unconvincing she sounded.
“That’s too bad.”
His tone made her look at him, and she could see he was no longer joking. Too bad. What was that supposed to mean? She told herself she couldn’t care less. She didn’t have time to peel the layers off Vail’s motives. All she could do was pretend the remark didn’t register. But of course it had. She adjusted the rearview mirror unnecessarily, as if she were extra vigilant, since they had been followed the day before. Reading men’s intentions, at least the more basic ones, had never been difficult for Kate, but Vail, from the moment he knew her name on that Chicago rooftop until this latest overture, confused her. “So what’s the plan when we catch up with this guy Radek?”
“First, hope he’s not at this address.”
“Why?”
“If he is running this operation, he’s smart enough to never have lived at an address listed on a state identification card. At least not since he’s been in the extortion business.”
The address was in Inglewood, and when they got there Kate pulled up under the shade of a tree a half block away. “Do you see what I see?” she asked.
Vail had already taken out the monocular and was examining the gold Honda in front of the address. “That looks like the same car.”
“I used to own the same model.”
“Congratulations on your good taste. I’m sure this guy steals only the most reliable means of getaway.”
“Does that mean he’s there?”
Vail picked up the radio mike. “Call Demick and have him get a phone number for the place while I run the plate.”
Kate got Tom Demick on the phone and gave him the address. He said he would call her right back. When she hung up, Vail was writing down the registration information from the radio operator. “Comes back to a fifteen-year-old Oldsmobile station wagon. Registered owner lives in L.A.”
“Which means the car and the plates are both stolen,” Kate said.
“But why leave it in front of an address that connects him to it?” Vail asked.
“Maybe he’s inside.”
“Hopefully we’ll find out as soon as we get that phone number.”
“Maybe—since you got Salton—he figured you were coming for him, so he just dumped it here and took off in his own car.” Her phone rang. It was Demick with the phone number. She wrote it down and, after hanging up, held it out to Vail.
“You call. A woman will be less suspicious if he answers.”
“What do you want me to say?”
Vail got a look of mischief on his face. “Since you can’t ask for him, ask for Steve. But you got to do it in a sexy voice if this is going to work. Let me hear you.”
Impishly, she shifted herself in the seat and, turning toward him, leaned in. In a throaty whisper, she said, “Hi…is Steeeve there?”
“Very nice, but you need to pucker your mouth a little more.”
“He can’t see my lips on the phone,” she said playfully.
“It’s called method acting.”
She leaned a couple of inches closer and puckered her lips. “Hello, I’m looking for big Steve Vail. Is he there, cowboy?”
Vail leaned back and closed his eyes. “Once more with more emphasis on ‘big.’”
She turned forward and dialed her phone. “If you want more, it’s twenty dollars a minute.”
She put it on speaker and Vail listened as the phone rang four times before a beep sounded to leave a message. She hung up. “Apparently nobody’s home.” Vail opened the car door. “Where are you going?” He went to the trunk and took out the pry bar, holding it up to her as an answer. “Dr. Halligan, I presume,” she said.
“Call me on my cell if anyone shows up.”
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“Only if you promise to call me big Steve the whole time.”
“I hope he is in there, waiting for you.”
“Then how about ‘cowboy’?”
“And heavily armed.”
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER Vail got back in the car. “Anything?” Kate asked.
“Not a thing. No furniture. There’s nothing touching the floor except a cell phone in a charger. It’s either a mail drop or safe house.” He punched 911 into his cell phone and, after identifying himself, requested that a marked car be sent to their location. “I got the VIN number. When they get here, we’ll have them run it and get it towed to where we can search it without being surprised.”
“Why don’t you have the office run it?”
“If Kaulcrick or the SAC hear that we’ve found a stolen gold Honda, our little clandestine