KISS THE WITCH (23 page)

We didn’t arrive back at the precinct until
after 5:00. Spinelli was still angry with me, but he was all
business. He told us he had no luck finding the black van, but the
initial analyses on the shell casings from the shootout confirmed
my suspicions. The assault weapons used by the gunmen were likely
AK47s, the international weapon of choice for terrorist, hired
commandos and mercenaries.

“
So it wasn’t the U.S.
government,” said Carlos. “They don’t use AK47s.”

“
No,” Spinelli answered,
“but a little-known branch of the army’s Special Forces employs a
similar weapon using the same 7.62 x 39mm ammo. The idea is to
leave behind shell casings designed to look like the AK47 was used,
insinuating a non-U.S. entity fired the shots.”

“
Do you think that’s the
case here?” I asked.

Spinelli did not look at me. “I don’t
believe so. The assault you witnessed didn’t follow the typical
Special Forces M.O. If it did. Well...neither of you would be
standing here now.”

I heard Carlos make an audible gulp. “Wow,
hurray for amateurs.”

“
Oh, these were not
amateurs either. They missed you on propose.”

“
All right,” I said. “So
who are these guys?”

Spinelli crossed the room, picked a piece of
wire up off the desk and held it to the light. On the dangling end,
I could see a tiny black spec of plastic the size of a grain of
rice.

“
Judging from the bug I
found on the phone,” he said. “I would say we’re dealing with a
non-governmental entity. One with lots of money, resources and
inside connections.”

“
What makes you say
that?”

“
For one, this bug is high
quality, but not overly sophisticated. The government uses bugs
much smaller. Whoever planted this likely spent a small fortune
buying access into these offices. I found four more just like it on
other phones on this floor. We’re running sweeps on the rest of the
equipment now.”

“
So we have another player
for sure,” said Carlos. “Some big international corporation I
suppose.”

“
Yes, but that does not
mean these are the guys who shot up your car.”

“
How do you
mean?”

“
I mean it is possible the
bugs were bugged.”

“
What?”

He held up the tiny device. “These are
wireless. That is, they send out a wireless signal. While player
‘A’ is busy bugging our calls, player ‘B’ could be bugging the
bugged calls.”

“
Player ‘B’, meaning the
government?”

Spinelli gestured ambiguously. “Just
saying.”

“
But why?” asked Carlos.
“Why would anyone want to shoot up my car?”

“
They didn’t. They wanted
to kill Howard Snow. Remember, they thought he was behind the
wheel.”

“
All right, but why kill
Snow? If anyone believed the research documents were destroyed in
the car bombing in front of Dwyer’s house, wouldn’t they need Snow
to reconstitute the project?”

“
Maybe the documents
weren’t destroyed.”

“
I’m confused.”

“
I know. Me, too,” I said.
I checked my watch. “Look guys. I have to go. Ursula is cooking
dinner tonight. I told the girls I wouldn’t be late.”

Spinelli perked up at that. “What is she
making?”

“
Don’t know. It’s a
surprise. That’s why I’m stopping at the McDrive-thu on my way
home.”

“
Oh.” He seemed
disappointed.

I sidestepped Carlos and put my arm around
Spinelli’s shoulder. “Dominic, you know Ursula loves you. What
happened the other night meant nothing. It is human nature for a
body to respond the way mine did in a situation like that.”

“
I know. I get
it.”

“
The point is, I’m sure if
the roles were reversed; say if it were you and Lilith, then you
would have experienced a similar reaction.”

“
Tony, the thing is you
saw Ursula naked.”

“
Yes, but you saw her
naked first, that day in the field when Lilith returned her from a
pile of bones.”

“
That’s
different.”

“
How so?”

“
I didn’t get to put my
hands on her, to touch her like you did. And she didn’t put her
hands on me.”

“
Dominic. Ursula is like a
child sometimes, a grown child. I assure you she saw the events of
that night quite differently from the way other women would have
seen them. She was not looking at me like that, the way she will
look at you on your wedding night. You will still be her first.
Nothing will change that.” I leaned in closer and whispered so that
Carlos would not hear what I said next. “And more importantly, she
will be your first.”

He looked up at me, assessing my sincerity.
His expression softened, and I found myself trying to decipher the
new mood he adopted. I palmed both his shoulders and squared him to
me. “What is it?”

His eyes fell away. “What if I dont...you
know.”

“
What?”

“
Meet her
expectations.”

“
How do you
mean?”

Carlos said, “He’s worried his needle dick
will disappoint her.”

“
Carlos.”

“
No, Tony.” Spinelli
replied. “It’s true. You know it. You set her expectations. How can
I––”

Again, Carlos. “Measure up?”

I shot him a look. He gestured a zip across
his lips and turned away.

“
Dominic, the only thing
that matters when two people love each other is how deep their love
is, not how deep it goes in when they make love.”

I saw Carlos arch his brow, but he behaved
and kept his trap shut.

Dominic returned, “Do you mean that?”

“
Of course.” I laid an
affectionate slap upon his cheek. “So, what do you say? You and
Ursula still getting married this weekend or what?”

He gave me some hesitation. I splayed my
palms out open. “What?”

He shrugged. “I’m still not sure about this
handfasting thing. I mean, it’s silly, isn’t it?”

“
What are you worried
about?”

Carlos said, “He’s worried about his small
penis.”

“
Shut up. I don’t have a
small penis.”

“
Yeah, let’s see
it.”

“
No.”

“
Carlos.” I pushed him
back. “Lay off. Will you?”

“
It’s true, Tony. If
they’re handfasting, then she is going to want to take a look at
what she’s bargaining for when he pees.”

“
No one is bargaining for
anything,” Spinelli argued. “And don’t you talk about my fiancée
that way.”

“
Carlos. Dominic. Both of
you quit it. Now. Listen, Dominic, I’m sure you’re getting yourself
all worked up about nothing. “I’ll talk to Lilith tonight
and––”

“
No. Don’t you
dare.”

“
Okay. I won’t say
anything about you being worried.”

“
I’m not
worried.”

“
Of course, you’re not.
Listen to me. I will simply tell her that you mentioned this
handfasting thing, and I will ask her what gives. Maybe it is not
an all day thing like you’re worried about.”

“
I told you. I’m not
worried.”

“
He’s worried,” said
Carlos.

“
I’m not
worried.”

“
He’s not worried. Nobody
is worried. Now, Dominic. Look at me. Straight up. We
good?”

He gave me a half-ass nod, but his smile
seemed genuine. “Yeah. We’re good.”

“
All right then.” We
embraced in that awkward guy-hug sort of way. Carlos came over then
and joined us in a three-way huddle. For the moment, my conscience
was clear. Carlos had not told Spinelli about my dream, the one
where Ursula left me sticky, wet and breathless. I prayed he never
would, but if he at least waited until after the wedding then
maybe, just maybe, I thought, Spinelli would not want to kill
me.

The next morning, Carlos, Spinelli and I met
at the Percolator to discuss the case over breakfast. It was
already Thursday, and we had scarcely defined our case, let alone
our suspects. We had so many loose ends and red herrings embedded
in the details, it proved impossible to pick a grounding point from
which to anchor.

“
We start at the
beginning,” said Carlos, pushing aside his OJ to make room for his
plate of sausage, eggs and pancakes. “Lay everything out. See what
this case entails. Maybe we are looking at the little pieces so
closely that we are missing the big picture.”

“
Sure. It’s the forest for
the trees,” said Spinelli.

“
What forest?”

“
That’s the expression.
You can’t see the forest because of all the trees.”

“
That’s silly. The forest
is the trees.”

“
I know, but that’s the
expression.”

“
Who made that
up?”

“
I don’t know. It’s how it
goes.”

“
Please,” I said. “Can we
move on?”

“
Tony, do you hear this?
Is that a silly expression or what?”

“
Carlos.”

“
No, really. It’s like
telling someone he can’t see the ocean for the water.
Uh-duh.”

“
I know, Carlos. It’s
crazy. Let it go.”

“
I’m just
saying.”

“
Can we get back to this?
You mentioned the big picture. What is the big picture?”

Spinelli said, “The big picture is that
people are dying over something called QE647.”

“
Yeah, but from the
beginning. What do we know for sure?”

Carlos said, “I know my car got all shot
up.”

“
So you get another one.
Back to Monday. Who took the call about the robbery at Biocrynetix
Laboratories?”

Spinelli said, “Dispatch took it. Sent it up
to me.”

“
Did you talk to Ferguson
yourself?”

“
I did.”

“
How did he sound over the
phone?”

“
Normal, I suppose. He
seemed matter-of-fact. Very deliberate. Not panicky if that’s what
you mean. Why?”

“
I’m trying to understand
why Ferguson called us in to begin with. Clearly, he does not
really want us digging in to this case too deeply. On the one hand,
we have someone in the government, some shadow agency looking for
the compound. On the other, we have what appears to be a
well-funded, perhaps international entity also looking for
it.”

“
Maybe a foreign
government.”

“
Maybe. So why bring us
in? Surely Biocrynetix Laboratories must view us as a thorn in its
side.”

“
A necessary thorn,” said
Carlos.

“
How do you
mean?”

“
I don’t think Biocrynetix
Laboratories called us in, per se. I think Ferguson called us in to
cover his own ass. He figures if the shit hits the fan he can
always say he did the right thing by calling us in.”

“
All right, so let’s put
it out there. We know someone stole the compound. That seems
obvious.”

“
And the research
documents,” Spinelli added.

“
Yes. The research
documents and the compound. Now, forget about Williams, Delaney,
McSweeney, Gerardi and Brookfield for a moment. I know their deaths
were probably related, but I want to concentrate on the events
since the disappearance of the compound. What came
first?”

Carlos said, “The first thing we did was
talk to Ferguson who told us he thought Howard Snow took the
compound.”

“
That’s right. Then
what?”

“
Then Snow’s house blew
up, making everyone think he was dead. Until we found him and spoke
to him. And he told us the government was trying to kill
him.”

Spinelli added, “And then they did try to
kill him, blowing up his Hummer and killing his roommate
instead.”

I said, “Yes, but that agent I clobbered at
Dwyer’s house said his agency didn’t do it.”

Spinelli scoffed at that. “Of course he said
that. What would you expect?”

“
How `bout the commandos
that shot up Carlos’ car? You said yourself that points to an
outside group and not the U.S. government.”

“
Yeah,” said Carlos. “What
about my car?”

“
I never said they weren’t
U.S. agents. I said they probably weren’t.”

Carlos muttered, “They are persistent.
Whoever they are.”

I shook my head. “We’re getting nowhere.
It’s obvious we have nothing if we don’t have Howard Snow.” I said
to Spinelli, “Did you check his records again like I asked? His
passport travels and whatnot?”

“
I did.”

“
And?”

“
Nothing. The man has not
left the country since he honeymoon in Mexico in 1976. It is
probably the reason the government has not found him yet. Even with
all their resources, they can’t track a man who leaves no paper
trail.”

“
I suppose.”

I slipped my spoon into my coffee. It seemed
strange, but I thought of Ursula then. I could feel her in my head.
In my mind like a ghost, haunting my subconscious. No matter what I
did, I could not break free of the feeling she was with me
physically. Spiritually. Emotionally. Carlos and Spinelli were
talking, maybe about Howard Snow. Maybe not. It didn’t matter. My
thoughts were miles away, drifting like vapor in a cloudless sky. I
stirred my coffee absentmindedly. Closed my eyes and let the moment
take me. Music from the jukebox rolled through the restaurant in
silent waves. Muted by Ursula’s soft voice whispering in my ears.
Calling me. Beckoning me home.