at the club. The girl had been paid off, the incident had been hushed up, and the fish off the coast had been treated to a multi-course meal.
When Gregor got to the club he headed for a booth on a platform elevated above the main floor that was reserved for members of Orlansky’s crew. The booth gave its occupants a good view of the dance floor and bar so they could spot trouble before it went too far. It was also a good place to scope out pussy. Gregor started up the stairs to join his friends when his cell phone vibrated.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Meet me in the parking lot. I’m in the back row by the fence.”
Gregor wondered what Charlie Benedict wanted from him, but he had made out okay whenever Nikolai told him to do something for the lawyer.
Gregor looked for Benedict’s Mercedes in the back of the lot, but he didn’t see it. Then the headlights on a dull-brown Ford came on, blinked twice, then went dead. Gregor walked to the driver’s side. The window was rolled down and Benedict was sitting behind the wheel, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He grinned.
“Good to see you’re out, Gregor. Hop in.”
Benedict reached across and opened the passenger door. Gregor walked around the car and sat down beside the lawyer. He was curious about the car and the way Benedict was dressed, but he knew better than to ask questions.
“You did great with Lester,” Benedict said. “I told Nikolai that.”
Gregor wasn’t big on idle chatter so he held his tongue. The lawyer would tell him what he wanted when he was ready. Sure enough, Benedict cut to the chase.
“I’ve got a job for you. Are you interested in some easy money?”
“I must hear what you want me to do.”
“I need you to talk to someone, a woman. She’s been asking questions about Barry Lester. I want you to convince her to stop.”
“Nikolai is okay with this?” Gregor asked. Nikolai had made it very clear that members of his crew did not freelance unless they had his permission.
“Of course,” Benedict lied. After his meeting with Tiffany Starr he realized that he would have to act quickly, and there had not been enough time to clear with Orlansky what he wanted done.
“How bad you want the woman hurt?”
“Rough her up enough to scare her. Get sexual. You know, cop a feel, put your hand between her legs and rub a little. Do enough so she gets the idea. Wear a ski mask, black. I want her to fear you. I want you to tell her you’ll come back if she doesn’t back off. Get it?”
“Yes, I see what you want.”
Benedict handed Gregor an envelope stuffed with cash. Gregor noticed that the lawyer was wearing gloves. It was dark but he thought he saw specks of blood on the leather between the thumb and forefinger.
“So, we’re good?” Benedict asked when Gregor was done counting the money.
“Yes, we are good.”
“Okay, the woman’s name and phone number are in the envelope. You make sure she keeps her nose out of the Blair case.”
“How fast do you want me to do this?”
“I need it yesterday, Gregor. She’s already forced me to do something I didn’t want to do.”
Gregor nodded and got out of the car. He looked at his watch and sighed. If he did this tonight he would not have time to get laid, but Benedict said it couldn’t wait. Gregor went to his car, where he would have some privacy. He turned on an untraceable cell phone he used when he was making drug deals for Nikolai and dialed the number Loren Parkhurst had given to Tiffany Starr.
Chapter Forty
Dana headed home after leaving Tiffany Starr’s apartment. She was pulling into her driveway when her phone rang. Dana parked and fished the phone out of her pocket.
“You owe me a dinner, Cutler,” Andy Zipay said.
“I thought this was a freebie.”
“Yeah, the work is. You’re paying for the honor of being in the presence of pure genius.”
“Okay, you get dinner . . . if your info is good.”
“Good? It’s great! I have a contact from the old days who works at an intelligence agency which shall remain nameless. He did an in-depth search using some software from outer space. You couldn’t find out anything about Benedict before he went to college because Charles Benedict didn’t exist until two years before he registered at Dickinson. His admission application to college shows that he never graduated from high school. He