The Crossing

43

Ellis joined Long in the Charger.

“’Bout time,” Long said.

“Quit whining,” Ellis said. “I was taking care of business with the girls. What’s the status here?”

“Schubert came out and Bosch confronted him. Then they went inside. That was thirty-five minutes ago.”

Ellis nodded and thought about things. Schubert had been inside with Bosch long enough that it should be assumed that he was spilling his guts. That signaled the endgame to Ellis. It was time to close down the operation. Time to close down all operations.

He didn’t know about Long but he had certainly planned for this day. He pulled out his phone and opened the weather app. He had several cities tabbed just in case his phone ever fell into the wrong hands. But only one mattered. It was seventy-six degrees in Placencia, Belize. What could be more perfect?

He put his phone away.

“This is it,” he said.

“What is it?” Long asked.

“This. Right here. This is the end of the line. We have a choice to make.”

“What choice?”

“You take this car, I go back to my car, and we split. We grab our stashes and we split. For good.”

“No, no, we can’t just—”

“It’s over. Over.”

“What’s the other choice?”

Long’s voice was off. It had gone up a notch or two as panic began to take hold of his vocal cords.

“We go in,” Ellis said. “And we finish it. Leave no one to tell the story.”

“That’s it?” Long asked. “That’s your big plan?”

“It’s not a plan. It just might buy us more time. We go in, take care of business, and it might be tomorrow morning before anyone finds them. By then, you’re in Mexico and I’m halfway to wherever.”

Long drummed the fingers of both hands on his thighs.

“There’s gotta be another way, another plan,” he said.

“There’s nothing,” Ellis said. “I told you. Dominoes. It’s come to this. Make the call.”

“What about the girls? We could take—”

“Forget the girls. I’ll take care of them as soon as I leave here.”

Long looked sharply at him.

“What the fuck, man?” he said.

“I told you,” Ellis said. “Dominoes.”

Now Long was rubbing his jaw with one hand while gripping the wheel with the other.

“Make the call,” Ellis repeated.