AFTER FIVE MINUTES, Paul started to move, and he drove very deliberately out of the parking lot making sure his headlights strafed the car he assumed was the surveillance vehicle. The idea was for him to drive out toward Berman’s house, hang out for a time, and then and loop back via the hospital. It would take at least an hour, by which time George would have the opportunity to walk out of the back entrance of the apartment building and be met by a prearranged car service at a gas station a half mile down the road in the other direction. Both Paul and George doubted there would be more than one car involved in any surveillance, and even if a man were to be left behind at the apartment complex, he wouldn’t be able to see George leaving out the back. Or so they hoped.

•   •   •

GEORGE WATCHED PAUL LEAVE and then let the curtain fall back into place. After waiting fifteen minutes, he followed the plan and left Paul’s apartment, making his way out the rear door, and walked down the road quickly without looking back. He had borrowed one of Paul’s sports coats and a pair of dress pants that fit him well enough. For some reason, he wanted to dress up for the meeting he’d arranged for four o’clock that same afternoon. Just thinking about it gave him an uneasy, queasy feeling that made his pulse race. George knew he was not a risk-taker by nature, but he knew he had to do it and do it soon. As he approached the gas station, he saw a town car sitting on the forecourt and knew it had to be his ride.

Now George essayed a glance over his shoulder and saw he was quite alone. He’d made it.

Chapter 58

58.

VINCE LOMBARDI SERVICE AREA, NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE

FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013, 4:14 P.M. EST

George Wilson sat at the back of the Roy Rogers restaurant. It reminded him of long family trips he had taken as a child, and of sitting in places like this. His family had always bought their own food, buying only beverages, and George used to sit eating homemade egg sandwiches while other kids gorged on hamburgers. He guessed that was why he’d ordered a hamburger today, but he’d taken one bite and couldn’t eat any more. He nursed his jumbo Diet Coke and waited.

Twenty minutes later, and thirty-five minutes late, his meeting arrived.