Chapter Seventeen

Rick and Dan stared at the small robot sitting in the middle of the opened crate.

“So what do we do now?” Rick asked at last.

“Not leave him here, that’s for sure. Or our greedy friend here, either.” He tipped his head in Jesus’s direction.

“Oh, senors, please, please, please. If you will just let me go home, I will never say a word to anyone.”

Rick snorted. “Yeah, right. That comes right after my believing in the tooth fairy.” He looked at Dan. “But what do we do with him? We sure can’t leave him here alone. And if we take him along and the ‘Smiths’ call for him and he’s not here, that could blow everything.”

“I have an idea.” He punched in numbers on his satellite phone.

“Who are you calling in the middle of the night?”

“More than one person,” Dan grinned. “Mike? Hey, buddy. How’d you like to take a little trip?”

“Sure.” He heard Mike yawn. “What hot spot are you sending me to this time?”

“How does Galveston sound? You get to spend a couple of days on a luxury yacht. Oh, and bring one of the men with you.”

“What? Have you been drinking?”

“I only wish.”

Dan explained to him what he wanted. Mike chuckled and said he’d be there in an hour. Dan disconnected the call.

“I heard all that,” Rick said. “You think this will work?”

“Do we have a choice? Meanwhile, I’ll sit with our good friend, Jesus, here, if you’ll go tell suspicious Bob that a helicopter’s going to land in his parking lot in about an hour and he’s not to bother the pilot or the man who’ll be left to watch it.”

* * * * *

That part of the plan went over smoother than Dan could have hoped. Mike arrived with the chopper and brought one of the Phoenix men on the San Antonio team to guard it. At Dan’s request they were wearing black warm-up jackets that sported shoulder patches. The design consisted of an American flag in the center, an eagle below it and above it the letters NODT. Mike had designed the patch himself a long time ago for a mission when they needed something official-looking. When Dan asked him what NODT stood for, he grinned and said, “Not One Damn Thing.”

Shel Morgan, the man he’d brought with him, lounged in a careless pose against the side of the machine, but no one could mistake the assault rifle cradled in his arms.

Rick went out to the lot to meet him, and they jogged back down the pier to the boat.

Mike whistled when he saw it. “Someone’s socked a bundle into this baby.”

“But not nearly as much as they’d have if the plot to steal Oscar had worked.”

“All right. Introduce me to the poor schmuck who got caught in this and you can head back to the city.” He handed Dan a large duffel bag with a special padded lining. “This what you wanted?”

“Perfect.”

With the tools Mike had brought they fastened the crate back together. But Oscar lay comfortably in the duffel bag, ready for his ride back to San Antonio. They left Jesus handcuffed on the couch in Mike’s tender care.

“Call one of us if and when he gets a call tomorrow,” Dan said. “Today,” he corrected himself, looking at his watch. “You can bet the ‘Smiths’ will be checking up on their baby.”

“Then what?”

“Then bring him back to San Antonio and stash him in a cheap motel with one of our guys until this is over.”

“But, senors.” Jesus’s voice was panicked. “My family. My wife will expect to hear from me.”

“She knows you’re staying on the boat?” Rick asked him.

He nodded. “She calls me every morning before she leaves for work.”

“Okay. Mike, he gets to talk to his wife but keep that gun in his ear so he doesn’t decide to get tricky.”

“I swear by the saints,” Jesus promised.

“Okay. That and the gun ought to keep him in line.” He turned to Rick. “Let’s haul ass.”

They managed the trip back to the city in under three hours and woke up the Hallorans.

“You could have called for a report,” Mark joked, zipping up his hastily donned jeans.

“We need to park something in your gun closet until early tomorrow morning,” Dan told him. Mark had a specially insulated closet where he kept his guns and ammunition. Oscar would be safe there from prying eyes.

“Come along. Then I expect you to tell me what you’ve found out. And I’ll give you my report from the task force. Which will take all of two minutes.”

By the time Dan and Rick made it back to the hotel, they barely had time for a couple of hours of sleep. But they were used to this kind of routine, and showers and coffee somewhat revived them.

Over the second pot of coffee, they reviewed their plans for the next two days. Dan called Mark to fill him in on his part, then left for the hospital. Rick would monitor incoming information from Andy until he got back.

* * * * *

Despite the fact that he had a lot to do and not enough hours in which to do it, Dan had to see Mia before he did anything else. Reassure himself she actually had come awake and was going to live. When he walked into the room she was a deathly still presence on the bed. Then her eyes opened, he saw her color was slightly better, and his heart settled back to a normal rate.

He’d checked in with the guard on the door. The other one was sitting in the big recliner chair near the bed.

“I finally insisted Mrs. Halloran go home last night,” he reported. “She would have stayed, but she looked dead on her feet.”

Dan nodded. “Good idea.” He leaned down and kissed Mia’s dry, parched lips. “Hi, gorgeous. You sure do look beautiful.”

Her eyes flashed Liar! “Ice?” she croaked.

“You bet.” He lifted a fresh cup of ice chips and fed her a spoonful with extreme gentleness. “Go get some breakfast,” he told the guard. “Your relief should be here shortly, anyway. I’ll be here for about half an hour.”

“I’ll just wait until they do,” the guard told him.” Collins and I will get something together then.”

“Okay. Your choice.”

Still, assessing the situation, the guard discreetly backed out of the room left them alone.

“Love . . . you,” Mia croaked.

“I love you, too. And I have some news for you.”

While he fed her ice chips, he told her about Andy’s report and the trip to Galveston. Her eyes brightened when she heard they had the real Oscar under lock and key.

“So you see, you were right all along. From the very beginning. And those visions with the numbers—especially the last one with the water and movement—honey, that’s what made the difference when Andy looked for comparisons and similar visions.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You were right on the money the whole time.”

“Killer?” she asked, wrinkling her forehead.

“I have my ideas. Both who did it and why. I just don’t want to say anything, even to you, until I have the proof. Listen.” He set the ice chips aside and took her hand. “Faith is coming back to spend the day with you again.”

She shook her head once. “Too . . . much for her.”

“The guys sent her home to sleep last night. And she really wants to do this. Besides, the more you get to know her, the better. When this is all over I have something I want to talk to the two of you about.”

“Sure?”

“Absolutely.”

She shifted slightly and he saw her bite her lips against the pain that racked her.

“Let me get the nurse, sweetheart.”

“Right here,” said a voice behind him.

He turned to see the regular day nurse, who checked the morphine drip.

“Just making sure she gets what Dr. Cardoza ordered,” the woman told him. “When she improves a little more we’ll get her a PCA—a Patient Controlled Analgesic. That way she can push a button whenever she needs something.” She wiped her hands on a paper towel. “Meanwhile she should be out again in a few seconds.”

“Okay. I’ll be going, anyway.”

At that moment he heard Faith chatting with the day shift guards. Then she walked in, carrying a huge bouquet of roses in all colors, in a cut glass vase.

“We need to brighten up the room a little,” she grinned.

Dan kissed Mia again. “Faith’s here now with a gorgeous bouquet. I have to go, sweetheart. But I’ll be back later. I love you,” he said again.”

“Me, too.” But her eyes were already closing.

Dan hugged Faith, again overcome with an unfamiliar emotion. For a moment he couldn’t say anything. Then he stepped back.

Faith smiled at him. “She’ll be fine. I promise. They’ll be in shortly to change her dressings and make sure all her vital signs are still good, but I can tell just by looking at her.” She winked at Dan. “Anyway, you’re the best medicine she needs.”

“I have to go. And I’m sorry for waking you and Mark up in the middle of the night.

“Hey. We’re used to it. And your package is still safely locked away in the gun closet.”

“Thanks, Faith. For everything.”

“Just get these guys, okay?” she called after him, as he headed out of the room.

“That’s a given.”

* * * * *

Rick and Mark were buried under the latest printouts from Andy when Dan returned to the hotel.

“Chase called,” Rick told him. “Seemed a little put out he hadn’t heard from you this morning. He wants to meet and go over the security for tomorrow. Unless you want to change it, I set it up for three this afternoon.”

“No. That’s fine. I have a few wrinkles to add.” Dan tossed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “Anything new on the key folks? Or anyone else?”

Mark handed him three printed sheets. “It seems our girl Joy has a little more to her past than we discovered at first cast. Take a look at this.”

Andy had managed to dig all the way back to Joy’s childhood.

Dan’s eyebrows flew up and he looked at Rick. “In Argentina? Like our boat owners?”

“Uh-huh. Same place as the home of Lucky. Joy’s father was with the diplomatic corps and was assigned to the embassy there for a number of years.”

“So,” Mark interrupted, “she may still have contacts from when she lived there. Wonder why that never showed up on her info before?”

Dan handed him one of the sheets of paper. “Because she lived most of the time with her grandparents in Maryland so she’s listed as being from there. Too much instability in Argentina. But she visited there a lot when she got older. And look at this?” He circled a paragraph. “When she was there in her late teens—eighteen, nineteen—she dated one of the embassy guards named John Grant. Even though it was forbidden. And guess what he did after his assignment there?”

Rick made a face. “Let me guess. “He went back to his unit and became their sniper.”

“Bingo. His aim seems to be a little off these days, though. Thank God for that.”

“I called Holcomb and asked him to put out a BOLO for him—Be On the Look Out—but not to give any details. You can be sure Grant’s long gone from here by now.”

“You think Joy used her father’s connections to get started in DC?” Rick wanted to know.

“I’m sure he opened doors for her. After that she was on her own. But nothing here indicates she needed any help. She may look like an angel, but she’s one tough, smart cookie.” Dan raked his hand over his face. “She started off as a legal secretary in the top law firm in Washington and built her connections, and after that she was on her way to the top.”

“God knows what else she’s done,” Mark commented. “But with every job she’s had, her private economic status has improved. Andy managed to trace half a dozen offshore accounts that link back to her. And I’ll bet if we use one of our really good forensic accountants, that’s not all we’ll find. She’s got to have her fingers in every dirty pie being baked.”

Rich shook his head in wonder. “Well, she was in a perfect position to dope the guards. And she easily could have killed Stan. I wouldn’t put anything past the little bitch. But how did she expect it all to end? If she marries Chase, she can’t keep this all hidden. Especially if she’s one of the people behind everything going on with Carpenter Techtronics.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Mark told him. “Take a look at this. Guess who ‘Mr. Smith’ is?”

They all stared at the information Andy had found.

Finally Rick broke the silence, “Well, shit.”

* * * * *

The two conspirators were using yet another pair of disposable cell phones. One of them was in a hotel room, the other in a parked car.

“All right. I’m ready to make the call to Khalid. It was a pain in the ass, having to rent a hotel room to do it.”

“Better than having someone walk in you, isn’t it?”

“I suppose. Did you check in with Jesus?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine on the boat. I have the feeling he’d run off with Oscar and cut us out if he knew what the hell it was and what to do with it.”

“It won’t matter after this weekend. We’ll be able to dump him when we’re far enough out in the Gulf.”

“Are you ready to go?”

“All set. Call me back in an hour.”

The call was disconnected. The person booted up the laptop on the table and navigated to the appropriate screen. In a moment, a series of numbers was punched into the cell phone.

This has to work. It just has to. I haven’t put up with all this crap for so long to come out on the short end of the stick now, at the biggest payday. Tomorrow when Oscar fails, Carpenter Techtronics will fall apart, and I’ll be on my way to a meeting in the Atlantic Ocean.

The phone rang.

“Your call is ready,” the operator reported.

“Thank you.” Deep breath. “Good afternoon, Khalid. I’m ready for you to make that transfer now.”

“And Oscar?”

“Safe and sound. We’ll meet out in the Gulf as planned on Saturday. Your boat or ours. You can transfer the rest of the money, and we’ll hand over the robot at the same time.”

“You wouldn’t have plans to take the money and keep the robot, would you?” the deep voice asked.

“I could ask you the same thing in reverse. You could easily take the robot and kill us.” A short laugh. “Although that wouldn’t do much for your business reputation.”

“You speak the truth,” Khalid said.

The call lasted less than thirty minutes, with both parties satisfied. One hundred million dollars looked like a nice tidy sum.

* * * * *

“That was very good, Jesus, my man.”

Mike D’Antoni clicked off the cell phone and stuck it in his pocket. Just in case. He helped Jesus, whose hands were still cuffed, to rise from the couch and prodded him up the stairs to the deck.

Getting down to the pier was a little tricky. He solved it by simply throwing the man over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and swinging himself over the side. Military training came in handy in civilian life, too.

“Do not attempt to call out to anyone,” Mike warned. “My trigger finger gets itchy after I’ve been up all night.”

“No, senor. I mean, sí, senor. I mean . . .”

“Shut up. I know what you mean.” He threw his arm over Obregon’s shoulder and positioned his body so the handcuffs were concealed.

Shel Morgan was still leaning against the chopper, the rifle still resting in his arms like a sleeping baby.

“Any trouble?

“Nah. It’s too early for weekday boaters. Bob stuck his nose over here, so I opened the cell phone and told him I was calling the White House. When the day shift guy came on, Bob whispered in his ear, then ran like hell for his car.” Shel burst out laughing. “This is better than being in a movie.”

“Yeah, well, you better hope it comes off as well as a movie. We don’t have a director who says, ‘Cut, do it again.’ No do-overs here, my man. Help me get this asshole into the chopper.”

In a few short minutes they lifted off and swung away over the water, then turned and headed up the coast. Landing at the private hangar in San Antonio, they hustled Jesus into the waiting SUV and fifteen minutes later were set up in a cheap but clean motel room.

Mike got Dan on the horn. “Me. We’re all set to watch our soap operas. Call when you need me.”

He tossed the phone on the table and handed some money to Shel. “Mind getting us something to eat? I think Jesus here and I are going to have a conversation about just how these people found him and hired him.”

Shel heaved himself to his feet. “Sure. Back in a few.”

* * * * *

Dan sat at one end of the conference table, flanked by Mark and Rick. Chase was at the opposite end, and the rest of the key players had taken the other seats in between. Even Paul Harrison had come out of his closet for this.

“I want your guarantee that we have enough security for tomorrow,” Chase opened the conversation. “Nobody’s managed to come up with Stan’s killer or whoever shot Mia Fleming. Or who doped the Phoenix guards. So I want to be sure no one manages to fuck up things tomorrow.”

Dan gave him a steady look. “Chase, I can promise you. Tomorrow will be successful beyond your wildest imaginings. No one will disrupt the process.”

“How can you guarantee that?” Ladd asked. “You haven’t been too successful so far.”

“That’s right.” Joy slipped her arm through Chase’s in a now-familiar gesture. “We can’t afford any slipups. Or anyone else killed.”

“First of all,” Dan said slowly, ignoring what they’d said, “I want to thank you for the concern you’ve shown for Mia and for inquiring about her condition.”

They all had the good grace to look embarrassed.

“Secondly, we are in possession of information now that we didn’t have before. After tomorrow’s event, we’ll sit down and I’ll explain anything you have questions about. Just believe me. Everything is well in hand. Mark? You have information to share?”

Mark explained about the task force and, without revealing anything they’d discovered, told Chase that Captain Holcomb and several members of the SAPD would also be in attendance.

“They’ll be supplementing our staff and making sure things don’t get out of hand. Now,” he went on smoothly. “I need every detail of this demonstration one more time. Where it’s going to be and how it will work. Then I want to see the room where everyone will be watching.”

Chase showed him on a map of the city where the empty house was they used and promised to introduce Dan and the others to the team who’d be running the demonstration.

“Mark and some of the police officers will need to be there to oversee things and make sure the area is secured,” Dan told him.

When they’d covered every detail of the process, Chase led the way one floor down to a large auditorium that had been fitted with several huge plasma screens.

“Lucas will be at the podium, explaining things and answering question,” Chase said.

“And where will you be?” Dan asked.

“At the demonstration site. I’ll be delivering Oscar.”

“Now there’s where we’re going to make a change,” Dan told him. “You need to be here. This company bears your name. I’m going to be the one to deliver Oscar, with plenty of backup.”

There were immediate objections from everyone on the Carpenter team. Dan held up his hand.

“No arguments. That’s the way we’re doing it. I understand everyone’s concern, but this is what we do best. I’ll have plenty of protection. And we’re going to take him by helicopter rather than a car.”

More objections, more arguments, but in the end Dan managed to get their agreement by threatening to walk out and take all his men with him.

By five thirty the meeting was over, and Dan was heading back to the hotel with Mark and Rick.

“Okay. Mark, go home,” Dan told him. “I’m going to relieve your wife at the hospital so the two of you can remember what you look like. Rick, get hold of Mike, make sure Shel Morgan is still there, sitting on Jesus Obregon, and that everyone is fed. And have Mike set the chopper down in Mark’s backyard at six thirty tomorrow morning.”

Mark threw back his head and laughed. “That ought to give our neighbors something to talk about. Okay, tell my wife I’ll see her at home.”

“I’m for a steak and a beer,” Rick said. “And organizing all Andy’s information so we’ll be ready to spill the beans tomorrow.”

They split up at the hotel, and Dan left for the hospital. He was anxious to have this all over now, so he and Mia could move forward with their lives. At the same time he could discuss a special project with her and Faith.