The Final Detail: A Myron Bolitar Novel Read online

  Myron shook Jared’s hand, then turned toward Sophie Mayor.

  Sophie pounced. “Where the hell have you been, Myron?”

  “Excuse me?”

  She pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

  Like he was a dog. But he obeyed. Jared too. Sophie stayed on her feet and glowered down at him.

  “In court yesterday they said something about your being in the Caribbean,” she continued.

  Myron made a noncommittal “uh-huh” sound.

  “Where were you?”

  “I was away.”

  “Away?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked over at her son, then back at Myron. “For how long?”

  “Three weeks.”

  “But Miss Diaz told me you were in town.”

  Myron said nothing.

  Sophie Mayor made two fists and leaned toward him. “Why would she tell me that, Myron?”

  “Because she didn’t know where I was.”

  “In other words, she lied to me.”

  Myron did not bother replying.

  “So where were you?” she pressed.

  “Out of the country.”

  “The Caribbean?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you never told anyone?”

  Myron shifted in his chair, trying to find an opening or gain some sort of footing here. “I don’t mean to sound rude,” he said, “but I don’t see how my whereabouts are any of your business.”

  “You don’t?” A sharp chortle passed her lips. She looked at her son as if to say, Do you believe this guy?, then redirected her laser grays back toward Myron. “I relied on you,” she said.

  Myron said nothing.

  “I bought this team and I decided to be hands-off. I know software. I know computers. I know business. I really don’t know much about baseball. But I made one decision. I wanted Clu Haid. I had a feeling about him. I thought he still had something left. So I traded for him. People thought I was nuts—three good prospects for one has-been. I understood that concern. So I went to you, Myron, remember?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you assured me he was going to stay clean.”

  “Wrong,” Myron said. “I said he wanted to stay clean.”

  “Wanted, was going to … What is this, a lesson in semantics?”

  “He was my client,” Myron said. “It’s my job to worry about his interests.”

  “And damn mine?”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “Damn integrity and ethics too? Is that the way you work, Myron?”

  “That’s not it at all. Sure, we wanted this trade to happen—”

  “You wanted it badly,” she corrected him.

  “Fine, we wanted it badly. But I never promised you he’d stay clean because it’s not something I or anyone else can guarantee. I assured you we would try our hardest. I made it part of the deal. I gave you the right to randomly test him at any time.”

  “You gave me the right? I demanded it! And you fought me on it every step of the way.”

  “We shared the risk,” Myron said. “I made his salary contingent on his staying clean. I let you put in a strict morals clause.”

  She smiled, crossed her arms. “You know who you sound like? Those hypocritical car commercials where General Motors or Ford tout all the pollution-saving devices they’ve put on their cars. As though they did it on their own. As though they woke up one day more concerned with the environment than the bottom line. They leave out the fact that the government forced them to put on those devices, that they fought the government tooth and nail the whole way.”

  “He was my client,” Myron said again.

  “And you think that’s an all-purpose excuse?”

  “It’s my job to get him the best deal.”

  “Keep telling yourself that, Myron.”

  “I can’t stop a man from returning to an addiction. You knew that.”

  “But you said you’d watch him. You said you’d work on keeping him straight.”

  Myron swallowed and shifted in his chair again. “Yes.”

  “But you didn’t watch him, Myron, did you?”

  Silence.

  “You took a vacation and didn’t tell anyone. You left Clu alone. You acted irresponsibly, and so I blame you in part for his falling off the wagon.”

  Myron opened his mouth, closed it. She was right, of course, but he didn’t have the luxury of wallowing in that right now. Later. He’d think about his role in this later. The pain from last night’s beating was angrily stirring from its snooze. He reached into his pocket and shook out a couple of extra-strength Tylenols.

  Satisfied—or maybe satiated—Sophie Mayor sat down. Seeing the pills, she asked, “Would you like some water?”

  “Please.”

  She nodded at Jared. Jared poured Myron a glass of water and handed it to him. Myron thanked him and swallowed the tablets. The placebo effect jumped in, and he immediately felt better.

  Before Sophie Mayor could strike again, Myron tried to shift gears. “Tell me about Clu’s failed drug test,” he said.

  Sophie Mayor looked puzzled. “What’s to tell?”

  “Clu claimed he was clean.”

  “And you believe that?”

  “I want to look into it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because when Clu was caught in the past, he begged forgiveness and promised to get help. He never pretended a test result was wrong.”

  She crossed her arms. “And that’s evidence of what exactly?”

  “Nothing. I’d just like to ask a few questions.”

  “Ask away then.”

  “How often did you test him?”

  Sophie looked over at her son. His cue. Jared spoke for the first time since greeting Myron at the door. “At least once a week,” he said.

  “Urine tests?” Myron asked.

  “Yes,” Jared said.

  “And he passed them all? I mean, except for the last one.”

  “Yes.”

  Myron shook his head. “Every week? And no other positives? Just that one?”

  “That’s right.”

  He looked back at Sophie. “Didn’t you find that odd?”

  “Why?” she countered. “He’d been trying to stay clean, and he fell off the wagon. It happens every day, doesn’t it?”

  It did, Myron guessed, and still something about it didn’t sit right with him. “But Clu knew you were testing him?”

  “I assume so, yes. We’d been testing him at least once a week.”

  “And how were the tests conducted?”

  Sophie again looked over at Jared. Jared asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Step by step,” Myron said. “What did he do?”

  Sophie took that one. “He peed in the cup, Myron. It’s pretty simple.”

  It was never pretty simple. “Did someone watch him urinate?”

  “What?”

  “Did someone actually witness Clu peeing or did he step into a stall?” Myron said. “Was he naked when he did it or did he have on shorts—”

  “What difference does any of that make?”

  “Plenty. Clu had spent his lifetime beating these tests. If he knew they were coming, he’d be prepared.”

  “Prepared how?” Sophie asked.

  “Lots of ways, depending on the sophistication of the test,” Myron said. “If the testing was more primitive, you can put motor oil on your fingers and let the urine hit them while urinating. The phosphates throw the results out of whack. Some testers know this, so they check for phosphates. If the tester lets the guy urinate in a stall, he can strap clean urine onto his inner thigh and use that. Or the testee keeps the clean urine hidden in a condom or small balloon. He stores it in the lining of his boxer shorts maybe. Or between his toes. Under his armpit. In his mouth even.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “It gets worse. If the testee gets tipped off a strict test is coming up—one where the administrators are watching every mov
e he makes—he’ll drain his bladder and use a catheter to pump in clean urine.”

  Sophie Mayor looked horror-stricken. “He pumps someone else’s urine into his bladder?”

  “Yes,” Myron said.

  “Jesus.” Then she pinned him down with her eyes. “You seem to know quite a bit about this, Myron.”

  “So did Clu.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “It raises some questions, that’s all.”

  “He probably got caught by surprise.”

  “Maybe,” Myron said. “But if you were testing him every week, how surprised could he have been?”

  “He might have just messed up,” Sophie went on. “Drug addicts have a way of doing that.”

  “Could be. But I’d like to speak with the person who administered the test.”

  “Dr. Stilwell,” Jared said. “He’s the team doctor. He handled it. Sawyer Wells assisted him.”

  “Sawyer Wells, as in the self-help guru?”

  “He’s a psychologist specializing in human behavior and an excellent motivational therapist,” Jared corrected.

  Motivational therapist. Uh-huh. “Are either of them around now?”

  “No, I don’t think so. But they’ll be here later. We have a home game tonight.”

  “Who on the team was especially friendly with Clu? A coach, a player?”

  “I really wouldn’t know,” Jared said.

  “Who did he room with on the road?”

  Sophie almost smiled. “You really were out of touch, weren’t you?”

  “Cabral,” Jared said. “Enos Cabral. He’s a Cuban pitcher.”

  Myron knew him. He nodded, glancing about, and that was when he saw it. His heart lurched, and it took all his willpower not to scream.

  He had just been sweeping the room with his eyes, taking the room in but not really seeing anything, just the normal thing everyone does, when an object snagged his gaze as though on a rusted hook. Myron froze. On the credenza. On the right side of the credenza, mixed in with the other framed photos and the trophies and those latex cubes that encased civic awards and the first issue of Mayor Software stock and the like. Right there. A framed photograph.

  A framed photograph of the girl on the computer diskette.

  Myron tried to maintain a calm facade. Deep breath in, deep breath out. But he could feel his pulse quicken. His mind fought through the haze, searching for a temporary clearing. He scanned his internal memory banks. Okay, slow down. Breathe. Keep breathing.

  No wonder the girl had looked familiar to him.

  But what was her deal? More memory bank scanning. She was Sophie Mayor’s daughter, of course. Jared Mayor’s sister. What was her name again? His recollections were vague. What had happened to her? A runaway, right? Ten, fifteen years ago. There had been an estrangement or something. Foul play was not suspected. Or was it? He didn’t remember.

  “Myron?”

  He needed to think. Calmly. He needed space, time. He couldn’t just blurt out, “Oh, I got this weird diskette with an image of your daughter melting in blood on it.” He had to get out of here. Do some research. Think it through. He stood, clumsily looking at his watch.

  “I have to go,” he said.

  “What?”

  “I’d like to speak with Dr. Stilwell as soon as possible,” he said.

  Sophie’s eyes stayed on him. “I don’t see the relevance.”

  “I just explained—”

  “What difference would it make? Clu is dead now. The drug test isn’t relevant.”

  “There might be a connection.”

  “Between his death and a drug test?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not sure I agree.”

  “I’d still like to check it out. I have that right.”

  “What right?”

  “If the drug test was inconclusive, it changes things.”

  “Changes what—” Then Sophie stopped, smiled a bit, and nodded to herself. “I think I see now.”

  Myron said nothing.

  “You mean in terms of his contract, don’t you?”

  “I have to go,” he repeated.

  She leaned back and recrossed her arms. “Well, Myron, I have to hand it to you. You are definitely an agent. Trying to squeeze one more commission out of a corpse, eh?”

  Myron let the insult roll off. “If Clu was clean, his contract would still be valid. You’d owe the family at least three million dollars.”

  “So this is a shakedown? You’re here for money?”

  He glanced at the picture of the young girl again. He remembered the diskette, the laugh, the blood. “Right now,” he said, “I’d just like to talk with the team doctor.”

  Sophie Mayor looked at him like he was a turd on the carpet. “Get out of my office, Myron.”

  “Will you let me speak to the doctor?”

  “You don’t have any legal standing here.”

  “I think I do.”

  “You don’t, believe me. The blood money has run dry here. Get out, Myron. Now.”

  He took one more look at the photograph. Now was not the time to argue the point. He hurried out the door.

  CHAPTER

  18

  Myron was starting to hurt. The Tylenol alone wasn’t doing the trick. He had Tylenol with codeine in his back pocket, but he did not dare. He needed to stay sharp, and that stuff put him to sleep faster than, er, sex. He quickly cataloged the sore spots. His sliced-up shin hurt most, followed closely by his bruised ribs. The rest of the aches were an almost welcome distraction. But the pain made him conscious of every movement.

  When he got back to his office, Big Cyndi handed him a huge pile of message slips.

  “How many reporters have called?” he asked.

  “I stopped counting, Mr. Bolitar.”

  “Any messages from Bruce Taylor?”

  “Yes.”

  Bruce covered the Mets, not the Yankees. But every reporter wanted in on this story. Bruce was also something of a friend. He would know about Sophie Mayor’s daughter. The question was, of course, how to raise the subject without getting him overly curious.

  Myron closed his office door, sat down, dialed a number. A voice answered on the first ring.

  “Taylor.”

  “Hey, Brucie.”

  “Myron? Jesus Christ. Hey, I appreciate you calling me back.”

  “Sure, Bruce. I love to cooperate with my favorite reporter.”

  Pause. Then: “Uh-oh.”

  “What?” Myron said.

  “This is too easy.”

  “Pardon.”

  “Okay, Myron, let’s skip the part where you break down my defenses with your supernatural charisma. Cut to it.”

  “I want to make a deal.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I’m not willing to make a statement yet. But when I do, you get first crack. An exclusive.”

  “An exclusive? Sheesh, Myron, you really do know your media lingo, don’t you?”

  “I could have said scoop. It’s one of my favorite words.”

  “Okay, Myron, great. So in return for your not telling me anything, you get what?”

  “Just some information. But you don’t read into anything that I ask and you don’t report on it. You’re just my source.”

  “More like your bitch,” Bruce said.

  “If that’s what you’re into.”

  “Not today, dear, I have a headache. So let me get this straight. You tell me nothing. I report nothing. In return I get to tell you everything. Sorry, big guy, no deal.”

  “Bye-bye, Brucie.”

  “Whoa, whoa, Myron, hold up. Christ, I’m not a general manager. Don’t pull that negotiating crap on me. Look, let’s stop tugging each other’s chains here. This is what we do: You give me something. A statement, anything. It can be as innocuous as you want to make it. But I want to be the first with a statement from Myron Bolitar. Then I tell you what you want, I keep quiet, you give me the exclusive scoop or what
ever before everyone else. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Myron said. “Here’s your statement: Esperanza Diaz did not kill Clu Haid. I stand behind her one hundred percent.”

  “Was she having an affair with Clu?”

  “That’s my statement, Bruce. Period.”

  “Okay, fine, but what’s this about your being out of the country at the time of the murder?”

  “A statement, Bruce. As in, ‘no further comment.’ As in, ‘I’ll be answering no questions today.’ ”

  “Hey, it’s already public knowledge. I just want a confirmation. You were in the Caribbean, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Where in the Caribbean?”

  “No comment.”

  “Why not? Were you really in the Cayman Islands?”

  “No, I was not in the Caymans.”

  “Then where?”

  See how reporters work? “No comment.”

  “I called you immediately following Clu’s positive drug test. Esperanza said you were in town but would not comment.”

  “And I still won’t,” Myron said. “Now it’s your turn, Bruce.”

  “Come on, Myron, you’re giving me nothing here.”

  “We had a deal.”

  “Yeah, all right, sure, I want to be fair,” he said in a tone that made it clear he would start up again later. “Ask away.”

  Casual, casual. He couldn’t just ask about Sophie Mayor’s daughter. Subtlety. That was the key. Myron’s office door opened, and Win swept into the room. Myron signaled with one finger. Win nodded and opened a closet door. There was a full-length mirror on the inside back. Win stared at his reflection and smiled. A nice way of passing the time.

  “What were the rumors about Clu?” Myron asked.

  “You mean before the positive test results?”

  “Yes.”

  “Time bomb,” Bruce said.

  “Explain.”

  “He was pitching great, no question. And he looked good. Thinned down, seemed focused. But then a week or so before the drug test, he started looking like hell. Christ, you must have seen it, right? Or were you out of the country then too?”

  “Just go on, Bruce.”

  “What else can I tell you? With Clu you’ve seen it a hundred times before. The guy breaks your heart. His arm was touched by God. The rest of him was, well, just touched, if you follow my meaning.”