Teddy insisted on speaking to Mike Freeman himself. He didn’t like risking it, but he had to get the news firsthand.
“You’re sure they were after her?”
“Absolutely. She was the target.”
“Was it a hit or a snatch?”
“That’s the only bone of contention. They say it was a snatch job only, but they would. Given a choice, you don’t cop to attempted murder. Even the big dumb one knew that, and he didn’t know much. He was caught sneaking up on her with a knife in his hand, so that story isn’t going to wash.”
“How’d he explain that?”
“Not very well. Thinking fast is not his strong suit. He couldn’t come up with any useful euphemism. Even the phrase knock her out escaped him. The guy’s a paid assassin, but how he made it this far without anyone cleaning his clock escapes me.
“The other guy’s something else. Lives by his wits, street-smart, can’t be happy he was saddled with the goon. I assume it wasn’t his choice.”
“Whose choice was it?”
“That’s where it gets interesting. The street-smart guy won’t talk without a deal on the table. The big goon is too dumb to cut a deal. He’s the type who gets bored and nods out halfway through the Miranda warning. He told us a lot, I just wish he knew more.”
“What did he know?”
“They work for a small-time boss named Carlo Gigante. He gave them the orders to snatch Betsy Barnett. What they were supposed to do once they had her gets hazy, probably because it wasn’t a snatch to begin with. There’s every indication they were going to kill her to send a message.”
“So the goon rolled on Gigante?”
“That’s right.”
“Then he’s in trouble.”
“Same with the other guy, though he didn’t talk. As long as Gigante thinks they did, they can’t be long for this world.”
“And all they know is they were hired by Gigante?”
“Right.”
“Did the police pick him up?”
“Yeah, for all the good it did.”
“What’s he say?”
“He won’t talk, but his lawyer’s talking plenty. Gigante doesn’t know them, they don’t know him, they’re mistaken, they’re lying, the real guy who hired them paid them to tell this story, he has no idea what they’re talking about, this is a shakedown, this is a case of false arrest.”
“That’s all?”
“The lawyer just got the case. Give him time. Anyway, we can’t get anything out of Gigante.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll have been hired by a voice on the phone.”
“Yeah. Look, I know you want to come out here, but there’s nothing you can do. Betsy’s fine. My guys are good, and I’m on the scene myself. I don’t know what you’re faced with, but it looks like Stone needs you more than I do. Do you need backup?”
“It would just complicate things. I’ve got enough problems dodging the CIA.”
“My men wouldn’t get underfoot.”
“Your men couldn’t turn around without tripping over an agent. There’s been an assassination, in case you hadn’t heard.”
“All right. Well, don’t worry about us. I’m out here, I’m on top of it, we’re fine. Just holler if you need anything.”
Teddy hung up. He should have felt reassured, but he didn’t. Mike was a good man.
But he was better.