Laura Murphy pulled copies of Fritzi Jordan’s signed liability and life insurance contracts out of the copier tray, turned around, and collided with Ray Bliss. She handed him a set of copies.
“Still no word on Pawlowski?” Bliss asked.
“It’s like he’s vanished from the face of the Earth.”
“This whole plan is lunatic,” Bliss said. “We’re all spinning our wheels and for what?
“Mackenzie’s psychological experts think he’ll show once we dangle Fritzi out there.” She handed him a file. “Still no unredacted NSA psych evaluation, but Mackenzie sent us this.”
“What is it?”
“Transcripts of her weekly FBI vetting, her contact with a foreign national interviews. They go into some detail into her relationship with Pawlowski.”
“I’m liking this less and less. You don’t get to be an organized crime boss without being ruthless.”
“Fritzi’s a big girl. She’ll be fine.”
“I know. It’s just…Something’s not quite right. She…I get this feeling…She’s hiding something from me.”
“Something about Usher?”
“I don’t know. She seems trusting, but…you know how I am. If my agents don’t confide in me, how can I run them? I have this feeling there’s something she’s not sharing.”
“Not surprising. Considering her years with the spiders.”
“Another thing…Why is she so willing to be the bait?”
“Because she likes you?”
“Christ, I hate this job.”
“It will be okay, Ray,” she said.
“God, I hope so. I need to get out of this business. Bartending has to have this beat. How hard can it be to solve people’s mother-in-law problems?”
Murphy laughed. “You say that at the start of every operation.”
“I do, don’t I?” He didn’t share her amusement. “Well, this time I mean it.”
“Why don’t we take Fritzi out for a test spin? See how she runs?”
“Got something in mind?”
“Tadeusz Lekki found us an open house at a Polish landfill near the conference location. We could take her there and let her interact with the locals. Test her cover before the big day.”
“I like it,” Bliss said. “Set it up. See if Lekki is available to interpret.”
“One more thing, Bliss?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t buy her read-out story. Find out what really went on between her and Usher.”
“I’ll try.”
“Try? To quote, Mackenzie, ‘interesting choice of words.’”
17 Berlin