Unmanned (9780385351263) by Dan Fesperman Page B

he’d want to do you in.”
    “Sounds like a recipe for ending up alone.”
    “Guilty as charged.” Bickell spread his arms to encompass the empty lawn. “My wife moved out seven years ago.” He walked a few more feet in silence, a crust of ice crunching beneath his feet. “Back when I bought this place I figured someday all I’d be doing is hunting, fishing, tooling around on the water. But look at that boat of mine—falling apart, stem to stern. I haven’t taken it out since August. Still, the life has its rewards. You’ll see.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind when they take me in for questioning.”
    Bickell chuckled, but Cole didn’t join in. Bickell turned back toward the house, signaling that he was ready to bring this to a close. Cole had one more question.
    “So what’s your theory on Castle, then? You lived and breathed this stuff right there with him. Where do you think he’s gone?”
    Bickell stopped. He stroked his chin and looked hard at Cole, as if mulling whether to say anything more.
    “Knowing him, and knowing how many players eventually dipped their fingers into this pie at one time or another, I’d say he’s here.”
    “Back in the States?”
    Bickell nodded grimly.
    “Why?”
    “Because this isn’t about what happened over there anymore. It’s about what’s happening here. Right now. And he’s determined to be part of it.”
    “For which side?”
    “His own.”
    “Is that the same as the Agency’s?”
    “You tell me. No one in Langley will. Why the hell else would I be talking to you?” He looked down at his watch. “I’d say it’s time you got moving. And seeing as how the clock just started, you’d be best advised to walk straight around the house. Stay as far to the right of the drive as you can so you won’t trip the sensor. The alarm will show up on the recording, and the next sound I want them to hear is me coming back through the front door, twenty minutes from now.”
    “Much obliged to you.”
    “Hey. I never said shit. That’s your version to anyone who asks. And the clock is ticking, Captain Cole.”
    Cole nodded and left at double time. By the time he reached the front yard he was sprinting.

CHAPTER NINE
    COLE SLID ONTO the passenger seat, out of breath.
    “Well?” Steve asked.
    “We need to get moving.”
    “What did he say?”
    “It can wait. We need to go
now
, and stay off the toll roads.”
    “Never should’ve let you read that fortune cookie. You have any idea how long that’ll take?”
    “Bickell’s advice. He was expecting me, okay? He had a whole taping system. The Agency set it up for him yesterday on the off chance I’d show up.”
    “Holy shit.
Yesterday
?”
    “Said he’s giving me a twenty-minute head start, then he’s phoning in to report my departure.”
    “Fuck!” Steve cranked the engine and threw it into gear, spraying gravel from the shoulder. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
    “Go easy,” Cole said. “Last thing we need is to get pulled over by some local cop.”
    “But he’s phoning this in? To the CIA?”
    “That’s what he said.”
    “Sorry, I’ll risk the ticket, at least till we’re back to civilization.”
    Steve floored it up the dirt road, raising a dust cloud you could’ve seen for miles. Cole checked the map.
    “How much gas we got?” Cole asked.
    “Enough for a couple hundred miles.”
    “Enough to reach Logan, then. And the bus station for me.”
    “Was he any help?”
    “He thinks this all started with homing beacons, for targeting Predator strikes. Castle paid some guy named Mansur to place them, then got outbid by black hats or privateers, which led to a bunch of fuckups. Like Sandar Khosh, probably. Now everybody’s looking for Castle and Mansur.”
    “Castle’s
missing
?”
    “Bickell’s heard he’s back in the States. Thinks he’s caught in the middle of some Agency power struggle.”
    “But he’s still official? Still employed?”
    “Maybe. Just not at any level he knows