Once Recker and Haley were out of the bar and in their car, they started discussing the latest developments.
“You gonna say something in there?” Recker asked. “I noticed you cut yourself off.”
“Just about this supposed shipment.”
“What about it?”
“If this is Cloutier, and that’s still a big if, and he’s got something being shipped in, it’s gotta be product for his warehouse. It’s probably a big trailer they’ll just put right on a truck and take it to his place.”
“Yeah, could be.”
“That would mean he’s got people working at the yard. There’s a lot that could go wrong unless you got someone watching the shipment, making sure nothing happens to it. And that would mean someone who’s got power and authority.”
“And someone you trust,” Recker said.
“Or someone you got leverage over.”
Recker then texted Jones the number Alderson had given them, hoping he could pull some magic out of a hat. They didn’t really expect to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but even if he could extract some type of useful information, it would be a step closer to finding Cloutier.
“What now?” Haley asked.
“Well, we could hit the Port of Dover, but without a name attached to it, I’m not sure what good that would do. Nobody’s gonna outright admit to knowing Cloutier. And it’s probable he’s never even been there, anyway.”
“It’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“I guess we’ll just go back to the hotel and plot our next move. Maybe find that needle at the port.”
They drove straight back to the hotel, getting there in about thirty minutes. By the time they arrived, Jones was well into his investigation of the phone number.
“How are you making out on that?” Recker asked.
“I’d like to give you bad news, but I’m afraid even that would be too encouraging.”
“Well, at least you’re keeping open a glimmer of hope, right?”
“What’s the saying? You can’t make chicken salad from chicken…”
“Yeah, I know it. Thanks.”
Haley sat down at the table and started sorting through the papers laid out. “Let’s see if we can find out who his contact is at the port.”
“How much longer’s it gonna take you?” Recker asked his partner at the computer.
“Not long,” Jones answered. “Why?”
“Well, if you’ve got an extra pair of hands, you can try helping us find his contact at the port.”
“I have two things to say to that.”
Recker sat down at the table, bracing himself for his reply. “Yeah?”
“One, the good thing about computer programs, is they are usually able to handle multiple activities at once.”
“And the second?”
“It would help if I knew what you were talking about.”
Recker looked away for a second, realizing he never told him about that piece of information. “Oh.”
Recker then relayed the information Alderson had given them about the seaport. Jones wasn’t as enthusiastic about the news as the other two were.
“That’s all?”
Recker shrugged. “That’s what we got.”
“It could be anything or anybody.”
“Could.”
“It could be some old grandma smuggling in a thousand illegal types of cats.”
Recker looked at Haley. “Is there any type of illegal cat?”
“Not that I know of. Not the house kind anyway.”
“You know what I’m saying,” Jones said. “There could be a big shipment coming in in the next couple of weeks? I mean, what is that? Could it be any vaguer?”
“Could’ve just said a shipment was coming without mentioning the next few weeks. That might have been better.”
Jones put his hand on his forehead and shook his head. “That’s all the information you could get out of this man?”
“That and the phone number.”
“So, a complete dead end and then an opening as wide as the Atlantic Ocean?”
“Well, gee, Wally, that’s all the man knows.”
“Really?”
Haley started laughing, though he put his hand up to his face to try to cover his mouth.
“Perhaps your interrogation methods are slipping a bit?” Jones asked.
Recker didn’t take offense to the notion, but quickly dismissed it. “There’s nothing wrong with my interrogation methods. I can tell when a man’s lying and when he’s saying what he believes. This guy told us what he knew.”
Jones looked to Haley. “Yeah, I agree,” Haley said. “The guy just didn’t know much other than that. He’s not a skilled liar. You can always tell.”
“Well, maybe that is so,” Jones replied. “But it doesn’t help our pursuits any.”
“Don’t have to tell us,” Recker said. “We know.”
“How are we supposed to track down someone at a port without any clue as to their identity?”
“Can’t you just plug some algorithms in and spit out a few names?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to keep plugging away in some other manner. Knock on a few more doors.”
“And hope they don’t close on us?”
“Something like that.”
Recker and Haley then started looking through their files, determining who they should target next. They started writing down a list of names, then started arranging them in order. After they were finished, they had about ten people down.
“Guess we can start with these guys first thing in the morning,” Recker said.
“Sounds good. Maybe one of them will lead us to the guy at the port.”
“Wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
“Maybe we can have Lawson follow up on it,” Haley said. “Maybe she’s heard some chatter about it and can fill in the missing pieces.”
“Not a bad idea. I’ll give her a call.”
As Jones and Haley continued digging through the information they had at their disposal, Recker called Lawson.
“Hey, how’s London?” Lawson asked.
“Everything I expected it to be.”
“Everything OK?”
“Yeah, just following up on a new lead we heard.”
“You have a new lead already? That’s fast.”
“Yeah, before I get into that, I need you to do a favor for me,” Recker said.
“What’s that?”
“Charlie Alderson. He’s in the files.”
“Yeah, I remember the name.”
“I need you to lose his file for a few months.”
“Why?”
“He gave me some information which I’m about to tell you,” Recker answered. “The condition was that his file got lost or misplaced for a while.”
“I could probably do that. Say six months or so?”
“That should work.”
“That’s only for us though,” Lawson said. “I can’t make any guarantee about any other government, such as his own, who might come calling.”
“Fine with me. I only promised him the people I was working with. Anybody else is his problem.”
“OK, done. What else?”
“This guy told us he’s heard there’s a big shipment being brought in through one of the seaports. He says it’s big. Though he didn’t get a name or a date, he kind of connected the dots and somehow that led him to believe it was Cloutier behind it. You heard anything about it?”
“About a week ago we picked up information that Cloutier had something going on near a seaport, but we didn’t have any credible evidence to back it up. There’s a lot of ports out there.”
“Well, this guy said it was the Port of Dover if that helps.”
“It does help,” Lawson replied. “I can start digging into it.”
“Good. I don’t have any hopes that Cloutier would be there himself, but I would think he’s got someone on his payroll there, probably someone working there.”
“Yeah, I would agree. I’ll start running it down. Your guy didn’t happen to mention where this shipment was coming from, did he? It would make tracing it a bit easier.”
“No, that was all he knew.”
“OK. Well, at least it’s something. As soon as I find anything out, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.”
Recker put the phone back in his pocket and looked at his friends sitting there working. He then thought of Mia.
“I’ll be right back. I gotta make another call.”
Jones and Haley knew what he was doing. Recker walked into the bedroom and closed the door. It only took one ring before Mia picked up.
“Hey,” Mia excitedly said. “How are you?”
“As good as I can be considering I’m a few thousand miles away from you.”
“I know. I miss you already. Today felt like the longest day without you here.”
“Well, hopefully it won’t be too much longer.”
“How’s that going?”
“OK, I guess,” Recker answered. “We’ve already got a new lead we’re working, so hopefully something comes of it. Never know though. Trying not to get my hopes up too much.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. A little lonely, I guess. But otherwise, I’m OK. I’m gonna try to pick up some extra days working to pass the time more. Maybe I’ll be so tired I won’t have a chance to miss you as much.”
“Just make sure it’s not too much and you’re taking enough time for you.”
“I will.”
They continued talking for over an hour before they finished their conversation. Once done, Recker came out of the bedroom, and stood there, something finally hitting him. He then walked back into the bedroom, looked around for a second, then walked into the second bedroom, doing the same thing. Once he came out, he went over to the table Jones and Haley were sitting at and joined them.
“You know, I just realized something,” Recker said.
“What’s that?” Jones replied.
“There’s only two bedrooms in this hotel room.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Umm, there’s three of us.”
Jones stopped what he was doing and looked at Recker with a blank kind of stare. “And? Your point?”
“My point is there’s three of us and only two beds. No offense to either of you, since I love you both, but I stopped sharing a bed with my friends when I was like eight sleeping over a friend’s house.”
“First of all, there’s two beds and a pull-out sofa. So everyone can get their own space.”
“Oh. OK. No offense meant. It’s just… well, after sharing a bed with Mia, both of you are… kind of a step down.”
Haley laughed, appreciating his friend’s sense of humor. Jones was not quite as amused.
“I can pretty much sleep anywhere,” Haley said. “And have. I could probably make myself comfortable in a bathtub if I had to.”
“There’s something to look forward to,” Jones said.
“I don’t really care either,” Recker said.
“After all that, you don’t care?”
“After all what?”
“You just made a big stink about the bed situation and now you say you don’t care?”
“I wasn’t making a stink about it,” Recker answered. “I was just… mindfully inquiring about the sleeping arrangements.”
“Oh, is that what you call it?”
Recker nodded. “Yes, that’s what I call it.”
“Maybe we should rotate,” Haley said.
“In what way?” Jones asked.
“Well, each night, a different one of us takes up the sofa. That way the time is equally split.”
“I’m good with that,” Recker replied.
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled,” Jones said. “Now if we can move on to other more important matters?”
“Like what?”
“Like what did Ms. Lawson say about the information you gave her?”
“She’s looking into it. She’d heard something about it, but it’s the first she heard about the specific port being used.”
“Well, hopefully something comes out of that.”
“Yeah. Let’s hope.”