“No, man. Not that!”
“What then?” snapped an exasperated Nash.
“He said that Masuyo was never a prisoner there.”
CHAPTER
64
IT WAS A RISK, BUTthen again pretty much everything Nash had done for a long time had been risky.
He sat in the waiting area of the car repair facility where some warranty work was being done on one of Steers’s vehicles. The space was empty except for the man sitting directly behind Nash and facing away from him. Both he and Nash were scrolling on their phones. The other man had on a cowboy hat and a jean jacket, and dirty corduroy pants with worn boots. His face held a few days’ worth of beard. With all that and sunglasses on as well, he did not look anything remotely like FBI Special Agent Reed Morris.
“I’m taking a chapter from your book,” said Morris softly. “Total transformation.”
“The look suits you,” replied Nash as he continued pretending to scroll on his phone, his face pointed down so no one could really see his mouth moving.
The only other person in the room was the man working the front desk of the shop, and he was on the phone arguing loudly with someone, apparently over a repair bill. A TV hung on the wall and was broadcasting a game show. The sounds helped cover Nash and Reed’s conversation.
“Did you approach Elaine Fixx yet?” Nash asked.
“No, we thought with Steers’s new CEO in place it would be too dangerous, and Fixx recently came out of a nasty divorce. We’re really counting on you, Walter.”
Nash proceeded to methodically fill the FBI agent in on all that had transpired since their last discussion and Nash’s various emails.
“You think Masuyo is plotting out something with all this clandestine stuff?” said Reed.
“Apparently so.”
“And Steers really is getting out of the business?” said Morris.
“Appears to be. But her partners won’t be happy.”
“We’ve been on Lord’s trail ever since he came into the picture, but we’ve got no proof of any illegal dealings. To those in the know he’s a reclusive billionaire genius who’s started many businesses that have created great wealth for him and his partners.”
“Steers said he’s also wired in to the Middle East and Beijing.”
“She’s right. But that’s not illegal. In fact, the Middle East guys are pretty popular now. And China is China. They’re going to be in the thick of things regardless.”
“And Russia?”
“Same answer. Just in a different way.”
“One of Lord’s businesses is running a prison in Myanmar.”
“Right, the one that you and Rhett Temple rescued Masuyo from.”
“Only now I found out that Masuyo was never at that prison.”
“What?” exclaimed Morris in a voice loud enough for the front counter man to look up from his phone for a moment.
They both fell quiet and studied their phones until the man turned back to his call.
Nash explained what Thura had told him about his cousin who’d been a guard there.
“What the hell is that about?” whispered Morris. “Have you told Steers?”
“Not yet. I wanted to think about it for a bit first.”
