Judge & Jury

No, he had to think."You could be right about the bus. I'll follow the line. I'll call you closer to home."

Nordeshenko switched off and wound the Audi through the streets of the Old Town, frantically searching for his son's face amid the crowds.This is payback, he thought,for the things I have done.

On Hassan Shukri, near Memorial Park, he overtook a city bus and swung the car in front of it to block its path."I'm looking for my son," he yelled, and pounded on the door for the driver to open."Please, let me in!"

People would be panicked, he knew. They would think him a terrorist!"Look, I'm not armed." He put out his arms. Finally, the hesitant driver opened the door.

"Pavel!" Nordeshenko jumped on, searching the rows of startled passengers.

Pavel wasn't there!

"I'm sorry, but we must move on," the driver said. Nordeshenko stepped back onto the street.

Mira was right. They would have to call the police. There was no escaping it. Even to delay a minute could endanger his son more. Reichardt would have to leave-immediately. But surely Mira would mention him. The police would look into him.This was very bad!

Minutes later, Nordeshenko pulled into his driveway. He slammed the Audi door and ran into his house."Any word?"

"No." Mira shook her head, clearly panicked.

"We're in trouble," Nordeshenko said, realizing now there was no other choice.

Reichardt came in from the deck."What's wrong?"

"You have to leave.Now. Pavel is missing. We have to call the police."

The South African's eyes stretched wide. Nordeshenko instinctively knew what the man was thinking. The conversation would turn to their visitor. They would have to explain him-and why he had had to leave so suddenly.

The telephone rang, reprieving them.

Mira covered her mouth."Maybe that's him."

Nordeshenko ran to the phone. He didn't want to let the South African out of his sight. He swallowed, lifting the receiver.

"Pavel?"

"You have a nice boy," the voice on the line replied."I'm going to give you instructions, and the degree to which you follow them will determine whether you ever see him again."

"What?" Nordeshenko grunted. So it was some kind of kidnapping. He spoke in English.Perfect English.

"I have your son," the caller said again."The good news is you can have him back safe and sound in a matter of minutes. The bad news is if you don't do precisely what I ask, you'll never see him again."

"Who is this?" Nordeshenko demanded.

"Never mind who it is. What I'd focus on now is which of those two scenarios you see taking place."

Nordeshenko looked at Mira, gave her a bolstering nod."Let's proceed with the good news. Getting Pavel back."

"That's wise. First things first. I think we're both aware that it's not in either of our interests to involve the police. Do we have an understanding on that?"

"We don't have an understanding on anything, except that you will give me back my son. I want to speak with him."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening. Let's just say he's wearing jeans and a red sweatshirt and Nike sneakers, and he's carrying some chess books and a wallet with a picture of his family in his pocket. As far as the rest, I'm afraid you'll have to trust us on that."

"You don't have any idea who you're dealing with," Nordeshenko threatened into the phone.

"Oh, yes I do. I know who I'm dealing with,Kolya Remlikov. "

Chapter 98

IF SOMEONE HAD suddenly burst in and blasted Nordeshenko up against the wall with a shotgun, he would have been no less stu

He realized he was dealing with a more serious adversary.

"You hurt him," Nordeshenko said,"you'll be paying for that mistake the rest of your life."

"Hurthim?" the American caller said."I believe that's more your style, Remlikov. You mean hurt him as in the elevator of the courthouse back in New York? Like what you did to those two marshals?"

Whatever color was left in Nordeshenko's face drained.

Who could this be? Who had traced him? Even Cavello's people didn't know who he was. This was worse than a ransom. His whole life was unraveling.

Nordeshenko's mouth was as dry as sandpaper."How much do you want?" he muttered.

"How much do we want? Not a cent, not a pe

"Information." Nordeshenko wet his lips."And what is that?"

"Cavello," the caller answered.

Nordeshenko's heart crashed to a stop. He had never once given a client up. He had never traded with anybody, never considered it. The list of people he worked with was sacred.

The American went on,"I'm giving youone hour. After that, you'll never see your boy again. Your identity and Interpol dossier will be turned over to the Israeli police."

"And what if I can't help you?" Nordeshenko asked."What if I don't know?"

"Then I'd start packing."

What could he do? They knew his name. How to reach him. They knew it was he who had helped Cavello escape. And they had the one thing that he valued most in the world in their possession."Okay," he said.

"Give me your mobile phone number-I'll contact you within an hour. Drive down the hill. Wait for my call. The meet will be quick. And Kolya, I think we both know what a tragedy it would be if the police were involved."

"You've got a lot of balls," Nordeshenko said."Whoever you are." But he gave the man his number.

"That's quite a statement, Kolya, after what I've seen you do."

The line went dead. Nordeshenko gave Mira a reassuring nod. Then he signaled to the South African.

"Come on, Reichardt. There's work to do."

Chapter 99

WE DROVE THE CAR to an abandoned tobacco warehouse I had scouted in the seedy Hadar section of town. And waited. The boy was sleeping peacefully. I gave him a breath of fresh ether every time he stirred.

Over the years, in the course of my job, I'd done a few things I wasn't proud of. None like this. The boy was i

The exchange couldn't come too quickly for either of us.

"Where are we going to meet?" Andie asked, the boy's head resting on her thigh.

"You mean, where amI going to meet him? In the Baha'i Gardens. Six o'clock. There's an outdoor concert going on an hour later. The place should be jammed."

Andie nodded.

"I'll need to tape his mouth and bind his hands, Andie. It's necessary. He'll be awake. I want him in the car with you. You can reassure him he's going to see his father in a few minutes. When it's time, I'll call you. You drive up, look for my signal, then you let him go. And you get the hell out of there-you understand? I don't want you anywhere around after it's done."

"Where?"

"Back to the hotel." We'd changed lodgings this morning, out of the fancy Panorama to a smaller pension in the Old Town, where we didn't even have to leave our passports."We're leaving for Tel Aviv tonight."

"Where are we heading?"

" Paris. Late flight out. Assuming all goes well."

"And after that?"

I opened the car door."That part of the itinerary is yet to be determined."

The boy stirred. The anesthetic was wearing off. Soon, I would let him wake. I glanced at my watch for about the fiftieth time. The hour had passed."Time."

Andie smiled bravely.

I got out and called Remlikov on his mobile. I told him the location where we were going to meet. I didn't want Andie to hear what I had to say.