The Einstein Pursuit

17

The moment Masseri was clear of the chaos at the Monongahela Incline, he tried to figure out where everything had gone wrong. He had ordered the guards at the upper station to descend as soon as their backup arrived, yet they had never appeared below.

He soon understood why.

Masseri called the backup team, and they told him that Sahlberg’s bodyguard — whoever he was — had dealt with the men on the trip down the hillside. While Sahlberg and his protector exited the car to face Masseri and the sedan, the men — now bloodied, battered and tied to the bench inside the cable car — were sent back to the upper station with several passengers. A short while later, the backup team had watched as the smaller goon was dragged to a waiting squad car. The larger one was taken from the station in a body bag.

After that, they had followed the police to determine where their colleague would be booked. They got word to Masseri, who arranged for one of his men to speak with the prisoner. Less than an hour later, the associate was walking into the police station.

‘My name is Marcus Lindo,’ he told the officer at the front desk. ‘I understand you have one of my clients in custody. A Mr Derek Paulsen. As his attorney, I am requesting that any and all questioning cease immediately, and that I be allowed to see Mr Paulsen in private.’

After filling out some paperwork, Lindo was led into an interrogation room. Derek Paulsen, the smaller of the two thugs that Payne had left tied up in the cable car, sat inside.

‘Your lawyer’s here,’ the officer informed him.

For the first time since he had been taken into custody, a glimmer of hope spread across Paulsen’s face. ‘Thank God.’

‘This isn’t going to work,’ Lindo informed the officer.

‘What isn’t?’

‘This room. I asked for a private meeting. You and I both know that if I ask for such accommodations, you have a legal obligation to provide them.’ He tapped the mirrored wall of the interrogation room. ‘Something without one-way glass. This conversation is privileged. That means you don’t get to listen or watch.’

Paulsen smiled at the exchange.

‘Fine,’ the officer grunted. ‘Give me a minute. I’ll see what I can do.’

He closed the door behind him.

‘Don’t say a word,’ Lindo said to Paulsen. He pointed at the mirror. ‘Not until we’re completely alone.’

A few minutes later, the officer reappeared and motioned for Lindo to follow him to a small room with cinder-block walls. The only things inside were two chairs. The only way in or out was a heavy iron door.

‘Does this work?’ the officer asked.

‘Yes, this is fine. Thank you.’ In contrast to his earlier indignation, Lindo’s response was polite, even grateful.

The officer wasn’t the least bit moved by Lindo’s tone. He simply stared at him blankly and whistled loudly. Moments later a second officer led Paulsen into the room. Before leaving, the officer unshackled Paulsen’s handcuffs.

‘Thank you for your kindness,’ Lindo said.

The cop sneered. ‘This isn’t kindness; this is wishful thinking. If your client decides to attack you, that’s one less lawyer we have to worry about.’

The first officer laughed loudly and patted his buddy on the back as the two cops left the room together.

Once the door was shut, Lindo was free to talk. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Better now. Did the Egyptian send you?’ Paulsen was referring to Masseri in the only way he could. He didn’t know his name; he only knew him by nationality.

‘He did.’

‘Great. So what’s the plan? How soon can you get me out of here?’

‘It won’t take long. But first I need to ask you a few questions. What happened at the incline?’

‘We got jumped,’ Paulsen said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘One minute we were sitting on the bench, riding the car to the lower station, and the next minute there’s a guy punching me in the face. He was an animal. He broke my ribs. My partner got it worse. Much worse. How’s he doing?’

‘He’s dead,’ Lindo replied. ‘But we can’t worry about that. Right now, let’s focus on you. Let me get this straight: this guy just picks you out of a crowd and starts swinging? That doesn’t make any sense. Had you seen him before?’

‘Yeah. When we were waiting for our backup to arrive, he passed us on the street outside the upper station. He was running to catch the next car down.’

‘Wait. The two of you spoke?’

‘No, I’m just guessing from the way he was hurrying.’ Paulsen wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

‘Why are you sweating?’

‘Why? Because I’ve got a bunch of broken ribs and I’m sitting in a police station facing weapons charges. Why the fuck do you think I’m sweating?’

Lindo stared at him. ‘Are you sure you want to snap at me? If I leave, you’re facing several years in Western Penitentiary. On the bright side, it has a lovely view of the river.’

‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just — it’s been a long day.’

‘And it’s going to get even longer if we can’t figure out why you were jumped. Were you talking about the mission on the cable car?’

‘No! Of course not. We aren’t that stupid.’

‘Then what did you do to get noticed?’

Paulsen sensed that Lindo wouldn’t spring him from jail unless he gave him something, so he decided to pin the blame on his dead partner. ‘I didn’t do anything, I swear I didn’t. But when the guy was running to the incline, my dumbass partner asked me if this was our backup.’

‘He said that? Did the guy overhear it?’

Paulsen shrugged. ‘He might have. I can’t say for sure.’

‘Shit. There’s his motive. If he thought you two were plotting something, he can use it to defend his actions. As far as he knew, he was preventing a crime, not committing one.’ Lindo shook his head dejectedly. ‘Did you mention the Egyptian by name?’

‘How could I? I don’t even know his name.’

‘What about the old man? Did you mention him?’

Paulsen shook his head. ‘No, but he knew we were coming.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Why? Because the geezer was armed.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes! At one point I had the drop on the other fucker, but before I had a chance to take him out, the old geezer shot at me. I’m lucky to be alive.’

Lindo nodded. ‘Yes, you are.’

‘So what now?’ Paulsen demanded.

Lindo looked at his watch. ‘At this time of day, it’s probably too late to get you released. I’m guessing they’ll want to schedule a bail hearing for first thing tomorrow morning.’

Paulsen had figured as much. ‘Any chance you can get me a night in the medical ward? My ribs are fucking killing me.’

‘No, but I brought in something to take the edge off.’ Lindo glanced over his shoulder, just to make sure the cops weren’t watching. Then he reached into his suit coat and pulled out a single white capsule. ‘Take this. Quick. Before the guards return.’

Paulsen grabbed the pill and popped it in his mouth. A moment later, he had worked up enough saliva to wash it down. ‘What was it?’

‘High-dose pain relief. Ten minutes from now, you won’t feel a thing.’

The black SUV was parked in an alley three blocks from the police station. Masseri sat in the shadows of the back seat, waiting for Lindo to return.

Despite his slick suit, polished shoes, and extensive knowledge of the legal system, Lindo was not an attorney. He was actually a member of a backup team sent to assist Masseri. Thanks to his sadistic ways, Lindo jumped at the chance to kill Paulsen — not only to impress Masseri, but because he thought it would be fun to kill a suspect in police custody.

Waiting in a nearby car, Masseri watched Lindo as he turned the corner and made his way into the alley. As far as he could tell, no cops had followed him from the station.

‘We’re good,’ Lindo said as he opened the car door.

Masseri needed more than that. ‘Define “good”.’

‘I questioned him. He took the pill. No problem at all.’

‘What did he know?’

‘He said the guy on the incline was the first to act. He knew who they were and tried to stop them.’

‘How?’

‘They were talking about backup while they waited outside the upper station. The guy came jogging by, and he might have overheard them.’

‘What about names?’

‘He didn’t say anything about Sahlberg, and he had no idea who the other guy was.’

Masseri’s jaw clenched. He desperately wanted to know the identity of the man who had ruined his plans at the incline. He had been hired to secure Sahlberg, but the mission wouldn’t be complete until he had eliminated the man protecting him.

‘Anything else?’

‘No, that’s it. He took the pill. He’ll be dead soon. No more loose ends.’

‘Exactly,’ Masseri replied.

Before Lindo could process the remark, Masseri reached forward and pressed his pistol to Lindo’s temple. The silenced round split through Lindo’s frontal lobe and ricocheted off the inside of his skull. As the slug careened back into Lindo’s brain, Masseri fired twice more. He knew that Lindo was dead after the first bullet, but he wanted this to look like something other than a professional hit. To help steer the police toward the conclusion of a drug deal gone wrong, he took on the mindset of a junkie.

He reached a gloved hand into Lindo’s suit and pulled out his wallet. Satisfied that there was nothing in the vehicle that could be linked to him or the other members of his team, he calmly opened the door and stepped outside.

The ambient noise of the city had masked what little sound had escaped the silencer. Even the birds perched on the fire escapes and power lines overhead had not been disturbed.

Masseri smiled as he walked into the shadows.