“What’s going on?” Haley asked.
“I gave the bartender a few pounds. He’s gonna get the girl to leave for us.”
“How’s he gonna do that?”
“Remember how we were talking about love?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, that ain’t it,” Recker said. “Bartender said Alderson comes in with a different girl every week. This one’s usually one of them. Her name’s Violet. Said she’s strictly here for his money.”
“How’d you lay it out?”
“Said I knew Alderson’s some financial guy, and I had some real estate deals I needed backing on. Told him I thought I could hook him if he could get the girl out of the way, so she wasn’t a distraction. Put a little money down on the bar and he went for it.”
“Easier said than done.”
They continued watching the table for a few more minutes. Recker kept his eyes split between the table and the bar, waiting for the bartender to make his move. A few minutes later, it happened. Recker tapped Haley on the forearm and nodded that the bartender was on the move. They watched as he went over to Alderson’s table. The bartender leaned over and whispered a few things into Violet’s ear, then the woman quickly got up, grabbing her stuff. Recker and Haley watched the woman walk straight out of the bar.
“The power of knowing your clientele,” Recker said.
“Sure is something to be said for it.”
As the bartender moved back to his spot behind the bar, he looked over at Recker and gave a quick nod.
“This is our chance.”
Recker and Haley picked up their drinks and walked over to Alderson’s table. They stood in front of it, waiting for Alderson to acknowledge their presence.
“Help you, gents?” Alderson asked.
“Sure can,” Recker answered.
They didn’t wait to be invited to sit, Recker and Haley just helped themselves.
“Do I know you boys?” Alderson asked.
Recker laughed. “No, but we know you.”
“What?”
“We’re here to discuss business.”
“What kind of business?”
“The kind where you get to live.”
“What? What are you talking about? What is this?”
“We’re here to talk about Francois Cloutier,” Haley replied.
“Who? Who’s that?”
Haley just looked at him, like he couldn’t believe he was going to try to play stupid.
“We know you know him,” Recker said.
“You boys are Americans?”
“Yes.”
“So, what would you want with Cloutier?”
Recker and Haley looked at each other. That was as good an admission of guilt as they were going to get.
“Sure sounds like you know him to me,” Recker said.
“I might have heard the name a time or two. Don’t mean I know him personally. What do you want him for?”
“First of all, we’re here representing the British government. They’ve authorized us to look for this man.”
“So, what do you want with me?”
“We’ve heard you’ve done business with him.”
“That’s an out and out lie. I’ve never done business with him.”
“We don’t believe you,” Haley said.
“I don’t care what you believe. I’m telling you I don’t know the chap.”
Recker reached into his pocket and removed a picture. It was one of him and Cloutier, likely taken a year or two ago. He placed it down on the table for Alderson to see.
“Who’s that?” Recker asked.
Alderson looked at the picture, then took a drink. He didn’t look especially pleased to see the photo. He then picked it up, looking at it a little more closely. “Where’s this from?”
“Beats me. I didn’t take it.”
“Think it pretty clearly shows that you do know him,” Haley said. “Wouldn’t you say?”
“What do you guys want from me?”
“Thought we already made it clear,” Recker said. “We want Cloutier. You can help us get him.”
“I can’t help you. Don’t know where he is.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Probably when that picture was taken. Probably over a year or so ago.”
“What was your business with him?”
“He approached me with a deal. Something we could all make money on.”
“What kind of deal?” Haley asked.
“He said it was best if I didn’t know the details.”
Haley raised an eyebrow, not believing his story. “You’re telling me he approached you with a deal and didn’t tell you what it was? How many deals have you made like that?”
“He said he had an opportunity to acquire… some items that weren’t quite of the legal variety.”
“And you didn’t have a problem with that?”
“He said to protect me he couldn’t go into details, but I could make a quick few hundred thousand in about a week if I gave him some initial capital to work with.”
“So, you did?” Recker asked. “Just blindly gave him money, just like that? With no idea what he was using it for?”
“There were precautions taken.”
“I’m sure there were. And you don’t know what he was buying?”
Alderson shrugged. “I didn’t much care as long as I got my share. Could’ve been guns, could’ve been stolen paintings, stolen antiques, I don’t know. Sometimes it’s better not to inquire about such things.”
Recker turned and looked at his partner. “Now, I don’t know about you, but my BS meter is pretty high, and I usually can tell when someone’s feeding me a line of crap.”
Haley nodded, then looked all around him for emphasis. “Yeah, I’d say it’s being flung far and deep. I would say we’re about waist high in it right now.”
Recker agreed. “Yeah, I’d say that was accurate.” Recker then turned back toward their suspect and continued the interrogation. “So, you wanna try this again?”
“There’s nothing else to tell,” Alderson answered. “I’ve told you exactly how it happened.”
Recker reached across the table and grabbed Alderson’s drink. He then poured it into his own drink and turned the empty glass upside down. Recker’s face was one of aggravation. It was obvious he wasn’t enjoying what he was hearing. He started rubbing his hands together. As he waited for him to say something, Alderson looked at Haley, wondering what else was going on. Recker cleared his throat and leaned forward to speak in a quieter, though still tough, and intimidating voice.
“I’m gonna give you one more chance to tell me something useful. If you insist on going with the bunch of crap you’ve been saying, we’re gonna take you out back and pound you into submission. And that’d be just to start with. After we’ve pulverized you into a bloody mess, we’re gonna take you back to some black ops interrogation black hole they laughingly call a cell and drop you in it, where you’ll never see the light of day again, and where you’ll eventually die in a pool of your own filth with no one ever knowing where you are. How’s that sound?”
Alderson smiled and let out a nervous sounding laugh. “You’re joking, right?” Recker continued with his serious face. Alderson then looked at Haley. “He’s joking, right?”
“He doesn’t joke,” Haley answered. “Ever.”
Alderson’s smile lessened but was still evident on his face. He wasn’t yet buying what they were selling. “What are you trying to imply? That you’re some special agents or something?”
“We’re not implying anything. We’re just telling you how it is. You better start coming clean, and you better start doing it right now, or there’s a very good chance everyone you know’s gonna ask what happened to you because you’re gonna wind up on one of those missing posters come Monday morning.”
“More tough talk from the dynamic duo, huh?”
Recker looked at Haley. He was done playing games. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistol, making sure Alderson could see it. Recker then looked around to make sure nobody was paying attention to their business. With the coast clear, he put the gun underneath the table, pointing it right at Alderson’s body.
“In case you’re not sure what he’s doing, he’s pointing a gun at you,” Haley said.
“You guys are crazy,” Alderson said.
“Finally, he understands,” Recker said.
“I know you’re not gonna use that. It’s too public. You wouldn’t dare.”
“I know this hasn’t sunk into that fat stupid head of yours yet, but I’m operating with diplomatic immunity. I can do any damn thing I want.”
“I could just yell right now that you have a gun.”
“Wouldn’t make one bit of difference. I’ll just shoot you, anyway.”
“In front of all these witnesses?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Recker replied.
“You’re crazy,” Alderson said, looking at them both. “You really are crazy. The both of you. You’re really full-out crazy.”
“I want what I want. And you’re gonna give it to me. Or else you’ll pay the price for it. I’m gonna get it anyway so you might as well make it easy on yourself.”
Alderson cleared his throat, finally realizing the mess he was in. “If Cloutier finds out about this, he’ll kill me.”
“He didn’t hear it from us.”
“Loose lips sink ships you know.”
“Listen, we don’t really give a shit about you. Tell us what we wanna know and we’ll be on our way and you’ll never have to see us again.”
“You won’t use what I say against me or anything?”
“All we want is Cloutier,” Recker answered. “I can’t guarantee someone from the government won’t eventually come looking for you, but I can guarantee it won’t be us. The sooner you tell us what we’re looking for, the sooner we’ll be out of here.”
Alderson sat there thinking for a few seconds. He knew he really had no other options. He fully believed the man in front of him might kill him if he continued to say nothing. Recker looked just crazy enough to do it to him.
“All right, I’ll tell you what I know.”
“When’s the last time you saw him?” Recker asked.
“Like I said, it was about a year ago. Probably when that picture was taken. It was much like I said. He had a deal lined up, and he needed some additional funding.”
“Why’d he call on you?” Haley asked.
“I think he’d heard of me in certain circles.”
“You got a reputation for lining up these kinds of deals?”
Alderson shrugged. “If there’s enough money involved, anyone in my position would be interested in these types of deals, legal or not.”
“Did you know what kind of deal he had?” Recker asked.
“I assumed it was weapons. That’s as far as I needed to know or cared to know for that matter. What kind? What he was planning to do with it? That’s stuff that Cloutier played very close to the vest. Never mentioned his intentions with them. At least not to me.”
“How can you get in touch with him?”
“I can’t.” Alderson could see by the looks on their faces that they didn’t quite believe him, but he was being truthful this time. “No, really, I’m being honest now. I have no means to contact him. As far as I know, he contacts the people he does business with, not the other way around.”
“So, if you had something for him, you couldn’t just call up one of his associates and ask to meet?”
“That’s correct. It’s probably how he manages to stay ahead of everyone all the time. He calls the shots. He decides who. He decides when. And he decides where. He’s in total control.”
“So, you only worked with him that one time?”
“No, there were two previous times before that, each about a year apart interestingly enough. But I haven’t had contact with him since that photo. Don’t know where he’s at.”
“Well, we have it on good authority he’s here.” Alderson started looking around. “Not here in the bar. Here in London. Well, maybe London. At least in England somewhere.”
“Oh,” Alderson said. “Well, wish I could help you, but I can’t.”
“Even if you can’t contact him directly, you must know someone who can,” Haley said. “He must have runners or something.”
Alderson looked down at the table as if he were thinking about it, but just shrugged and shook his head. “Not that I know of.”
“You mean he just contacted you directly himself?”
“No, there was a third party who handled communication, but that’s a dead end.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve tried to contact the number since then. It’s out of service.”
Recker took out a piece of paper and a pen and slid it across the table. “Write it down.”
“It was nearly eight or nine months ago. I’m not even sure if I remember it now.”
Recker knew he wasn’t being genuine. “Write it down.”
Alderson sighed and complied with their wishes. Didn’t much matter to him anyway since the number really didn’t do him any good. After writing it down, he slid the paper back over to Recker, who picked it up and looked at it.
“This better be right or you’ll be getting another visit from us in the next few days.”
“It’s good, it’s good.”
“Anything else you can remember?”
Alderson thought for a few seconds. There were some other things that might be worth something. But he wasn’t going to give them away for free. He was a businessman after all. Everything could be bargained for. Everything had a price. Recker and Haley could both tell he had something on his mind that he was reluctant to talk about.
“What is it?” Recker asked.
“Well, I’m not sure how viable this information is.”
“We’ll be the judge of that.”
“Yes, well, how badly do you want it?”
“What?”
“I’m a businessman,” Alderson said. “I’m willing to trade.”
“You trying to blackmail us? Because if you are, I’ll put you right through this table.”
Alderson rolled his eyes, thinking it was a silly thing to suggest. “Of course not. I’m merely suggesting an exchange of something. That’s how business works. I give you something, you give me something.”
“And what is it exactly you want from us?”
Alderson smiled. “To be forgotten. You say I might show up on government lists or the like. I’d simply like for it not to happen.”
“And how do you happen to think we can help with that?”
“Strike me off the list. Delete my name from a file. Lose my file. You know, something like that.”
“And if we can?”
“Then I’ll tell you a rumor I’ve heard. I don’t know whether it’s true or not, that’s for you to run down. But those are my terms.”
“We could just throw you down a hole and beat it out of you,” Recker said.
“Yes, and I have no doubt you’re very capable in that regard or that I would eventually break and tell you what I know anyway, but it might take you a few extra days. I get the feeling you don’t want to waste valuable time.”
“You’re kind of a scumbag, you know that?”
Alderson didn’t seem the least bit insulted. Probably because he’d been called worse. “Such is the way it goes. All I’m asking is to be left to my own devices. I don’t think I’m asking for too much. It’s not like I’m asking for money or to be whisked away to some tropical island or something. Just to be forgotten.”
Recker seemed inclined to give him the deal, but he looked over at Haley first, who also nodded his agreement.
“All right,” Recker said. “You got your deal. If you give us something useful, when we walk out of here, we’ll place a call and have them lose your file for a while.”
Alderson smiled. “Excellent. Like I said, I don’t know whether this is credible or not, but I heard a rumor there was a big shipment coming in in the next couple of weeks.”
“Couple of weeks? You can’t pin it down?”
“I can only relay what I’ve heard.”
“Cloutier?”
“Well, names weren’t mentioned, but from the way they were talking, it was someone big. And when I say big, I mean in Cloutier’s vein.”
“What kind of shipment are we talking about?” Haley asked.
Alderson shrugged. “Wasn’t expressly said. I got the feeling it was guns. I could be wrong, but that’s the sense I got.”
“Where’d you hear this from?”
“The name escapes me, but he’s a well-known informant, kind of a little rat, but he seems to always know more than he should.”
“So, why’d he tell you?”
“He didn’t. I heard it from someone he did business with.”
“It could be anybody,” Recker said. “You don’t have a name, you don’t have a date, you don’t have anything. You even got a location?”
“I believe it was one of the seaports.”
“Which one?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Port of… no, that’s not it. Port of… no. Port of Dover. Yes, that was it.”
“The shipment’s coming in by boat?”
Alderson smiled, having a smug little look on his face, apparently pleased with himself. “That’s correct.”
“Where’s it coming from?”
“No idea.”
“If it’s…,” Haley started to say. He stopped himself short, not wanting to talk about anything in front of Alderson.
“You got anything else?” Recker asked.
“No, that was it,” Alderson answered. “Our deal?”
Recker didn’t look pleased, but he was a man of his word. “A deal’s a deal. Can’t guarantee how long your file will get lost for though. If I were you, I’d disappear after this.”
“Truer words were never spoken.”