Primary Valor by Jack Mars (booksvooks TXT) 📗

Luke looked at Ed. Ed’s eyes weretired, but also alert. He was hungry. He was on a hunt. He was going to fixsomething in the past, something that couldn’t be fixed. He had risked his lifeearlier tonight stepping in front of a door that had just been blown apart by ashotgun. And he had killed the man they were hoping to interview.

He would do it, Luke knew. Hewould drive up to Jupiter Island right now, as soon as this phone call ended. Thenhe would scale the high walls of some billionaire’s estate, and fight the man’sbodyguards to the death.

Ed needed a break.

“Twenty-seven,” Trudy said. “Butnot all of them could have been at King’s house. There’s also been known serialkiller activity in South Florida over the past ten years. At least some ofthose girls may have been murder victims. Others may have simply run away,changed their names, fell off the radar. But some of them, certainly, appear tohave ended up at King’s house.”

“Twenty-seven girls havedisappeared?” Ed said. “Twenty-seven?”

“Yes,” Trudy said.

“How is the investigation goingnow?” Luke said.

“It isn’t,” Trudy said.

“Why?”

Don’s voice appeared. “You knowwhy, son. Two police departments, the FBI, and at least one or two otheragencies are on the case, but somehow the can keeps getting kicked down theroad.”

“Someone is squashing it,” Lukesaid.

“Good boy,” Don said.

Luke shook his head. “I’m not asdumb as I look.”

“Who’s there now?” Ed said. “Atthe estate?”

“Swann?” Don said.

“Yeah, uh, I’ve done two droneflyovers in the past hour. I took my time, got a look at all of it. It’s quitea spread, like the Palace at Versailles. A main house, with two wings. Must be thirtyor forty rooms. Beachfront, rolling lawns, a big inground swimming pool. Everythingis lit up, but it seems as if no one is there. I didn’t spot a single humanbeing anywhere on the compound.”

“It appears,” Trudy said, “thatKing has left the country. He’s known to have a private island in the WesternCaribbean, called St. Simon’s Saw, which is about forty miles off the coast ofHonduras, near the border with Nicaragua. He has a close relationship with theHonduran ruling class and military. St. Simon’s is also a quick flight to GrandCayman, where he appears to do much of his banking.”

“No one is at the Jupiter Islandplace?” Luke said.

“I didn’t see anyone,” Swann said.“But it doesn’t mean there’s no one there. If I had to guess, I’d say there aresome maintenance people around.”

Ed was quietly seething. “This manhas stolen twenty-seven girls, he has an estate on Jupiter Island, and he hasan entire island of his own?”

“No one claims he stole twenty-sevengirls,” Trudy said. “There are twenty-seven girls in that part of Florida whohave gone missing in recent years.”

“There’s some intelligence chatterabout him that I’ve come across,” Swann said. “He’s paranoid. He moved hisentire household and entourage down to the island. He felt that even if theinvestigation was stalled, it was still too close to him. As a result, hedecided to leave town, maybe for a while, possibly for good.”

“So why don’t we just go there,”Ed said, “and get the girl back? And any other girls that happen to be there?”

“It would take a securityclearance that we don’t have,” Don said. “The Bureau is watching us like amother hen. If they, or some other agency, or someone in power, deliberatelystopped an investigation into this man, then the odds of the Bureau sending usto Honduras…”

“Do we need them to send us?” Lukesaid.

“Yes,” Don said. “This is why you’reattached to Special Agent Bowles. Or, more accurately, why he’s attached toyou. He’s supposed to oversee your work.”

“Bowles seems to have lostinterest in us.”

“Oh, I think he’ll be back.”

“In the meantime…” Ed began.

“In the meantime, you guys shouldget some much deserved rest. Let me see if I can touch base with a couple ofpeople, and get some clarity on this.”

“By clarity, you mean…”

“I think you both know what Imean. Provided you’re up for it.”

“I am,” Ed said.

“Good,” Don said.

Don was going to go forward. He wasnot going to wait for clearance, or even ask for it. That was the takeaway Lukegot. Don suspected where the blockage was, and he was going to go above it, oraround it.

Luke didn’t know how he felt aboutthat. The Bureau had already crashed their party once. If they had done itonce, they could do it again. It was as simple as that.

“How’s the security situationthere?” Luke said. “Find any bugs crawling around?”

“We swept this place from top tobottom,” Swann said. “At least for the moment, we are clean as a whistle.”

When they hung up, Ed looked atLuke. It was time for Luke to go back to his room, and go to sleep. He welcomedit. Ed’s eyes were tired, and wired, all at the same time. He looked like hemight never sleep again.

Luke was concerned about him. Hewas going to drive himself too hard. Then he was going to slip up. In a sense,he already had. He had killed Cienfuegos tonight. That was bad enough. The nexttime, he might get them both killed instead.

“Do you believe Swann?” Ed said. “Doyou think that place is clean?”

Luke thought about it for onesecond. “Absolutely not. I think they’re listening to everything we say.”

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

March 29, 2006

1:35 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

A white Lexus parked on the street

Georgetown, Washington, DC

“The mother’s boyfriend killedhimself tonight,” Miles Richmond said. “Threw himself off a bridge.”

Don Morris sat in darkness in theback seat, nearly shoulder to shoulder with Bill Ryan. Miles Richmond sat atthe steering wheel. The three of them could be the world’s oldest gangbangers,plotting the world’s slowest drug deal.

In fact, Don was updating them onthe status of the case. He wanted to put the idea out there, an SRT surgicalstrike on Darwin King’s island. It was Richmond’s idea to talk in his car, likea bunch of teenagers. He didn’t want anyone to overhear them.

Don hadn’t heard of this suicideuntil now. It could be that it would change things. It could be that it wouldchange nothing.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Richmond shook his balding head. “Don’tbe.”

“Why did he do it?” Bill said.

“No one knows for