"Because I know too much." Mohern looked past him for a second. "Because the man they work for knows what we…I…saw."
Gabriel undid the wire restraining Mohern's hands, motioned him to rise, and then quickly patted him down. No weapons, no ID. Not that the latter was surprising since he was about to be killed. "Then tell me what you saw, and I might be able to protect you."
Mohern snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that song before. It wasn't true back then and I doubt it's true now."
"Is that because your brother told Jack Kazdan, and as a result, he was killed?"
Mohern's eyes narrowed. "Now why would you say something like that?"
"Because Kazdan was a cop, and your brother was supposedly his street ear."
"Even if that was true, why would you suspect one of your own of killing my brother? Don't you all stick together, regardless of the crime?"
"I'm not one of Jack's lot. I'm SIU. Big difference. And Jack might have held a badge, but he was still a crim. I know that, and you know that. So tell me what bit of news cost Frank his life."
Mohern studied him for several seconds longer, then said, "I want a new ID."
"That would very much depend on what it is you saw."
"I saw a murder. And I saw the murderer."
"A murder isn't big enough news to warrant the provision of a new ID."
"What if the person murdered was someone who had serious military connections? What if she actually died months ago, not just yesterday? And what if the murderer wore one face coming in, and another going out?" He paused and then added, "What if one of those faces was the face of the man who paid us to kidnap Wetherton?"
Fuck. Was Mohern saying what he thought he was saying?
He hoped so—if only because it was about time they had some damn luck. "Is that why you contacted Douglass last week?
Why you called Wetherton and ask for a meet this evening?"
Mohern's gaze widened. "How did you know that?"
"Because part of the SIU's duties is to randomly monitor government officials." Which was the truth, as far as it went.
Mohern grimaced. "Well, shit. My luck is really out this week, isn't it?"
"Not really. If we hadn't been monitoring, you'd now be a feast for the rats and stray dogs." He studied the man for a moment, letting the words sink in, before adding, "So why contact either of them?"
"Because I thought one might help me with a new ID in exchange for my continued silence. As you can see, my efforts at hiding were becoming less and less successful."
"And why would you think either of them would be willing to consider a deal like that?"
"Well, she wasn't, was she?" He sniffed. "But neither of them are the real deal, are they? And Wetherton can't afford to have that sort of information out, can he?"
"How do you know he's not the real thing?"
"Because the real Wetherton was killed and replaced months ago, wasn't he?"
This was getting better and better. "So who placed the clone? Jack?"
Mohern shook his head. "He indirectly gave us the job, though. Said he knew someone who was looking for a couple of hands for a snatch and ransom job. Said it paid well." He shrugged. "He gave us a number, and we called it and got our instructions. Of course, turned out the ransom part was a lie."
Why would someone like Sethanon—and they were almost ninety-nine percent sure it was the elusive Sethanon behind Wetherton's replacement—be using two off-the-street thugs for a job as important as snatching a government minister?
Unless, of course, he wanted no traceable connection if the job went sour. "Can you remember the phone number?"
"Won't do you any good if I could. It was a public phone box. I checked at the time."