Springboard

41

“I’ll see you at the airfield, comrade,” Wu said to Locke.

“Right.”

“Travel safe.” Wu clapped him on the shoulder, smiled, and turned to leave.

As soon as he was gone, Locke and his assistant loaded up the last six bags of loot into Locke’s Toyota Land Cruiser. That much money was heavy, even in large bills. About as much as what Locke was supposed to get for his part, he reckoned. Maybe a bit less, but he wasn’t going to get greedy about it. Stopping to pick up that last dime could get you caught or killed.

They climbed into the SUV and headed for the harbor. They’d beat Wu and the other trucks there — Locke would take the shortest route, do it at speed, and the official police light flashing on the vehicle’s dashboard would see that nobody stopped them. They’d be there ten minutes ahead of Wu. Plenty of time.

Locke’s assistant was actually Wu’s man — Locke knew this — but that didn’t matter. Not yet.

“Five minutes,” Locke said, looking at his watch. “We’ll be alone on the ship, first to get there. I want to be gone by the time the first truck arrives.”

The assistant was a muscular Mongolian named Khasar, which meant “terrible dog.” A tradition in that backward land, to name children for ugly things, to protect them from evil spirits. That trick wasn’t going to be enough keep him safe in this, though.

Khasar said, “Yes. We will hurry.”

He stepped on the gas pedal and the car surged forward.

Kent pulled his car — a Volkswagen beetle, of all things — next to Fernandez’s car, a Korean compact he didn’t recognize.

Kent said, “Set up here, Captain. You’ve got three, maybe four minutes. I’m going on to the freighter, just in case.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good luck, Julio.”

“You, too, sir.”

Kent revved the VW’s engine and took off. Despite the hurry, and the absolute lack of time to do things properly, he realized he was grinning as he drove. A battle joined, plans unfolding fast, the end not at all certain, and lives on the line — but he was doing what he knew how to do best.

It didn’t get any better than this, did it?