Nobody’s Hero (Ben Koenig #2)

Chapter 12

‘The first thing you need to understand,’ Draper said, ‘is that Ben Koenig is an asshole. If he won a competition for being an asshole, Koenig would think he was too cool to collect the award. That’s how much of an asshole he is.’

Koenig rolled his eyes.

‘On that we are in complete agreement, lady,’ Lieutenant Glenister said.

Draper pushed out a breath through gritted teeth. ‘Call me “lady” again and see what happens,’ she said. ‘I dare you.’

‘I wouldn’t,’ Koenig muttered.

Glenister scowled but said nothing.

‘Good,’ Draper said. ‘The second thing you need to understand is that Koenig is an asset of the US government. He is required to check in with me on the last day of every month. We do this through a draft email folder. That way nothing is ever sent. And if nothing is ever sent, then nothing can be intercepted.’

‘Who the hell is this “we” you keep referring to?’ Glenister said.

‘If we tell you, you’ll wish we hadn’t,’ the grey man said, the first time he’d opened his mouth. ‘It’ll involve . . . paperwork.’

‘Now, because Koenig’s such an asshole,’ Draper continued, ‘we can’t trust him when he checks in. He always lies. Says he’s in Athens when he’s really in Alaska. Connecticut instead of Montana.’

‘I’ve never been to Montana,’ Koenig said.

‘Yet that’s exactly where you said you were last April.’

Koenig shrugged.

‘But I’m going to let Koenig in on a secret,’ Draper said. ‘Because we don’t trust him, we’ve been cheating. The moment he logs into our shared email account, his location is immediately made known to us. And as we need to ensure he’s fit and healthy, we also activate the computer’s camera and microphone. For as long as he’s logged in, we can see and hear him.’

‘In other words,’ the grey man said, ‘the conversation between Mr Koenig and Detective Cunningham was recorded in its entirety.’

‘And it turns out I’m not the only one who has to work with assholes,’ Draper said. ‘Shall I press play?’