THURSDAY 3:32 P.M.
The prepaid cell phone I’d been using rang. The caller ID said it was an unknown number. I answered.
Without preamble Nate Lauer said, “Run. Do not walk. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Run.”
“Run from whom or what and to where?”
He sighed, “I can’t tell you anything for sure.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Teams of lawyers and law enforcement agents are trying to get to Chicago. If it wasn’t for the blizzard, the population of the town might have doubled. They want Vincek and his group very badly.”
“They who?”
“They everybody. It’s some kind of plot. They don’t know against whom or about what. They want those guys for questioning.”
“Do the lawyers and the law enforcement agents think Vincek’s group did it?”
“Depends on what ‘it’ is. I wasn’t able to find out any specifics. I got strange looks from my boss when I passed him in the corridor just now.”
“I didn’t get you in trouble?”
“I volunteered and I was discreet. Just followed normal channels looking for normal information, but something is up.”
“How can you tell? You got back to me awfully quick.”
“The people in New York aren’t having a blizzard where they are. And it was mostly phone calls and technology. I ran into security software or programs I couldn’t get past on every item I looked up. All I know and all I can tell you is something is up.” He lowered his voice. “You might also talk to my step-granddad, Henry Walsh.”
“Why should I talk to him?”
“He’s into all this spy shit. I was never sure what he did. I’m sure he wasn’t allowed to tell me or anyone what he’d done. He’s into a lot of this conspiracy shit, but on a sane level. He’s a good guy, if a little nuts.”
“If he wasn’t supposed to tell you anything, how do you know this much?”
“Just go talk to him.” He gave me the name and address and said he’d call ahead so I had an introduction. He finished, “You have to go see him. He won’t talk on the phone.”
At this point in this nutty a case, I understood that.
Before I left, I checked with Duncan. He’d been trying to procure me an all-terrain, drive-through-anything vehicle, but the storm itself had so far prevented anything being open to sell or rent such a thing. I also called the hotel. I didn’t ask for the room. I’d told Vincek to stay off the phone. I asked Bert, who sounded like I woke him up, if Vincek was still there. Bert assured me he was. I had questions for him, but I wanted to get to my meeting with Georgia. I didn’t want to keep a west side gang waiting.