[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

'Any way you can get me a picture?'

'Sending the e-mail now.'

'And the other matter?' Quinn asked.

'The International Organization . . . of Medical Professionals.' 'IOMP,' Quinn said, impressed. 'They are . . . about to hold their annual . . . convention.'

'Where?'

'Berlin,' said the Mole.

Of course, Quinn thought. Where else would it be?

'I have another request for you,' Quinn said. 'And before you say anything, I'll include the additional payment in the wire transfer.'

'Go on.'

Quinn told him about the abduction of Garrett. 'See if you can find any signs of Orlando's son. He may have been taken out of Vietnam. If so, somebody must have seen something. Hell, maybe you can figure out why Dahl would want him in the first place.'

'I will . . . try.' The Mole paused. 'The inscription.'

'You figured it out?'

'Most . . . it is an FTP address . . .' A file transfer protocol site. 'The inscription . . . includes the user . . . name . . . but the password has . . . been destroyed.'

'Have you tried to hack in?'

'Of course . . . but the security is . . . unusually tight.' 'Text message me the information,' Quinn said. 'Hold.' A few seconds later, Quinn's phone beeped. Message received.

'Got it,' Quinn said. 'What about the slide? Is it a tissue sample?' 'Yes . . . damaged.' 'By the fire?' 'Not the . . . fire . . . by something from . . . the inside.'

Quinn sucked in a breath.

'There is . . . still uncertainty about the actual. . . identity of what . . . caused it to happen . . . it is complicated . . . we should . . . have that maybe by . . . tomorrow . . . but I can . . . tell you one thing.'

'What?'

'It is a virus.'

Chapter 28

Quinn found Internet access at a small coffee shop a couple of blocks from KaDeWe. The Mole's promised picture of Henry Jansen was waiting for him. Quinn recognized the face in the picture immediately. Taggert and Jansen were indeed the same man. He spent the next fifteen minutes trying to get into the FTP site. He attempted variations on 'Taggert' and 'Jansen' and 'virus.' He typed in the birthday that had been listed on his driver's license, and '215 Yancy Lane' – the address of the house Taggert had stayed at in Colorado before it had burned down with him inside. He even tried 'Campobello,' thinking for a moment that had to be it. But nothing worked.

Outside again, he called Peter.

'You either help now, or we're done,' Quinn said.

'Is that a threat?' Peter asked.

'Absolutely.'

Peter didn't say anything for a moment. 'Do you remember four years ago?' he asked. 'Montevideo.'

'Ramos,' Quinn said.

Ramos was a local politician who'd run afoul of a drug cartel. It was apparently in someone's interests to help him out, so the Office was hired to assassinate the head of the cartel. Quinn made a few bodies disappear when things didn't go as planned. 'What about it?' Quinn asked.

'Your contact on the operation.'

Quinn thought for a moment. 'Burroughs. Some kind of Agency or NSA guy, wasn't he?'

'Something like that.'

'So?'

'He'll have some answers for you,' Peter said.

'Where do I find him?'

'He's working out of NATO headquarters.'

That gave Quinn pause. 'In Brussels?'

'Yes,' said Peter.

'Maybe you're just trying to set me up again,'

Quinn said. 'Couldn't get me in Berlin, you're taking another shot.' 'That's up to you to decide.'

'Will you still be here when I get back?' Quinn asked.

He had returned to the abandoned store in Neukolln, stopping on the way to purchase a couple of sleeping bags, blow-up mattresses, and two lightweight folding chairs. Orlando was in the room where they'd spent the night, sitting on the floor and staring intently at the portable monitor. He told her about what the Mole had learned. He then wrote down the FTP site address and the user name on a piece of paper, in case she had the chance – or more accurately the inclination – to try her hand at getting in. Finally, he recounted his conversation with Peter.

'Will you?' he repeated.

'You're kidding, right?' she said. 'If I learn something that will help me get Garrett back, I'm not staying.'

'Even if it made more sense for us to act together?'

Her eyes turned steely. 'We're talking about my son,' she said. 'Don't you understand that? The moment there's even a hint of where he is, I'm gone.'

Quinn crouched down and put a hand on her knee. 'I do understand. I'm just saying he has a better chance if we go after him together.'

She stood up and started to walk out of the room.

'Orlando,' he said.

She stopped, but didn't turn to look at him.

'Just wait here for me.'

Her breathing became deep and angry, but she didn't say no.

He rented a car and drove southwest out of Berlin into the German countryside. The recent snowstorm had created a landscape of white, but the roads were clear and traffic was moving quickly.