Nik paused for a moment before speaking again. “Project Stalk?”
“Yes, Detective.
Sounds too good to pass up, doesn’t it?”
“No, it sounds like a bad sci-fi movie. I
don’t pay money for catchy phrases, and neither does the department.”
“So we’re at a standstill?”
“Maybe not. You know why most vendors fail at
their profession?”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t believe in free samples.”
“I don’t believe in anything free, Detective.
It goes beyond my philosophy for doing what I do.”
“$100.”
“For?”
“A bit of information my partner and I can
verify. Once we verify it, then we’ll start talking higher figures.”
“I need a thousand. Believe me, the
information I have is potentially damaging for many people. It is useless to
me, but the police will find it most useful. A thousand is quite reasonable.”
“So is $100 for a taste.”
A long pause ensued. “Very well. You and
Detective Behrens meet me at Tony Roma’s tonight at seven, and bring the paltry
sum you mentioned.”
“In San
Francisco ?”
“No, I will make a trip to Reno . Be on time, Detective Friday.” With
that, the line went dead.
Dwayne’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“What did this guy say?”
“Nothing yet, but for $100 he’ll say a few
words, plus eat some ribs.” Nik also silently wondered how the man knew his and
Dwayne’s names. Chances were, this guy was in Reno , and had been following the two cops.
“What?”
Nik
turned to Dwayne. “Ever heard of Project Stalk?”
“No.”
“He has, and I think our victim knew about
it, too, whatever it is.” Nik grinned. “I think we can extend the case just a
bit longer.”
Dwayne grinned back. “You’re convinced?”
“Yeah. Of what, I don’t know.”
“Take a stab. I do it all the time.”
Nik sat down. “All right. It sounds like Mr.
Tyler was sitting on information, maybe this Project Stalk, whatever that is.
At some point either before or after he was killed, a friend of his got hold of
it. I suspect it was before.”
Dwayne began to pace. “Project Stalk, what
the hell is it?”
“It does sound curious, and a bit stupid.
What makes it even more curious is a law firm’s possible involvement. It sounds
big. Then again, that’s what you’ve been saying all along. You’re an infection,
you know that?”
“It’s scary to think an assassin might have
been employed by a law firm!”
Nik looked at the floor in thought, then
shook his head. “Doesn’t look promising for us if we get involved, Dwayne.”
“Why?”
“It sounds to me like Damien Tyler was
blackmailing someone in that firm, and the injured party decided to kill him.
Now someone else has the information, and is offering to sell it to us.
Question: what if this guy is also in contact with the firm? These aren’t our
garden variety dumbass perps.”
“What if? We have to find out what this
project is all about sooner or later.”
“At seven at Tony Roma’s.”
“What was the guy’s name?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Did he describe himself?”
“No.”
“So what do we do?”
“We sit, order, and wait.” Nik paused, then
leaned in to Dwayne’s ear. “And with a wire,” he whispered.
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