“Just doing my job,” Riley said. “You told me to assist Emerson, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
“Understood,” Werner said. “You were working as an operative for Blane-Grunwald. You obviously are everything we hoped you would be.”
Riley wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
“Emerson clearly went to a great deal of effort to get himself into the Federal Reserve vault,” Werner said. “Why was that so important to him?”
“He wanted to look around,” Riley said. “He wanted to see his gold.”
“And did he see his gold?”
“No. He couldn’t find it.”
“He couldn’t find it because he was in the wrong vault,” Werner said. “His gold is in the Blane-Grunwald vault. Surely he knew that.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell what he knows,” Riley said.
Even as she said it, she knew she was in trouble. She was being evasive with Werner because she didn’t like and didn’t trust any of the men who were in the room with her. In her heart she knew there was something bad happening to the world’s gold supply, and the Grunwalds were tied to it somehow. And there was a good possibility that people were getting killed over it. Bye-bye, dream job. Hello, unemployment.
Werner reached for the water, thought twice about it, and withdrew his hand. “As you know,” he said to Riley, “our brother is about to take his seat on the Supreme Court next week. His seating will coincide with the Red Mass being held at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew.”
“I’m not familiar with the Red Mass,” Riley said.
“The Red Mass is celebrated annually by the Catholic Church to request guidance from the Holy Spirit for judges, attorneys, law school professors, students, and government officials. Needless to say, the last thing we need is a scandal disrupting the proceedings. It doesn’t matter if it’s a genuine scandal or a bogus rumor started by a conspiracy theory nut.”
“Like Emerson.”
“Exactly. Like Emerson.”
“Have you spoken to him yet?” Riley asked.
“Yes, and he didn’t have much to say. We were hoping you would have an explanation for his behavior. We know he set off the bomb in front of the building.”
“I don’t know anything about a bomb, but we did park his car in front of Blane-Grunwald. Emerson said it was equipped with a special delivery system.”
“Indeed,” Werner said. “And when Emerson was in the vault alone, he did nothing more than look for his gold?”
“So far as I know. I wasn’t with him the entire time. I waited in front of the Germany locker.”
Riley resisted the urge to scan the room for security cameras. Hard to believe they wouldn’t have any. Her hope was that she’d have a chance to escape before they reran the tape.
/> “We found a drill on him. What did he expect to do with the drill?” Werner asked.
Riley did a palms up. “Don’t know. He’s odd. And he doesn’t talk a lot. Maybe he was going to drill into his gold when he found it. He’s worried that his gold is fake.”
Werner and Hans exchanged glances.
“His family has a long history of crazies,” Werner said. “My father was very close to Emerson’s father, so we feel somewhat protective of Emerson. Still, there’s a limit to what we can tolerate.”
“Sure,” Riley said. “I get that.”
The Grunwalds stared at Riley for a beat, and Riley stared back.
They’re trying to decide if I’m a team player, Riley thought. They’ve been using me to keep an eye on Emerson, but now they’re worried I might know too much. And they’re not sure where my loyalties lie. And it’s possible they’re trying to decide whether they need to kill me. And who knows if they’ve already killed Emerson?
Werner took a step back. “I think our business is concluded here. Emerson won’t be needing your assistance any longer, Moonbeam. You can report to work as usual on Monday. Wait here and I’ll send someone to escort you out.”
The three men left the room and the door clicked closed.