Short Straw

Fifteen

EAGLE WOKE UP WITH A JERK AND GRABBED THE CUSTOM built Terry Tussey.45 on the night table next to him. He had heard something outside.

The clock over the TV said 6:30 a.m. He got out of bed quickly, ran into his dressing room for some pants and shoes and grabbed his cell phone, in case he had to call the police. He went to one side of the drawn bedroom curtains and peeked outside. Nothing, nobody. He ran into the kitchen and looked out the kitchen windows. Still nobody. He went to the front door and looked out the little windows next to it. There was a man in the driveway, raking it: the groundsman, who came for two hours every day. He was early. The rake against the cobblestones was the sound Eagle had heard.

Eagle showered, with the gun close at hand, had breakfast, dressed and went to the office. Another twenty-four hours would pass before the hired killer would get out of jail, but he still watched his rearview mirror closely. He wished the Mercedes were armored.

Betty was already at her desk, munching a Danish and drinking coffee, when he arrived. She started to get up.

"Finish your breakfast," he said, waving her down. He went into his office and read a copy of the will he had executed the day before. It still seemed satisfactory, and the original was locked in his safe, to which only he and Betty had the combination.

He worked through the morning, and around eleven, Wolf Willett called.

"Hi, you want to have lunch?"

"Let's do it here," Eagle replied. "We can order up from the restaurant downstairs. Twelve-thirty?"

"See you then."

Betty buzzed him. "I've got your witness for Joe Big Bear on the phone; he says he's coming home tomorrow morning."

"Great." Eagle picked up the phone. "Mr. Cartwright?"

"That's me. This Mr. Eagle?"

"It is."

"You're coming home tomorrow? What time?"

"I'll be there by lunchtime."

"I want to schedule a hearing for tomorrow afternoon, so you can tell your story to the judge in the case. That all right with you?"

"Sure."

Eagle asked him to go through his story, moment by moment, and was satisfied.

"My secretary will call and give you the time and courtroom number."

"See you then." The man hung up.

Eagle buzzed Betty. "Call Judge O'Hara's clerk and ask for a hearing tomorrow after lunch. Tell him my witness will take minutes max, and maybe he'll recess a case and listen to us. If he agrees, call Bob Martinez and let him know." Betty went to work.

WOLF WILLET SHOWED UP on time, and they sat at a table in the shade on Eagle's private terrace, while a waiter from downstairs served them.

"So, how's the search for Mrs. Eagle going?" Wolf asked.

"I've got two men on it; they'll have her shortly."

"Are you going to do anything to her?"

"Not if she'll sign a settlement. I just want to be rid of her." What he really wanted was her back in bed, which had always been her milieu.

Betty came out on the terrace with a cordless phone. "It's Cupie Dalton," she said, handing Eagle the phone.

"Cupie?"

"Right."

"What's happening?"

"Lots and lots," Cupie replied. "She checked out of her hotel in Puerto Vallarta, but Vittorio and I chased her down just in time."

"Just in time for what?"

"It went like this. When she transferred the three hundred grand from Mexico City to a local bank, somebody gave a gang of kidnappers a jingle to let them know there was cash to be had. Vittorio and I caught up with her cab just as the black hats went to work, but she hardly needed our help. She killed one of them and wounded another, then they thought better of their activity and got the hell out of there."

"Where is she now?"

"She's in a cab with Vittorio, half a block from the Puerto Vallarta police station. I'd be very happy to take her in there and charge her with shooting me, but she'd just buy her way out. What do you want us to do?"

"I want you to get her signature on those blank sheets of paper."

"She's already signed them once, in the name of Minnie Mouse, and she ain't going to sign again. The lady is adamant."

"Can't Vittorio scare her into it?"

"He scared her into signing Minnie Mouse six times, but otherwise she seems immune to his charms. Short of torture or forgery, I don't know what to do. You have any instructions?"

"Put her on the phone."

"She's already said she won't talk to you."

Eagle thought for a moment. "All right, tell her this: tell her that if she doesn't sign, I'll take the three hundred grand away from her and leave her to fend for herself. And tell her I know about the guy she hired to kill me, and it ain't going to happen."

"She hired somebody to kill you?"

"Yes. Now tell her."

"Okay."

"I'll hang on."

"Let me call you back in five."

"Okay."

Eagle switched off the phone and put it down

"Kidnappers tried to take her," Eagle said to Wolf.

"You're kidding me."

"No, apparently kidnapping is all the rage in Mexico."

"What now?"

The phone rang before Eagle could reply, and he picked it up. "Hello?"

"It's Cupie; we got a problem."