67.

“Francisco will do the wire transfer today,” Crow said.

“One million?”

“One million,” Crow said. “Wired to your account. When it arrives, I’ll call him. He gets his daughter.”

The two men stood with their backs to the seawall at midpoint on the causeway.

“That’s what you told him,” Jesse said.

“That’s what I told him.”

“You are a lying bastard,” Jesse said.

“Doesn’t make me a bad person,” Crow said.

“Something did,” Jesse said. “What I don’t get is, Francisco gives no sign that he loves her, but he’s willing to pay a million to get her back.”

“A,” Crow said, “a million dollars doesn’t mean much to him. And B, he’s Louis Francisco. No one is allowed to tell him no.”

“Ego,” Jesse said.

“Partly,” Crow said.

“And business.”

“Yep.”

“Power is real,” Jesse said. “But it’s a lot less real if it’s not perceived as power.”

Crow nodded. He was looking down the causeway toward the mainland end.

“Something like that,” he said. “Timing is going to be pretty much everything here.”

“I can help you with the timing,” Jesse said.

“I’ve timed it out half a dozen times,” Crow said. “We gotta start Francisco’s car about ten seconds after Esteban hits the causeway.”

“We’ll set up some construction, and have one of my guys directing traffic,” Jesse said.

“How you gonna know it’s Francisco?” Crow said.

“You told him he had to come himself.”

“Yeah. And he will. He won’t come alone. But he’s annoyed. He’ll want to kill me himself.”

“After he gets the girl,” Jesse said.

“Yep. He can’t let me get away with holding him up like this,” Crow said.

“I’ve seen him,” Jesse said. “I’ll recognize him.”

“Even in the backseat?” Crow said.

Jesse smiled.

“When he came to visit me, I made his car. Lincoln Town Car. A rental. He rented two of them. Got his license plate number while he was driving away. Got the other number from the rental company.”

“Wow,” Crow said. “What a cop!”

“Ever alert,” Jesse said.

“We need somebody at the other end to let us know when Esteban starts,” Crow said. “He’ll be around the bend.”

“If he comes from there,” Jesse said.

“He’ll come from that end,” Crow said.

“And Francisco from the other,” Jesse said.

Crow nodded.

“Scorpions in a bottle,” he said. “You got enough people to keep them penned on the causeway?”

“I can get some Staties for backup,” Jesse said.

“They’ll go along with this?” Crow said.

“I may not tell them exactly what’s going down,” Jesse said.

Crow grinned.

“You lying bastard,” he said.

“Doesn’t make me a bad person,” Jesse said. “When you want to do it?”

“Day after the money shows up in your account,” Crow said.

“Time of day?”

“Morning is good, late enough for everybody to get here, early enough for me to have the sun at my back and shining in their eyes.”

“Say about ten-thirty?” Jesse said.

“You been doing a few practice runs yourself,” Crow said.

“Plan ahead,” Jesse said.

They were quiet then, looking at the length of the causeway.

“I need a day to walk my people through it,” Jesse said.

“You got tomorrow,” Crow said, “even if the money shows up tomorrow.”

“Wednesday morning, ten-thirty,” Jesse said. “Rain or shine.”

“Rain might not be a bad thing,” Crow said. “If it blurred things a little.”

“Sixty percent chance of rain,” Jesse said, “for Wednesday.”

“Like they know,” Crow said.

“They sound like they know,” Jesse said.

Crow snorted.

“Either way,” Crow said. “What are the odds of pulling this off?”

“Terrible odds,” Jesse said.

Crow grinned.

“Worst case,” Crow said, “we got his money, and we’re no worse off than we were before.”

“Except some people might be dead,” Jesse said. “Including you.”

“What’s the fun in winning,” Crow said, “you got no chance to lose?”


Загрузка...