Page 16 of Better off Dead

Fenton shook her head. “No. At the Red Roan. The place Michael sent the card from. I followed her when she left. Cornered her at her hotel. She admitted Michael was in town and still working for Dendoncker. But on some special project. She swore she didn’t know what it was. Just that it involved Michael doing tests in the desert from time to time.”

“Land mines?”

“Maybe.” Fenton shrugged. “So I asked this Renée to set it up for Michael and me to meet. She refused. Said it was too dangerous. She seemed genuinely terrified. So I asked her to at least give Michael a note for me. She agreed to that.”

“What did you write?”

“I kept it simple. I said, ‘I’m here. Contact me. I’ll do whatever you need.’ And I gave him an email address. One I’d set up specially. No one else knew it.”

“This was two days ago?”

“Right. She said she might not be able to get the note to Michael right away. Then an email came this morning. I knew Michael was in trouble the moment I read it. I feared the worst. But I had to find out for certain.”

“How did you know?”

“From the way the message was addressed. I had signed my noteMickey. That’s what people who knew me as a kid call me. The email that came, which set up the rendezvous at The Tree? It was written to Mickey.”

“So? Michael obviously knew you when you were a kid.”

“You don’t understand. When we were growing up we were always playing soldiers and spies. We started doing that thing from the movies where you only use the other person’s real name if you’re in danger. The note used my real name. So either Michael was in danger, or my note got intercepted and whoever replied didn’t know our routine.”

“What happened to the woman who took the note?”

“Renée? I don’t know. I went to her room at the hotel this morning, as soon as I got the email. Some of her clothes had been taken from the closet. All her underwear was gone. So were her toiletries. I think something spooked her. After she gave Michael the note. I think she ran for her life.”

Chapter10

Fenton’s phone pinged and amoment later there was a knock at the door. She whispered, “Pizza.” I moved along the side of the bed where I’d be out of sight. I heard Fenton open the door and thank the delivery guy. Then she grabbed a towel from the bathroom, spread it on the bed like a tablecloth, and set down the giant square box.

We ate in silence. When we were finished I asked, “You said Dendoncker inspects the bodies. Where? At the scene? Or does he have them taken someplace?”

“He always does it at the morgue. He likes the bodies properly laid out and examined. The whole nine yards.”

“Is the ME on his payroll?”

“I don’t know. Could be, I guess.”

“That means to pull this thing off we need to clear three hurdles. To convince Dendoncker that one of us is a threat to him. To make him believe that person was killed. And to persuade the ME to cooperate. That’s a big ask.”

“I came to the same conclusion.” Fenton brushed a crumb from her chin. “I was thinking about it while we were eating. It is a big ask. But it’s not impossible. And I have a way we can do one and two, if you play the role of the dead guy.”

“How?”

“OK. First hurdle. Make Dendoncker believe you’re a threat. That’s easy. All you have to do is play the part of Mickey. Dendoncker’s already sold. He sent two guys to ambushhim.Those guys didn’t come back so Dendoncker must be doubly convinced that Mickey’s a problem by now.”

I said nothing.

“Second hurdle. Make Dendoncker believe you’re dead. That’s harder, but still achievable. We do it by setting up another rendezvous with Mickey, which I will attend on Dendoncker’s behalf. Then—”

“How do we set it up?”

“The foundations are already in place. Dendoncker must have gotten his hands on my note because he used the email address on it. But he didn’t know I sent it or there would have been no need for the first rendezvous. He would have sent his guys straight after me. So, I’ll write another note. The handwriting will be the same, which will seal the deal.”

“Another note saying what?”

“That no one showed up today, so let’s try again.”

“He’ll know that’s not true. At the least he thinks his guys are missing. And if he has ears inside the police department he’ll know they’re dead.”

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