Recker crawled over to Majero’s body, making sure he stayed out of range of the sniper. He grabbed the phone.
“I don’t think you should answer it,” Malloy said.
“What if it’s the way out?”
“The way out’s through that door.”
Recker shook his head. “With this guy, nothing is as it seems.” Recker answered the phone. “Yeah?”
“Mr. Recker. Nice to finally speak to you.”
“Who are you?”
“I think you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Recker said. “You’re a nameless, faceless person. Maybe you should start connecting the dots.”
“No, I don’t think so. I quite like it this way.”
“So what’s this about?”
“Do I really need to spell it out?”
“Yeah.”
“Very well. As soon as we’re done, you’re going to call your partner, and have him join you.”
“Why would I do that?” Recker asked.
“Because if you don’t, the building is going to explode.”
“What?”
“Yes, there are charges set everywhere.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Now, now, before you start getting all huffy, let me explain. The charges will only go off under certain conditions.”
“Which are?” Recker asked.
“You and your friends must not leave that room. The moment that one of you does, the bombs will go off, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
“What else?”
“You will get your partner over there, and he will join you.”
“And then?”
“And then I will conclude my business with Mr. Jones, as you call him.”
“Why? What did he do to you?”
“That is our business,” the man said.
“And we’re just supposed to sit here?”
“That is correct. Now, assuming you do as you’re directed, there will be no further harm done to anyone. When my business with Jones is concluded, I will neutralize the bombs, and you and your friends can go back to your lives. No one else needs to get hurt.”
“What if you don’t make it out of your encounter with Jones?” Recker asked.
The man laughed, thinking it preposterous. “Well, in the extremely unlikely event that that scenario actually occurs, it will amount to the same thing. The bombs will only detonate if I make them.”
“OK. Anything else?”
“Yes. Don’t think that after we get off the phone that I won’t know what’s going on in there. I assure you, I most definitely will. If one of you leaves that apartment, you will all die. I cannot stress that enough.”
“And how do I know you’ll keep your word and you won’t do that anyway when all this is over?”
“Trust. Faith.”
“Hard to have faith in someone who’s trapping me in a room with bombs around me,” Recker said.
“You could go under the assumption that if I wanted you all dead… you would be already. I technically don’t even need to have this conversation right now. I could just hit the button and be done with it. But I don’t want to.”
“So should I assume you’ve got cameras here somewhere?”
“With me, you should assume anything that is possible is reality.”
“So what you’re saying is you want all of us to sit here on our hands and knees while you kill my friend?”
“That’s it exactly. But if the threat of an entire building coming down, with all of you inside, killing hundreds of innocent people doesn’t deter you, realize that I know where your girlfriend is right now as well.”
“You wouldn’t,” Recker said.
“I don’t want to. Trust me, as long as you follow my directions, not one single hair on her pretty head will be harmed.”
“So I’m supposed to just sit here and do nothing.”
“That’s it exactly.”
Recker sighed. It seemed like his hands were tied. Considering the man didn’t mention Thrower yet, he hoped that meant he was still a secret.
“I guess I really don’t have much choice here, do I?”
“No, you don’t. Your biggest challenge will probably be making sure those other meatheads in the room don’t escape. Because if one goes, you all go, so to speak. You get my meaning.”
“I do.”
“Please make sure my message is clearly conveyed to all.”
“And you give me your word that when this is over, however it goes down, no one else gets hurt.”
“Absolutely. After it’s done, you can call the police and have them bring in their dogs to find the explosives. Then it’s finished.”
“OK.”
“Oh, and there’s one more condition.”
“And what’s that?” Recker said.
“You do not come looking for me. My issue is with Jones, not with you, or anyone else. If you choose to avenge his death, I will have no choice but to return and kill all of your friends and family. I do not wish to do that. So don’t make me. Do I have your word?”
“Fine. I won’t come looking for you after this is over. Hopefully, I won’t have to.”
The man laughed. “If you’re thinking that Jones will somehow get the upper hand on me, I think it is unlikely.”
“Miracles happen all the time.”
“Indeed, they do. So I have your word on it, then?”
“You do,” Recker answered.
“Good. If you like, I’ll even send you a message when it is safe for you and your friends to leave.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
“So there is nothing to do now but ask your partner to join you. And say nothing to Jones. I’ll have my own message for him.”
“One more question. You stepped your plan up a little early, didn’t you? You said you weren’t coming for a few more days.”
“You didn’t think I was really going to tell you the exact day I was coming, did you?”
“I was hoping.”
“The more time I wasted, the more time it gave you all to get ready and prepare. Maybe even find out who I was and launch a counter strike first. This was always the plan.”
“I see. Well I guess there’s nothing more to say then, is there?”
“There’s not. And don’t feel badly about me getting a leg up on you. There’s no shame in it. Nobody bats a thousand, right?”
The man hung up, then Recker got back on the phone to call his partner. Haley picked up immediately.
“Hey, what’s up?” Haley asked.
“I need you to get over to the apartment building we’re at.”
“How come? Everything good?”
“Uh, yeah. Just get over here now.”
“What about Jones?”
“He’ll have to be OK there by himself,” Recker replied. He didn’t want to say anything else in case their conversation was being listened to. “He can defend himself if need be.”
By the way his partner was talking, Haley obviously knew something was up. He had to go along with it.
“All right, I’m coming now,” Haley said. He hung up, then started to get ready. He looked at Jones and Thrower. “Looks like this is it. Get ready.”
Jones had a slightly terrified look on his face. Thrower looked ready to go, as he usually did. He wouldn’t know how to panic even if he wanted to.
“You guys be careful, huh?” Haley said.
“I got this,” Thrower replied. “Don’t worry.”
Haley tapped both of them on the shoulder as he walked out the door. Once he was gone, Thrower looked over at Jones, making sure he was OK. Jones looked more than a little nervous.
“You good?”
Jones licked his lips. “Don’t I look it?”
Thrower chuckled. “Not really.”
Jones’ hands were sweating and he wiped them on his pants. “I’m, uh, maybe a little anxious.”
Thrower grinned. “It’ll be OK. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I believe you mean that. I just don’t know if this is all part of the plan. Including you being here.”
“Nothing suggests he knows.”
“Nothing suggests he doesn’t either.”
“We can’t leave here,” Recker said, after delivering the news.
“You mean we’re supposed to just sit here?” Malloy asked.
Recker shrugged. “Unless you know of another way.”
“Yeah, let’s just call his bluff and get out of here.”
“That’s a bluff you really wanna call right now?”
“He’s not really gonna take down this building. How much heat would that cause him?”
“None,” Recker replied. “Because nobody knows who he is.”
“He’s just saying that to keep us in.”
“Maybe he is. But are you really willing to take that chance?”
Malloy looked over at the door and sighed as he folded his arms. He then started shaking his head, not believing they were even in this situation.
“How’d we get suckered into this?”
“The guy’s smart,” Recker answered. “He’s been two steps ahead of us this entire time. He knew what he was doing, knew what we’d do, and everything was to lead us to this point right now. This has been his plan all along.”
“And we fell for it.”
Recker nodded. “We sure did.”
Recker hadn’t told Malloy about Thrower being with Jones, and he wasn’t about to mention it now. Remembering the listening device planted in the laptop, Recker had to assume that this place was bugged too. There was no doubt of that in his mind. He just had to avoid saying anything that would lead whoever was listening to believe that Jones was still protected.
They were largely silent until Haley finally arrived. Once in the apartment, Haley instantly noticed the glum faces on everybody.
“What are we all doing here?”
Recker then explained everything. “That’s basically it.”
“So we’re just sitting and waiting?”
“That’s it. We have to assume we’re being watched, and that we’re being listened to.”
“And if we walk out that door, it goes poof?”
“That’s what the man said.”
“And we’re just gonna leave Jones out there by himself?” Haley asked.
“It’s all we can do. We just have to hope that Jones can figure it out on his own.”
“I still say we take a chance,” Malloy said.
“That’s a bad move,” Haley replied. “This guy ain’t playing. If he says there are bombs here, I believe it.”
“So we just wait?”
Recker nodded. “Yeah. That’s all we can do. Just wait.”