The Einstein Pursuit (7 page)

‘Well, you would have if you weren’t so preoccupied with that window.’ She eyed him curiously, her smile still beaming. ‘What’choo lookin’ at anyhow?’

‘I’m supposed to meet a lady friend of mine,’ he lied, not wanting to reveal the true nature of the threat, ‘and I—’

‘Is she younger than you?’ Darla pried.

‘She’d have to be, wouldn’t she? Any older and she’d be dead.’

Darla burst out laughing, so hard she almost fell off her stool.

‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘I’m supposed to meet her here, but I think I just spotted her husband’s car outside. Needless to say, I’m slightly concerned.’

‘You horny old dog,’ she said with affection. ‘I should be disgusted by your cheating, but I’m glad to hear that a man your age still has some lead in his pencil.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Some blood in your bone. Some pop in your tart.’ She stood and unlocked the door to the ticket booth. ‘There’s an office in back. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.’

Sahlberg thanked her profusely as he made his way through the booth. Darla closed the door and turned back toward the ticket counter just as Masseri and his partner entered the station.

Masseri scanned left, then right. The space was small, with nowhere to hide. He approached the ticket booth and pressed a picture against the glass. ‘Have you seen this man?’

Darla pretended to study the picture for a moment, even going so far as to adjust her glasses for a better look. All the while, it was clear the man in the photo was Sahlberg. ‘Yeah, he looks familiar. He walked by about ten minutes ago. Headed down toward the city.’

‘Two tickets,’ Masseri demanded. He slid his money under the Plexiglas that separated him from Darla. In return, she handed him two passes and his change.

‘Enjoy the ride,’ she said as Masseri and his partner made their way toward the waiting cable car. A minute later, they were on their way to the lower station.

Sahlberg watched it all unfold on the small video monitors in the office. From there, he could see the outside of the upper station, the ticket booth, the cable car entryway, and the exit at the lower station. All were covered by closed-circuit video cameras. After the cable car left the upper station, Darla knocked on the door. He opened it sheepishly, not completely sure how to explain his actions, but nevertheless thankful for what she had done.

‘Honey,’ she said, ‘you need to get yourself a new girlfriend, because her husband looked as angry as Ike Turner.’

Payne sprinted the two blocks from his building to the Monongahela Incline, but he was still behind schedule for his meeting with Sahlberg. The last thing he wanted was to miss this opportunity. If Sahlberg had already left, he would have to wait for him to make contact again …
if
he made contact again. Who knew when that would happen?

Payne slowed to a jog as he approached the station, hoping to spot the older man. In many ways, the physical exertion helped to control the adrenalin he had been fighting since he had left McCormick’s office. It wasn’t just the excitement of meeting someone who had known his father – although that certainly had piqued his interest – it was the possibility of danger.

The rush was something he missed.

It made him feel alive.

As he neared the entrance to the incline’s upper station, Payne passed two men in business suits who immediately grabbed his attention. They weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary, and yet he noticed a few minor details that most people would miss.

The first thing was their positioning. They were standing next to a platform that looked over the city and the river below, yet they were facing in the opposite direction. This might have been understandable if they were waiting for a bus or trying to hail a cab, but they were focused on the front of the station, not the traffic on Grandview Avenue.

Next was their posture. Both men were rigid and alert, as if they were standing at attention on guard duty. They kept their heads raised and backs straight as they subtly scanned the area – like hungry wolves looking for prey.

The last and most important thing was their clothes. Those gave the duo away. Though their linen suits were appropriate for the season, they didn’t drape as well as wool. Given his background, it was easy for Payne to spot the telltale bulges of shoulder holsters.

Both of these men were armed.

Payne’s suspicions were confirmed as he made his way to the entrance. He was close enough to overhear a snippet of their conversation. It was more than damning.

‘Is this our backup?’ the first man asked.

‘No,’ the second man replied. ‘He’s sending four guys, not one.’

‘All of this for an old man?’

Masseri was finished with the cat-and-mouse approach. He had a cadre of personnel at his disposal, and it was time to use it. Why hunt with only two pairs of dogs when he could unleash the whole pack?

He ordered four more men to the incline’s upper station. Once they arrived, the two men already in position had instructions to join Masseri in the lower station. He also put a third team on standby. They were to wait in a separate SUV – fully armed – until Masseri could give them Sahlberg’s location. Once his whereabouts were known, all three teams would spring into action. With several men in pursuit, Masseri knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up to their target.

Masseri stared at the delayed satellite feed on his phone.

He watched as the image of Sahlberg entered the upper station.

They were getting closer.

Payne burst through the station’s door like a late commuter rushing to catch his train. The first thing he saw was Darla. She had a half-terrified, half-exhilarated look on her face. Before she could react further, Payne was already standing at her ticket booth.

Her heartbeat pounded, as she wondered what else this day might bring.

‘I’m looking for my neighbor,’ Payne lied. ‘Mid eighties, wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants. He wandered away from home, and we’re worried sick. Any chance you’ve seen him?’

‘Your neighbor?’ she challenged. She looked Payne up and down. He seemed awfully familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. ‘Um, let me think …’

Payne sensed she was stalling. ‘I know you don’t know me, but if you could just point me in the right direction, you’d be helping us out more than you know.’

Before she could respond to Payne’s plea, Sahlberg emerged from the back room. He had been watching the front entrance on the monitors. He smiled at Payne, grateful that he had finally arrived. ‘Allow me to introduce you. Darla, this is my neighbor, Jonathon.’

‘Jon is fine. Nice to meet you, Darla.’

She turned her back to Payne and focused on Sahlberg instead. ‘What’s really going on? Are you sure you’re all right?’

He patted her on her shoulder as he exited the booth. ‘I appreciate all you’ve done, my dear, but I believe we can take it from here.’

Darla shrugged and nodded.

‘To your car, then?’ Sahlberg asked Payne.

‘We can’t,’ Payne whispered. ‘First of all, I didn’t drive. Secondly, there are two men looking for you outside with four more on the way. We have to go down.’

‘There are two men waiting for me at the lower station.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘I’m positive. They followed me here from my house. I managed to hide in the back in the nick of time. Darla told them I continued down the incline, and they believed her. They took the last car.’ Sahlberg paused. ‘Jonathon, both men were armed.’

‘So are the men outside – with four more on the way. I suck at math, but I’ll take two over six any day of the week. Better odds.’

Payne reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

‘No need,’ Darla said with a smile. ‘You’re good.’

‘Thank you,’ Sahlberg replied.

Payne nodded his thanks and made a mental note to send Darla some flowers and a box of chocolates. Heck, if she could somehow keep the six men stranded up here while he dealt with matters below, he would buy her a whole candy store, but he knew that was too much to ask.

Besides, she had done enough for their cause.

Payne led Sahlberg down the small flight of stairs to the loading area, where the next car was waiting. Three doors were standing open in the oddly shaped cars.

Rather than a simple rectangle that would restrict the view of some passengers, the unique tiered design of the incline cars created three viewing areas. The cars might look a bit strange in transit – like three steps in an escalator – but the design gave all the passengers a magnificent view without the need to look past, over, or through the other riders.

Each separate tier had its own door that opened on to two rows of bench seating. These benches were on opposite walls of the compartment, so that passengers sat facing one another. Inside the car, the tiers were separated only by a small railing and a steep ledge.

Payne and Sahlberg stepped into the top compartment.

There were only three other passengers on board. A couple in their fifties sat on the bench directly below them in the middle section of the car. Across from them, a teenager had spread out on the entire bench with his back to the city. Two small cords sprouted from his ears, and he drummed furiously on his backpack as the music from his headphones buzzed faintly throughout the cabin. His eyes closed, he was oblivious to the world around him.

Sahlberg took a seat against the far wall, opposite the doorway.

Payne instinctively sat in the middle of the bench, where he could survey the entire car. Taking advantage of the moment, he pulled out his cell phone and fired off a quick text to his best friend, who was already in the city:

911
. MEET AT MON. INCLINE LOWER STATION. GAME ON.

It meant to come fully armed, ready for battle.

Things were about to get messy.

Just before the cabin doors closed, two more passengers jumped aboard the incline – the two men Payne had passed on the street. They sat in the empty lower level, with their backs turned to the passengers above. Payne cursed his luck. So far, they hadn’t noticed Sahlberg tucked into the corner of the upper compartment, but the journey down the hill was just starting.

For the next three minutes, they would be locked together in a moving box.

With nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

David Jones had faced death on every continent and in every condition imaginable. He had been shot in the mountains of Afghanistan, stabbed in the Bolivian rainforest, and left for dead in the desert grasslands of the Gobi. He had endured pain that would cripple a battalion of lesser men, but he kept going back for more because it was his job, his duty, his calling.

He was a MANIAC. A warrior. A killing machine.

One of the baddest motherfuckers on earth.

And yet he had a weakness. A major weakness.

David Jones was scared of the dentist.

Make that
petrified
.

Years of soda and sugary treats had left him with more than a few cavities. Couple that with his high tolerance of pain, and he would often let things fester for weeks until he was unable to eat. To him, each filling in his mouth was a battle scar. Each represented another time he had survived the horrors of dentistry. The excruciating bright lights. The sadistic tools. The tortuously small paper cups. Just thinking about it made his heart beat faster.

‘You have nothing to worry about,’ the technician assured him as she lowered the chair into position. From his medical history, she knew that Jones was a graduate of the Air Force Academy. ‘Just try to relax. Think about flying one of your airplanes. Just floating through the sky.’

Screw that
, he thought to himself.
I’d rather be in a fighter jet
.
At least you can pull the ripcord in an F-
16
and eject!

‘Deep breaths,’ she said calmly. ‘It’ll all be over soon.’

What’ll be over soon? My life?

‘Relax. I’m just going to kill the pain with a shot of Novocain, then the doctor will be in to drill the tooth and fill the cavity. Kill, drill and fill, as we like to say.’

Did she just say ‘kill’?

What kind of bedside manner is that?

She tilted the chair all the way back and sat next to Jones’s head. She looked down at him – albeit upside down – as she spread a cloth bib across his chest. Then she prepped the syringe that would be used to anesthetize the affected area.

Jones could only see her eyes – the rest of her face was hidden behind a surgical mask – but they were a remarkable shade of green. Somehow the color gave Jones a deep sense of calm … until he saw her tap the syringe. Then her eyes grew dark, and cold, and sinister. Suddenly she was a beast and he was her victim.

He was half tempted to bite her hand to defend himself, but she was too quick. He felt the pinch of her needle as it pierced his gum. A moment later, the slow burn of anesthetic started to spread throughout his mouth. He felt the poison take hold.

‘There,’ she announced. ‘All done with the first step. That wasn’t so bad, was it? The drug will take a few minutes to take full effect. We’ll be back then to finish the job.’

He groaned in anticipation.

She looked down at him, concerned. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Do I
look
okay?’

‘Not really. You look kind of pale.’

‘
Pale?
You think I look
pale
? What kind of bullshit is that? Never call a black man
pale
! Look in the damn mirror – you’re the one who’s
pale
!’

She stood there stunned, unsure how to respond.

Jones quickly realized his mistake. He knew he had overreacted. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I really didn’t.’ He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. ‘I swear, I’m normally not like this. You’re catching me at my absolute worst.’

She nodded and backed away.

‘Seriously, I didn’t mean it. You’re the perfect amount of pale.’

She ignored his comment. ‘Oh, one more thing. Try to keep your mouth closed. The anesthetic is going to numb your mouth and the lower half of your face. The last thing we want is for you to accidentally bite through your tongue. I’ve seen it happen many times. Boy, is it messy! You wouldn’t believe the blood. We’d have to bring in a mop to clean it all up.’