The Millionaires

68

“What?” Gallo asked. Pinching the cell phone between his shoulder and ear, he and DeSanctis raced up I-95. “Are you sure?” “Why would I lie?” his associate asked on the other line.

“You really want me to answer that?”

“Listen, I already said I was sorry.”

“Don’t bullshit me with sorry,” Gallo hammered. “Did you really think we wouldn’t see you? That you could just sneak in without us getting a good look?”

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere. We were just reacting as fast as we could. We threw it together in about six hours – and once I got in, you were already gone.”

“He still should’ve called.”

“Can you please stop with the guilty mother routine?” his associate pleaded. “He said you already went through this – once Oliver and Charlie found what was in the remote, we were better off putting out the whole fire. After everything else, the last thing we need is to get burned by a loose end.”

“He still should’ve dropped word with me – especially when he’s just sitting on his ass in New York.”

“No, no, no – not anymore. He flew in first thing this morning.”

“Really?” Gallo asked as the Florida interstate whizzed past his window. “So he’s close?”

“Close as he can get. But if it makes you feel any better, next time we’ll send a Hallmark.”

“Actually, you should send it to DeSanctis. He’s the one that got gashed in the head.”

“Yeah… sorry about that…”

“Sure you are,” Gallo said coldly. Turning toward DeSanctis, he pointed to the sign for the Florida Turnpike.

“You positive?” DeSanctis whispered as Gallo nodded.

“Listen, I gotta run. I’m in demand these days.”

Gallo rolled his eyes. “So you’re sure they’re going to Disney World?” he asked.

“That’s where the backup copies are,” she replied. “And the one remaining place where Charlie and Oliver can still prove what happened.”

Gallo squeezed his phone as he thought about the tapes. “I still don’t see why we don’t clip their necks now and save ourselves the headache.”

“Because contrary to what the macho portion of your brain says, torturing them isn’t the way to get your hands on the money.”

“And your way is?”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Gillian said as her voice sank down to a whisper. “A few hours, to be exact.”