The Millionaires

60

“Oliver, this isn’t the time to be stupid,” Joey warned as Oliver moved forward, gun cocked straight at her.

“I’m serious – I’ll use it,” Oliver said, his finger flickering against the trigger.

Joey watched the way his hands were shaking. Then she studied his eyes. Unwavering. Frozen and dark. He wasn’t joking.

“Joey, what’s happening?” Noreen begged through the earpiece. “Is that them? You want me to call it in?”

“Don’t do it…” Joey warned. Oliver turned, and Noreen stopped talking.

“You’re only going to infect the wound,” Joey added.

“Charlie, step back!” Oliver demanded.

Charlie jumped.

Joey watched the whole scene carefully. She knew which one she had to work on.

“Oliver…” she began. “Let me help you get out of th-”

“Lose the gun!” Oliver interrupted. “Throw it on the roof.”

This time, Joey didn’t budge.

“I said, throw it on the roof!” he insisted, his hand finally steadying.

Watching his brother, Charlie was speechless. So was Joey. Two days ago, she didn’t think Oliver Caruso had it in him. Today, she wasn’t so sure. Joey glanced up at the roof of the clubhouse and prepared to toss her gun. “I’m just warning you, it’ll probably go off.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Oliver replied.

With a soft toss, Joey lobbed her pistol up toward the edge of the roof. It landed with a thud, but didn’t explode.

Behind Oliver, a car horn beeped twice. Through the slats in the wood fence that surrounded the entire pool area, Joey spotted Gillian’s sky blue Beetle pull up to the swinging gate that led out to the parking lot.

Oliver didn’t have to say a word. Charlie started running.

Joey studied Oliver, looking for his weakness. But after all the time chasing him, she already knew it. “The more you run, the less likely you’ll ever get your old life back.”

To her surprise, Oliver didn’t flinch. He just watched Charlie. The instant his brother cut through the fence, Oliver took another look at Joey. “Stay the hell away from us,” he warned.

His gun was still on her as he ran backwards toward the car. And before Joey could react, the car door slammed, tires spun, and Oliver, Charlie, and Gillian were gone.

“Joey, are you okay?” Noreen interrupted through the earpiece.

Ignoring the question, Joey ran toward the opening in the fence. “Damn!” she shouted as she watched Gillian’s car bounce over the speedbumps and make its way out onto the street. Like a bullet, Joey took off for her own car, which was double-parked in front of the building. But just as she turned the corner, she spotted the new flat tires on her two rear wheels.

“Oh, screw me,” she mumbled to herself. “Noreen, call triple-A.”

“You got it.”

“And the millisecond you hang up, I want you to start checking…”

“… Gallo and DeSanctis. Already on it,” Noreen explained. “I started the instant Charlie said the words.”

“And what’d you think of his reaction when I mentioned Lapidus?” Joey asked.

“All I got was silence.”

“You should’ve seen the look on his face.”

“Okay, I’ll take a peek at Lapidus too. By the way, did you know the offices of Duckworth’s last job are only twenty minutes away?”

“Beautiful – that’s what I want to hear,” Joey said as she ran back to get her gun off the roof. “And what about his daughter? Any gossip on her?”

“See, that’s what doesn’t make sense,” Noreen answered. “While you were dealing with the Wonder Twins, I’ve been digging through birth certificates, driver’s licenses, even tax records of Duckworth’s family. I’m not sure what Charlie was talking about, but according to everything I can find – Marty Duckworth doesn’t have a daughter.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m telling you, Joey – I checked it a dozen times – according to every government and private database, Gillian Duckworth doesn’t exist.”