Disappearance (26 page)

"Thanks," he said and inched his way backward, out the door. The receptionist was already occupied with another call.

He turned and crossed the street, approaching a small coffee shop in the middle of a block of smaller and less impressive office buildings, opposite the Matlock building. He ordered an espresso and sat staring across the street at the Matlock entrance.  After an hour he decided to call Lisa.  He found a telephone booth at the corner of Swann and New Hampshire.

Keeping the building within his sights, he rang her home, ignoring the agreed code, praying she will be the one to pick up.

She did pick up and he quickly gave her the public phone booth number to call.  The phone rang five minutes later.

"He went into an office building about an hour ago," Mikki said.  "The name on its doors reads Matlock Defense Company. I couldn't follow him in.”

There was silence on the other side for a moment.

"Anything else?”
Lisa asked, sounding distant.

"No. Had a pretty dull night, a great breakfast, and it looks like I'll have to spend some time out here on the
street.”

"I'll check out Matlock," she said.

"Shouldn't be a problem, they seem to have quite a presence."

"Yeah, I've heard of them," she remarked, then added: "I think you should go to New York.”

He did not respond immediately so she continued. "I reserved tickets for you at the Delta shuttle counter for a seven thirty flight.  I also booked you at the Summit for one night.”

Mikki smiled to himself at her astuteness.   His own mother couldn't have been more assertive.

"Mikki," Lisa continued in a softer tone, "I'd also like you to meet my boss, George Eckert.”

He was suddenly alert again. "What does he know?" he asked, alarmed.

"I told him the truth when I asked for a month off.  I had to. He was very supportive.”

"How much does he know?"

"He knows my sister had been missing for the last three years and that I suspect my own father of kidnapping her.   He knows who you are but he does not know what you guys have been doing.   He offered his help and now he's got some information he won't talk about over the phone, so he asked to meet you.”

Mikki was about to protest. The Mustafa execution was a noose around their necks and he knew his accomplices were at least as sensitive as he was, if not more.  Despite him trusting her judgment and needing additional help, it annoyed him that she did not consult him on this matter.  Involving other people was not something to be taken lightly though he was convinced that to get to the bottom of the affair, more people were certain to become involved.   But he saw no point elaborating on a done deed so he held his tongue.  They may as well use any help her boss could provide.

"It's your call," he said. "Where should I meet him?"

She  gave  him  a  phone  number  and  told  him  to  use  it whenever he was ready.  "He'll have someone pick you up from where ever you'll be," she instructed.

"Call me in New York tonight if there are any developments," he said.

"You know I will, dear," she joked.

"Yes dear," he answered and hung up.

-------

The flight into JFK took an hour and Mikki once again used the Carey bus services for transport into the city.  The Summit, he had found out in advance, was walking distance from Grand Central Station.  A cab would have obviously been a faster and more convenient choice but he felt an obligation to do what he could to reduce expenses.

Lisa had opened up several savings accounts to finance their activities and had insisted money was of no concern, but Mikki had scruples about using her money.  He had been practically broke when they had first met in New York and since then she had paid for everything - air fares, accommodation, food, gas, and all other expenses.  She never told him how much money she had allotted but he figured that when it was all said and done she could be out a sum he would most likely never see his entire life.

Before boarding he had called once more asking to use her apartment instead of paying for the hotel.  She had reasoned that they could not afford to lose her father because of a traffic jam or a late train.   Besides, she had argued, just like in DC, he may meet some people in the evening or prior to his scheduled meeting, which Mikki would not be able to witness if he wasn't around.  She insisted they needed to stay right on top of their subject since they were not sure what they were looking for and any peculiarity could turn out useful.

Mikki could not argue that point after losing Glass in Washington.      He   never   saw   him   again   after   he   had disappeared into the Matlock offices that morning.   He assumed he had left through a back exit or never left at all, but when 6pm came around and Glass did not show, he flagged a taxi to the airport so as not to miss his flight, figuring he was certain to get back on his track in New York.

He reached Grand Central and walked the same route he had walked with Lisa when he first came there, two weeks ago.  It was night time and Lexington was busy and brightly lit. Loaded yellow cabs were whipping by with cumbersome buses sounding their horns at them or anyone else who dared get in the way.  Office workers were rushing to neighboring subway stations, joggers and rollerblade virtuosos were skipping through traffic, and ordinary pedestrians stepped in and out of shops and restaurants.  He was amazed at the contrast between Los Angeles and the New York metropolis where, in good weather such as  this,  it was marvelous for anyone wanting to disappear into anonymity.

It was after ten when he reached the hotel.  He checked in then stepped right out for a New York pizza on the corner.  Later he positioned himself on a couch in the hotel lobby, partially obscured by a newspaper he had purchased, keeping the front entrance and reception counter well in view.

By midnight Glass had not shown up.   Mikki went out and called the hotel from a public telephone, asking to be put through to Glass.   The switchboard operator transferred his call but would not give the room number and there was no answer.  He waited another hour before turning in, hoping he had heard right and had not dreamt the part about Glass diverting his route through New York.

By eight fifteen the next morning he was sitting a ways back from the hotel's entrance, in the back of a banged-up four door Cadillac sedan belonging to a car service he had ordered that morning, not wanting to gamble with flagging a yellow cab for pursuit at the busiest time of day.  His driver already had the first fifty dollar bill in his pocket.   At eight thirty sharp, a large silver limousine pulled up in front of the hotel. Mikki spotted Glass briefly as he scooted hastily into the lengthy vehicle.

Rush hour New York tailing was a whole different affair than DC tailing.   Mikki was certain they had lost the silver limo several times only to find themselves parked next to it in the traffic jam a few blocks down the avenue.  Their path was jammed most of the way downtown and the driver wasn't shy about keeping his bumper practically touching the limo.  The limo maneuvered elegantly among the narrow downtown streets and came to a halt on Wall Street, in front of an imposing marble tower, not two blocks away from the New York Stock Exchange.  Glass stepped out and blended in with the crowd of suits rushing the entrances.  Mikki barely caught up with him inside the building by a bank of elevators.  Despite all his careful planning he had forgotten the Wall Street dress code and he desperately stood out in that crowd with his casual wear.  He kept himself well in back as the restless crowd gathered around the elevator doors.

He knew it would be almost too bold if he stepped in the same elevator with the man he was following, so he waited, watching the lobby indicators, noting every stop made by the elevator Glass had entered.  The elevator had no stops before the thirty-third floor then it stopped at floors thirty- four, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, forty-one, forty-nine, fifty and fifty-two, before it began descending again.

Mikki, realizing he had his work cut out, began at the top floor intending to work his way down, checking each floor for some indication as to where Glass may have gone.  Fortunately he did not have to look far as he ran into 'Barons Inc. - Investment Banking Associates' stepping out the elevator on the forty-ninth floor.  He immediately recognized the firm as the one Lisa had discovered associated with a man named Langone in her father's Rolodex on her first visit to his office. Recognizing the company, Mikki could then safely assume the identity of Glass's hawkish, white haired drinking partner from the Crystal City Marriot Sports Bar.

CHAPTER 27

George Eckert was a plump man in his early sixties with a shiny bald head and white sideburns, whose grandfatherly appearance was somewhat deceiving to anyone who was not aware of his shrewd intellect and feisty reactions.  Lisa had forewarned Mikki of her boss's capabilities so he would take the necessary precautions.

"Don't let his appearance fool you Mikki," she had said, "he uses it to his advantage.  The man is sharp, so keep alert.  He can bring us a lot of good if he gets to like you."    He was seated next to Mikki in the back of a comfortable Buick sedan talking softly.   His driver, who was sealed off by a glass partition, swiftly drove them across the Brooklyn Bridge toward Kennedy Airport.

Mikki had called after observing Glass leave Langone's offices in the silver limo, presumably for the airport.  Eckert had picked him up on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway and suggested a lift to the airport since Mikki had to go there anyway.   He did not waste time with pleasantries.   He told Mikki what he knew of the affair and then went on to describe what he had managed to dig up.

"Edgar Langone is a powerful man," he began ceremoniously. "I've bumped into him on occasion.  He is well-respected in our community and he has some clout with the politicians, mainly the ones who have prospered through a few of his lucrative investments.  One of his more noted investments is the large wholesale depot centers springing up everywhere in the United States these days.  Others, less known but just as lucrative, have been in the defense business.  His banking firm supported, and still supports, several companies involved in large defense contracts. Matlock Defense is one of those.”

He paused to give his information a chance to sink in.

"The Matlock project currently being sponsored by Langone and his people, which we now can be certain involves Glass, is known to very few people, none of whom would utter a word about it.  No one in government would admit any knowledge of it and the politicians won't consider even an exceptional bribe to let someone glance at a document left inadvertently on their desk.  It's a tricky liability," he surmised, looking at Mikki as if expecting him to acknowledge the difficult predicament they were dealing with.

Mikki remained quiet, wondering whether he was about to get lectured.

"Matlock," Eckert continued, emphasizing the name a little too crispy in Mikki's view, "is a five-billion-dollar company dealing mostly in short to medium range Antitank and Air Defense missiles.  Most of their work is highly classified, but this project seems to be unique.  From what little we've been able to gather, we know it is not being procured by any of the US military factions.   This is extremely unusual in this business.  Normally, a company like Matlock would respond to some sort of a formal request borne out of an operational need, but we have found no evidence of Matlock being awarded such a contract.  The company had been awarded various contracts in the last five years but none that would fit a description of such high classification.

"You see, Mikki," Eckert continued, "there are very few government contracts that a layman cannot learn about in the Commerce Business daily or other such public databases.  My company employs a large experienced staff with access to all those and many more, not to mention the personal contacts and years of experience.  In all my years in this business, I've never encountered a situation where none of my reliable sources were able to come up with reasonable clarifications to an inquiry.”

Eckert went silent for a brief moment then spoke with conviction.  "All this has made me certain of at least one thing," he said, clearing his throat, "something significant and probably unlawful is transpiring, otherwise I would have known about it.”

He let out a sigh as if exasperated by this unforeseen obstacle and continued on.  "It was the first time in years that I had to revert to using the services of my partner, Ed Lambert.  His connections go a little deeper in the defense business.   He went directly to the horse's mouth and called an old score with a Matlock VP.

"The existence of the project was confirmed but not much more.  Eddy couldn't have pushed him any further.  The poor fellow nearly reneged on his pact as it was.  What we did learn was that the project comes out of their Air Defense division and that it’s driven by foreign money.”

He looked at Mikki expectantly again.  Mikki remained quiet. So far, Eckert had shed some light on the overall scenario but he felt he had not gotten any closer to Karen.  He had expected more
particulars.

"Why would the Mossad be interested in such a project?" Mikki asked suddenly, half thinking Eckert was not being totally honest with him.