Chapter 24

“BEAT THE son of a bitch. That’s what we do,” Randy answered. His Secret Service training kicked in as he looked at Thomas’s bleak face. He tapped his fingers furiously on the desk. “We need to know where he is. That’s the most important thing.”

Thomas gasped suddenly. “He said Zach came for dinner. Is it possible Charles is the man he’s been dating?”

Randy picked up the thought and ran with it. “That could be right. He’d have to use an alias, in case Zachary ever mentioned him. Do you know the name?”

Thomas shook his head. “No. It wasn’t something Zach and I talked about.”

Randy scrunched his eyes and thought. “I remember him saying… Sam. Just Sam, though. No last name.”

“Would he have talked to Joe or Terry about this? Maybe they know his name,” Thomas said, desperate for hope.

Randy nodded slowly. “Yes, good thought. But before we call them, I need to know something.” He opened his office door and looked back at Thomas. “Stay here and don’t call anyone.”

Randy went to the front of the bar, where only a handful of patrons were left. He signaled to Miss Ethel to stop playing, and then he turned up the house lights. “Folks, I’m sorry, but we’re having a plumbing problem. No johns, so I have to close early.”

The few people still in the bar grumbled but started to collect coats from the check room. “Come back tomorrow, and your first drink is on the house,” Randy called. He went to Malcolm and said in a low voice, “Check out early, kid. I’ll call you in the morning.”

He helped Miss Ethel into her coat a few minutes later, and as she was the last, he showed her out and locked the front door behind her.

Immediately he moved around the room and tried to picture the angle from the photo of him serving a drink. He paused along one wall of the room to look at the bar from where he stood. The sight line seemed nearly correct but… too high. He crouched to get the right height and looked under the counter that ran around the wall there. He found the camera right away.

He was careful not to dislodge it, but he studied the mechanism. It wasn’t his specialty, but he was reasonably sure it was image only—no sound capability. With his cell phone, he snapped a picture of the camera so he could check further.

He continued to search the perimeter of the bar and eventually found a total of four cameras, all positioned in such a way that they could see the bar and two of the side rooms. The mounting was amateurish—basically double-sided duct tape held the small cameras in place. That told him Rumson had acted in a hurry with each installation. Tape would wear out, so it had probably been there no more than two or three months. That added up—he hadn’t seen the man with the shaggy blond hair and silver-framed glasses in several weeks. If Rumson had eyes in place, there was no need for him to risk discovery by returning.

Randy went back to his office and searched again while Thomas watched him with wide eyes. He checked under his desk and in every corner, but he found no other cameras. He looked at the phone on his desk and considered it. If Rumson had been unable to get into his office to place a camera, it was highly unlikely he had a way to tap the phone. No point in taking chances, though. He’d stick to his cell.

Thomas watched him, clearly desperate for guidance, so Randy spoke with all the authority instilled in him during a twenty-five-year career in law enforcement. “Right. There are four cameras in the bar, but I don’t believe Rumson could hear what went on. Image only. Nothing in here either.”

“But my car. My apartment.” Thomas seemed close to shock.

“Yes, those are bugged. We should assume he had more time and possibly better equipment. We’re going to want to check that.”

“He said no police.”

“Exactly. What does that tell you?” Randy asked. He wanted to engage Thomas, to keep him focused and to keep him from giving in to his fear.

“He knows the police were here. He mentioned the ‘bitch’…. He must have seen Detective Torres come in a few times.”

“Good. Agreed. But he only said ‘police.’ If he knew my background, he would probably have said something else, like no FBI.”

Thomas looked up at him sharply with a spark of hope in his eyes. “Can you get help there? Do you still have contacts?”

“I do. Some, anyway, that might help me. Here’s what I’m thinking. The office isn’t bugged, and I don’t think my cell phone can be bugged either. No opportunity. I want to try Joe first about a last name for Sam, and then call a former colleague of mine in the Secret Service. Use her as a conduit to Torres. But I’m making this plan as I go along, Thomas. I need to know if you’re on board.”

“If we’re wrong, he’ll…. Oh God, he’ll hurt Zach.”

Randy held his gaze. “Thomas, he’ll definitely hurt Zachary if we do nothing. Maybe more than just hurt. This is a risk, but it’s what I’ve got. You tell me what you want me to do.”

Thomas stared at him for a moment, weighing and calculating. Finally he stood up straight and gave a sharp nod of his head. “Do it, Randy.”

Randy called Joe on his cell first and put it on speaker.

“Joe Mulholland.” They heard the soft Boston accent.

Randy said, “Joe, I’m sorry to be abrupt, but I have an important question. Did Zachary Hall tell you the name of the man he’s been seeing recently?”

“Zachary?” Joe asked. “Let me think…. He said Sam, I believe.”

“No last name?”

“Not that I can recall. We tried to make dinner plans, actually, before the situation with Terry and me. It never happened.” Alarm crept into Joe’s voice. “Randall, what’s this about? Is Zachary safe?”

“I’ll tell you more as soon as I know anything. I have to go.” Randy disconnected the call, knowing Joe would forgive his rudeness. “Strike one,” he muttered as he dialed his cell again and prayed Lily would pick up. The call connected, and he heard her voice.

“Hey, RV. Twice in such a short time. That has to be a record,” she said.

“Lily, I need help badly. I’m putting you on speaker.” He pressed the button on his cell and set it down on his desk. “I’m here with Jason Scarborough from the Rumson investigation. Rumson is still alive. He just called us here in my bar.”

“Holy shit,” Lily exclaimed. “How did we miss it?”

“I don’t know. Question for tomorrow. Right now, we know he has a hostage, a personal friend of Scarborough’s, and we believe he may have killed at least two people. He’s monitoring Scarborough, but I believe this is a safe channel. As soon as we disconnect, I’ll send you an image of the camera he used here in the bar. I’m hoping you can check the model and its capabilities to see if that gives us any clue. I don’t think he’s gotten devices into my office, but we’re on a clock here.”

“What else do you need, Randy?” she asked. Right to the point—no bullshit—as he’d hoped.

“Rumson knows we’ve been in contact with the Metro police. We can’t take a risk on contacting them directly because we don’t know what precautions he’s taken. I’d like you to call Detective Maria Torres and be our liaison. Here’s her number,” he said and read off the digits from her business card.

“Got it. What does she need to know?”

Randy described as succinctly as he could the relevant information from the call with Rumson.

“Okay. Monitoring devices in Scarborough’s home and car,” she summarized. “I’d add most likely his phone as well.”

Thomas seemed shocked. “I have a pretty high security clearance, and the phone I use is government-issued. How would he get through the encryption?”

Lily answered, “Mr. Scarborough, no technology is perfect. With our protectees we like to scan phones at least once a month to compare to previous scans and identify any anomaly that might have appeared. We also change up the tech and security on a random basis to avoid the kind of hacking we’re hypothesizing. When was the last time your phone was examined by your tech support people?”

“It might have been two, three months ago. Maybe longer. I’m chief counsel to a Senate committee, so I’m not normally at high risk for hackers.”

Randy jumped in. “We can worry about the details later. For now I agree, we have to assume your phone is compromised. Lily, are you able to run some checks for us?”

“You’re looking for possible locations for Rumson?” she guessed.

“Exactly. He’s been coming into the bar in disguise, starting over two months ago. It’s possible he’s transient or staying in different hotels, but he grew up wealthy. Right, Thomas?”

Thomas nodded and said aloud for Lily’s benefit, “Yes. His family estate was very large. I went there once for a benefit. And Randy, the money link you told me about….”

Randy said, “Lily, remember I asked you about Rumson’s finances? We’re just speculating at this point, but there’s over six million dollars that moved from his personal accounts shortly after the date of his death. His mother told the officer who pursued that not to worry about it, but we have to assume he’s extremely well-funded. And he’s used to comfort.”

“So a house, apartment, or long-term lease of some kind are possible. He wouldn’t use his own name, though. What do I search?”

“We think our friend Zachary has been seeing Rumson under an alias. He mentioned the name Sam.” Randy looked thoughtful. “Let’s try combinations of Charles and Sam and Jason with Rumson or Scarborough. He’s focused on you, Thomas, so maybe he pretends you’re married or something.”

“Try Milliken too,” Thomas added. “That’s his mother’s maiden name.”

They could hear Lily’s pen scratching, and she said, “Got it. Anything else before I call Detective Torres?”

“Just make sure she stays away from the bar and from Thomas’s apartment and doesn’t call directly. We don’t have enough information to know what’s safe.”

“Understood. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Lily. This is above and beyond,” Randy said.

She sounded grim. “If we fucked up our investigation, I want to know how. I’ll take responsibility for cleaning up the paperwork later.”

She disconnected, and Randy sent her the image he’d taken of the camera hidden in the bar. Thomas paced the office as Randy typed.

“What if he’s hurt Zach already?” Thomas asked. “Randy, I have to do something.”

“I know, buddy. Look. I’m reaching here, but this is different from Gallagher and that other one. Daniel Owen. Rumson chose to reveal himself to you and to let you know he has Zachary. I think that means something.”

Thomas stopped walking and stared at Randy with haunted eyes. “Like he’s going to make me watch him hurt Zach?”

“Maybe. But I think it means at least that he’s not going to do anything yet. Not until he contacts you again.”

Thomas’s eyes flashed, and Randy could see him wrestling to apply his intelligence to the nightmare instead of running like a rabbit. “I need to go home, Randy. Right now.”

“What?”

“He’s only one man. Even if he has everything bugged, it’s going to be harder for him to keep track of both of us if we’re in different places. Add in the possibility that he’s monitoring Torres somehow. That’s three streams he has to watch if we separate.”

Reluctantly Randy nodded. “That makes sense.”

Thomas thrust his hands into his pants pocket and chewed his lip. “Should I look for cameras in my apartment?”

“I think so,” Randy agreed slowly. “But be careful not to disturb them. The ones here are stuck on with tape.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

Randy looked around his office and cursed. “I don’t have a gun in here. There’s one out by the bar, but he’ll likely see it if I try to give that one to you. Do you own a gun, Thomas?”

He shook his head. “No, I never saw the need.”

“Another thing I’ll try to figure out. If… when I get any information from Lily, I don’t want to risk passing it along to you by phone or text.”

“Let’s do this,” Thomas suggested. “Call my cell every hour and let it ring just twice if you have no information. If you let it ring three times, I’ll pick up to let you know I’m there, and then I’ll find a pay phone or something to call your cell back.”

Randy nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. “This is good. We’re doing everything we can, Thomas. We’ll get the cocksucker.”