Recker and Haley hit the street, trying to get word out that John Smith was looking for his old friend, hoping it would get back to Batton and spur a meeting between them. After a few days of searching, they hadn’t gotten anywhere yet. While they were pounding the pavement, Jones was doing what he could do on his end. For a known criminal, Batton was remarkably difficult to find traces of. Almost as bad as Cloutier. With another long day in the books, after Recker and Haley questioned people in every establishment in what seemed like a fifty miles radius, they headed back to the hotel. They walked in, seeing Jones at his normal position at the desk.
“How are you making out?” Recker asked.
“I’m not. This friend of yours is proving very difficult to find.”
“He’s good. He knows how to disappear. He’s not one of those other bozos who likes the limelight. He knows being in the spotlight brings heat. And once that happens it’s only a matter of time before you’re in a cell.”
“Well, as good as he might be, that’s not helping us in this situation,” Jones said. “He can’t help us if we can’t find him.”
“Maybe there’s another way to get in contact with him,” Haley said.
“How’s that?” Recker asked.
“I dunno. It’s just that we’ve talked to everyone who has any kind of connection to him. It’s all empty so far.”
“We just gotta hope one of those guys who said they haven’t talked to him in a while is lying to us and he delivers the message.”
“What if he really doesn’t want to see you again?” Jones asked. “Ever consider that?”
“No.”
“Oh. Just a thought.”
“Could be he’s just apprehensive about it,” Haley said. “Thinking maybe the CIA or someone else is on to him, using your name as cover.”
“Yeah, that could be it,” Recker replied. “He’ll have to reach out at some point though, to know whether it is or not.”
Recker and Haley then hopped on computers too, hoping to help Jones out in the search for Batton. They wrote down a few leads, a few names that they thought they could run down the following day.
“What about asking Ms. Lawson to see if they can find him?” Jones asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I won’t put him in the crosshairs like that. He helped me disappear from them once. And now I would turn to them in helping me find him? That would seem like bad form to me. If he’s off they’re radar now, I’m certainly not gonna help put him back on.”
“But you don’t even know if they know of your prior relationship.”
“That’s right, and I’m not gonna jeopardize him by them finding out either. Either we do it and find him, or we don’t find him at all.”
After a couple more hours or computer work, the silence in the room was broken up by Recker’s phone going off. Before looking at it, Recker assumed it was Mia. He was surprised, then, when he saw it was a strange number calling. He looked at his phone for a moment before answering.
“Hello?”
“Is this John Smith?”
“Yes.”
“I hear you’re looking for Mark Batton.”
“I am.”
“What do you want him for?”
“Just wanted to talk to him,” Recker answered. “We’re friends. He saved my life once.”
“Friends have a habit of turning on each other after a while.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m sure you can understand the apprehension.”
“I do. That’s why if you know him, tell him I’m willing to meet with him anytime, anywhere, completely on his terms. I just wanna see him.”
“Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock at the Dog and Bull Bar.”
“I’ll be there.”
Recker got off the phone and could immediately feel the heat from the stares of Jones and Haley. They each overheard the conversation and instantly knew what it was about.
“Well?” Jones asked.
“Tomorrow night at nine.”
“Could be a trap,” Haley said.
“What?”
“What if it’s not Batton? What if it’s actually Cloutier?”
“How you figure?” Recker asked.
“Cloutier knows we’re here now. What if one of the guys we talked to works for him? He sees we’re looking for someone, plays along, pretends he does, Cloutier sets something up and ambushes us.”
“It makes sense,” Jones said.
Recker couldn’t deny it wasn’t feasible, but he didn’t get the feeling that was what was going on. “I don’t think so. But we’ll play it safe just to be sure.”
“What’s the number they just called from? I’ll see if I can run it down.”
Recker handed him his phone. “Pretty sure this’ll wind up being a dead end. He knows my background. He’s not gonna give us something we can actually trace.”
“Be that as it may, it still doesn’t hurt to check. Maybe they got sloppy.”
“Mark doesn’t get sloppy.”
Jones still checked anyway, though he eventually found it was just as Recker suspected. It was a dead end.
“So, should we keep trying to find him?” Haley asked. “Or should we just wait and see how this goes tomorrow?”
“What do you think?” Recker asked, looking to Jones.
“I say I keep putting some effort into it, just in case it does turn out to be a trap.”
Recker nodded. “I agree.”
Recker’s instincts, though, were telling him it was Batton. It was just his way of making sure someone else wasn’t using the Smith name to lure Batton into a trap. Recker let his mind wander, thinking about what it would be like to see his old friend again. He thought about what he would say to him. As much as it would be nice to see Batton again though, and catch up on old times, they were there for a purpose, which was finding Cloutier. Recker just had to hope he could convince him to help.
The following night, Recker and Haley drove to the Dog and Bull Pub, which was a good forty-five minutes from their hotel. On the way there, they discussed different plans, most in the event it was a setup. If it wasn’t, none of the plans they made would matter. But if it was, they had to guard against it. They eventually decided Recker would go into the bar initially, with Haley just outside, keeping an eye out. If Batton showed up, Recker would give his partner the clear sign. If it was a Cloutier trap, they didn’t want to both be inside at the same place, giving them easy targets. At least this way Haley could give a warning if he suspected or saw something unusual.
Recker went inside the bar, looking around the place to see if there was anybody he recognized. He wasn’t expecting Batton to be there yet, but if he noticed anybody hanging around that was associated with Cloutier, Recker would know something sinister was up. He ordered a drink at the bar so it wouldn’t look like he was just casing the bar out, then walked around, looking at the faces of everyone he passed by. He also was looking for a table in the back or in the corner, preferably with the lowest amount of light possible so he wasn’t exposed.
“How are you looking in there, Mike?” Haley asked.
Recker just sat down at a table, a beer in hand. “Yeah, looks OK so far. Doesn’t look like anybody I know in here yet.”
“I don’t see anybody milling around out here either.”
Recker looked at the time. “Well, we still got ten minutes to go.”
Recker didn’t take a sip of his beer, wanting to make sure his mind was crystal clear. It wasn’t long before a woman approached Recker’s table. She also had a bottle of beer in her hand and by her mannerisms, was looking for a seat. Long, blonde hair, in her early thirties, Recker couldn’t tell if she was just looking for a good time or whether she was running scout duty, whether it was for Batton or Cloutier.
“Mind if I have a seat?”
Recker smiled at her, though he wasn’t about to let himself become distracted, pretty woman or not. “Uh, I’m actually waiting for someone.”
“Is it a she?”
“No, it’s a he, but he’s a good friend.”
“Well, that’s all right. I don’t mind it just being the three of us, if you don’t mind the company.”
“Well, that’s very nice of you, but my wife probably would object.”
Haley started laughing in Recker’s earpiece. “What’s the matter, Mike, you’re not married.”
“Might as well be.”
“What was that?” the woman asked, not knowing who he was talking to.
“Oh, I was just, uh… talking to myself.”
“Oh. So, you have a wife, huh?”
“Sure do.”
“And, uh, you wouldn’t be interested in a little extracurricular activity?”
Recker smiled as nicely as he could. “No, I wouldn’t. Thanks for the offer though.”
The woman dejectedly walked away from the table, looking for some other slob she could hook her hands and good looks into.
“Might be the best offer you get all night, Mike,” Haley said.
“I sure hope not.”
Fifteen minutes passed and both Recker and Haley were starting to get a little nervous Batton wasn’t going to show. Recker kept a close eye on the woman who had approached his table. If she left the bar or used her phone, he would have guessed she was a lookout for somebody. But she never did. Never did anything out of the ordinary. She eventually found another table she could plop herself down at with a couple of guys that didn’t mind her company.
“I’m starting to get a little worried out here,” Haley said, looking at the time. “Five minutes late.”
“If it’s Batton, he’s probably just trying to make sure. Take some extra precautions.”
“I hope you’re right. I hope this isn’t some test drive, and he leaves us hanging out to dry.”
“I gotta believe he’ll be here. He’ll show up. Once he sees it’s me and it’s not some game someone’s playing with him, he’ll be here.”
“Think it could be Cloutier?”
Recker sighed, hating to have to consider the possibility. “I don’t think so.”
“Could be they’re just waiting for you to leave or get you into a better spot to jump you. Or maybe they know we’re both here and they want to get us together for an ambush. Easier to take us out together.”
“I know we have to consider every angle, and you’re right for bringing it up, but Mark’s gonna be here at some point.”
“How much time we gonna give him?”
“I’ll give him till this place closes down. I believe in him. No matter what, he’ll be here.”