A Small Town by Thomas Perry

Author:Thomas Perry [Perry, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802148070
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2020-01-07T16:00:00+00:00

20

Martin Ortega located the special cell phone after it had rung several times. After two years he had gotten used to the idea that it was never going to ring, just sit there plugged into the wall until he died. He was sure this would be one of those calls from people offering him a vacation at a special low price as a reward for having stayed at one of their hotels. He never stayed at hotels.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“This is Paul.”

Ortega paused. “I’m surprised. You told me this phone was only for an emergency.”

“We think we’ve got one.”

“What kind?”

“Somebody has been taking our people off the count. Weiss, then Panko, and Becker so far. Reggie Varga says that when they killed Panko, they also killed her two brothers and another cousin and burned their bodies in their shop. She thinks that they somehow got a list of the new names and addresses.”

“From the shop?”

“I don’t think so. They got to Weiss before they found the shop, and killed Panko in the shop.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Bysantski thinks we should pick a place—one of our addresses—and get together there to wait for them.”

“Wait for who? To do what?” asked Ortega. “Is this Colorado state cops who don’t want to bother with a trial? FBI? If any of them had us sighted in like that, why wouldn’t they just call the California cops and have a hundred of them roll in and scoop us up? And if it’s not cops, who is it?”

“Look, I only heard about this from Matt about ten minutes ago. I haven’t thought it through. I’m just helping Matt make sure everybody finds out. I started with you because of where you live. Give yourself and me some time to think about it. Take a look around in your life to see if somebody seems to be watching you or anything else has changed. I’ll call you again tomorrow. Is this a good time to call?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you then.”

Brian Summers hit the screen to disconnect. He set the phone down and the phone assistant took a step toward it, but Summers held up his hand and the man stopped. “I’m going to make another call on that line. No more than two. Then you can get rid of it.”

“Yes, Mr. Summers.”

The phone assistant turned.

Summers said, “Wait. Get the others. We’re going to have a little meeting in the living room.”

When the others assembled in the living room, Summers was sitting in an armchair facing the long couch. He still had the pen and pad in one hand. He used the other to show he wanted them to sit on the couch.

“It’s time for a little honesty. I had nothing to do with selecting or hiring you guys, and I don’t know much about what you’ve been told or what your qualifications are. I give you orders, and my company pays you, but you don’t work for me. All three of you look like you might have been cops at one time, or military, but looks are deceptive.

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