Arabs in the Italian Army?"

"Plenty. We shipped many of them to Iraq to
be part of the Multinational Force. Their hearts are filled with
rapine when they see their ancient brethren."

"Yeah..."

"The van's about a quarter of a mile ahead,"
said Ahmad. "They're not moving fast."

"That is because their female commander is
grievously injured. If she were dead, they would not drive so
gently."

"Taking orders from a woman," Abu Jasim
huffed. "This must be America!"

"It's certainly a strange notion," Ari
agreed.

Both Ahmad and Lawson gave him dreary
looks.

"Keep your eye on the computer!" Ari yelled
at Ahmad. "And you, driver! Keep your eye on the road!"

"Yes, Totalitarian Commander in Chief," said
Abu Jasim.

Ari's phone vibrated.

"Yes, Ben?"

"I missed that last turn. The light turned
red."

"Why should that stop you?"

"It turned red before you reached it. Didn't
you see that truck coming at you? You almost got T-boned."

"I will eat later. Catch up with us as soon
as possible."

"Right. But don't forget you have an
insurance investigator in the van with you."

Ari gave Lawson a wary glance. "I'll bear
that in mind." He rang off.

"Where the hell are we?" asked Lawson,
leaning forward to see out the side window. "This looks like we're
headed for Mechanicsville."

"We're headed east, is all I know."

"Towards the beach?" said Abu Jasim
brightly.

"Virginia Beach is a good hundred miles away
from here," said Lawson. "You got plenty of gas?"

"Plenty."

"Looks from here like your tank's only a
quarter full."

"The light is deceptive."

"Yes, but it's still light."

Such reasoning whooshed unnoticed past Abu
Jasim, whose subtle talents were limited to money and staying
alive.

Watching the GPS monitor, Ahmad noted the
icon representing the cargo van making odd squiggles.

"They're making sure they aren't followed,"
he said.

"Will they pass us in the opposite
direction?" Ari asked. "I don't want them to see the Sprinter."

"I can't predict what they'll do," Ahmad
complained.

"Can you predict what I'll do if you keep
showing disrespect to the colonel?" said Abu Jasim, raising a
fist.

"Sort of..." He studied the laptop screen. "I
think they're headed for the interstate."

"Good," said Abu Jasim. "I won't have to keep
snubbing these traffic lights."

When the icon went onto the eastbound ramp
off Parham onto I-64, Ari called Ben.

"You should be able to catch up to us," said
Ari, who assumed wide lanes naturally signified an absence of all
police authority.

The cargo van came to the 64/95 merge.

"Good signal," Ahmad said, "but it starts to
peter out after half a mile."

"I hope you purchased the best device
available," said Ari ominously.

"The best used device," Ahmad coughed.

"You are too frivolous."

Abu Jasim howled. "Did you hear that! The
colonel called you a queer!"

"No he didn't!"

"'Frivolous'? What else could it mean?"

"Maintain concentration up front!" Ari
commanded.

"But Colonel—!"

"I did not call him queer. And it wouldn't
matter if he was. Don't forget, our great national hero was not
beyond buggery."

"Saddam was a buggerer? On top of everything
else?"

"I was speaking of Gilgamesh."

"Oh...the guy in the school books." Abu Jasim
shrugged, as if one could not expect anything but perversity in the
classics. "But if I find out this idiot fancies boys, I'll cut his
dick off."

"I prefer old farts with shriveled dicks,"
said Ahmad. "They pay better."

"Oh...you..."

"I know, I'm so dead."

Lawson grabbed at his face. "Don't make me
laugh...it hurts too much."

"You hear that, the pair of you? If you
cannot be serious, think that within the hour we might be dead.
Does that sober you? Good. Now, our dicks are all intact. Let's
thank Allah and continue our mission."

"Allah?" said Lawson, his laughter cured.

"God, Zeus, the Artificer, the
Heraclete...whatever."

"The colonel is known as the Godless One in
some circles," Abu Jasim informed him.

"So someone mentioned at the motel…"

"Take any mention of the Almighty with a
pinch of salt."

"They're taking 95 South," Ahmad announced,
then said, "No, they're backtracking on the Downtown Expressway.
This says it's a toll road. Anyone here have spare change?"

Following Ahmad's instructions, Abu Jasim
turned up a short ramp and stopped before an automated toll machine
that blocked passage with a robotic gate. The sign above the change
bucket said '35
¢
'.

A quick search revealed there was not a cent
between them.

"Goddamn one-armed bandit," said Abu
Jasim.

"Just because it's only got one arm—" Lawson
began.

"It is a feeble barrier," Ari
interrupted.

"You can run it," said Lawson, "but the
security camera will snap a picture of your license plate. The cops
will come after you."

"And there will be a record of our Quebec
license plate?"

"I didn't notice, but yes, they'll contact
Canada."

Abu Jasim snarled, gunning the engine.

"Wait!" Ahmad shouted, setting the laptop on
the van floor and opening the door. "It's a gold mine out
there!"

Ari turned to the side window and watched as
the young man scurried to pick up change off the ground. It seemed
many drivers had poor throwing arms and had missed when tossing the
toll in the bucket. Ahmad found 35
¢
in
short order and dropped it in. The barrier rose. He waved at the
cars honking behind the Sprinter and hopped back inside.

"We have to come back!" he asserted. "There
must be $20 or more in change laying around out there!"

"Yes," Ari agreed, watching the coins sparkle
on the ground as they pulled away.

"Where am I going?" Abu Jasim demanded.

"Straight," said Ahmad, pulling the computer
back onto his lap. "There's no need to run that traffic
light...that one, see? They're only a quarter mile ahead. We're
OK."

Ari called Ben and gave him the number of the
exit they had taken.

"If you have no change, there's plenty on the
ground."

When he rang off he found Lawson piercing him
with his eye. "You going to explain what happened back at the
office?"

"The enemy tried to blow you up."

"I mean how? You guessed the G.I. Joes held
the explosive. That gallery you told me about...the potential
targets.... But how? That girl was practically dancing at the
entrance. Is that what triggered the bomb? Some kind of motion
sensor?"