World of Trouble (9786167611136) by Jake Needham Page B

the unlikely and, Shepherd thought, remarkably unattractive
name of S*uce. They got all the way to Bloomingdales before Keur
spoke again.
    “You going to answer my question, Jack?”
    “I didn’t hear a question.”
    “The one I asked you back in the burger
place. Why is a man like you working for General Kitnarok?”
    “I don’t work for him. He’s my client.”
    “You have a client or you work for the guy.
It’s a distinction without a difference.”
    “A distinction without a difference? That’s a
familiar phrase. Where did you go to law school, Agent Keur?”
    “I went to Fordham.”
    “Why? Couldn’t you get into Yale?”
    It was a snide thing to say and Shepherd felt
lousy almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He was
letting Keur get under his skin.
    They passed through an enormous round atrium
that rose in gold-trimmed tiers to a glass dome. Through it
Shepherd could see a cloudless, cobalt-blue sky.
    “What do you want from me, Keur?”
    “Look, Jack, we need your help. There’s an
investigation underway on which we want your advice.”
    “Are you serious? The Bureau wants to hire
me?”
    “Not exactly hire. We can’t pay you.”
    “That doesn’t make you a very attractive
client.”
    “We thought you might be willing to help us
anyway. Money’s not everything. There could be other rewards.”
    “Such as what?”
    “Having the FBI owe you a favor is pretty
valuable, don’t you think?”
    Shepherd wasn’t so sure about that, but he
was curious where this was going so he tried to look impressed
anyway. It wasn’t easy.
    “What are you investigating?” he asked.
    “I can’t tell you that.”
    “So you want my help investigating something,
you don’t want to pay me for my help, and you won’t tell me what
you’re investigating. Do you guys ever stop and think how stupid
you sound sometimes?”
    “Look, Jack, we need to know what’s going on
in General Kitnarok’s inner circle. We need to understand who the
players are and how they relate to each other. We thought you might
be in a good position to give us some guidance on that kind of
thing.”
    “Why do you need to know that?”
    “I’ve already told you too much.”
    “You told me exactly nothing.”
    “I’ve gone as far as I can go. Can you help
me?”
    “Look, Agent Keur, in my line of work you
don’t talk to people about your clients, not unless the subpoena is
nicely typed and has your name spelled right. And most of the time
not even then.”
    “We’re not asking you for anything
confidential, Counselor, just some general observations about how
General Kitnarok’s inner circle works.”
    “I don’t know how Charlie’s inner circle
works. I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to. I live in Hong
Kong. I mostly deal with Charlie by telephone and email. I hardly
ever see him. I don’t know who he talks to or about what.”
    “Then how about this? From now on, find a way
to watch the comings and going of the people around General
Kitnarok for me. Just keep me in the picture as to who’s got his
ear, that sort of thing.”
    They walked on in silence until Shepherd
realized they had reached the colossal aquarium that was the
centerpiece of the mall. It held, so the mall claimed, five hundred
sharks. They stopped and watched a huge school of fish swim by
right at eye level. There looked to be hundreds of them, their red
and gold bands shimmering as if they were wrapped in Christmas
foil. Immediately behind the school of fish came three big sharks,
swimming very slowly with such economy of motion that tiny motors
might have been propelling them. The sharks’ swam with their mouths
half open as they shadowed the red and gold fish and the
sharp-pointed triangular teeth lining their jagged jaws were
clearly visible. The message was so clear that Shepherd wondered if
Keur had been leading him there all along.
    “Let me make certain I understand exactly
what you mean,” Shepherd said when the sharks had