Cahill was watching him when he ended the call.
‘That sounded nice,’ he said.
‘It was.’
‘You miss her.’
‘Of course.’
‘Then make sure you get back to her. That girl needs you.’
‘I’m not quitting on you, if that’s what you’re saying.’
‘I wasn’t saying that. We’ve all got families.’
Nothing bonded one human being to another like blood.
Logan went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. It had been a long day. He dried his face and went back out to the main part of the room. Cahill was sitting at the small table by the window looking at the TV. Logan was sure he wasn’t taking in what was on. There were two handguns on Cahill’s bed, nestled tightly in nylon holsters with a box of bullets beside them.
‘This was your errand?’ he asked. ‘When I went to get the car.’
Cahill looked at him and nodded.
‘Are they legal?’
‘No.’
‘Where did you get them?’
‘I can’t tell you that.’
‘I mean, it wasn’t from a criminal or anything, was it?’
Logan heard how stupid the question sounded even as the words formed in his brain and left his mouth. Wished he could have it back.
Cahill laughed. It sounded genuine, not like he was mocking Logan.
‘Stupid question,’ Logan said.
‘I know what you meant,’ Cahill told him. ‘She’s an ex-cop.’
‘And how did she get into the business of selling illegal weapons?’
Cahill shrugged.
‘She wanted to do some good.’
Logan shook his head and sat on the bed.
‘One of these is mine?’ He picked up one of the holsters and slid the gun out, feeling the weight of it in his hand. ‘And you loaded them already.’
‘Not much use to anyone otherwise.’
Logan put the gun back in its holster and replaced it on the bed.
‘So,’ he said. ‘What’s the plan?’
8
‘Why did you support Hunter when he was pressing Webb to have the SWAT team on standby for this Raines operation tomorrow?’ Logan asked Cahill.
They were sitting at the table in their room with the TV on mute. The guns were still on the bed.
‘You’ve heard that cliche?’ Cahill asked.
‘I’m a lawyer. I’ve heard lots. Which one in particular?’
‘That failing to prepare-’
‘Is preparing to fail. Yeah, I’ve heard that one.’
‘Webb said Horn told them that he was meeting Raines alone, right?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘But if Horn’s story is true, he’s been thinking about coming in for a while now. And he deliberately messed up the drug cocktail to draw attention to their operation.’
‘You mean killing people? There are other ways.’
‘You’re missing the point, Logan.’
‘I get your point. I was making a different one. What you mean is that his behaviour might have rung an alarm with Raines. Who obviously isn’t stupid.’
‘Correct.’
‘So Raines might be suspicious of Horn now and not tell him everything.’
‘Go on.’
‘Which means we should be ready for him coming to the meeting with back-up.’
‘I knew all that training you’ve been getting wouldn’t go to waste.’
‘Trouble is, I don’t think that Webb or Grange were buying into what you were telling them. Why else would the SWAT team be on standby at the police HQ instead of on site?’
‘A mixture of institutional arrogance — which is standard for the Feds from what I can gather — and a desire to keep it low key. They figure if Raines doesn’t see an army coming for him his reaction might be less…’
‘Extreme?’
‘Good word. Yes.’
‘What’s your take on that? I mean, Hunter was definitely on your side.’
‘According to what you read about that Fed bank robbery job he got caught up in, he’s got reason to be cautious. Every new screw-up by the Feds that gets someone killed demonstrates a certain resistance to anyone’s perspective but their own.’
‘I think Grange said no because it was the opposite of what you said.’
‘You might be right. Great tactical thinking, huh?’
Logan smiled, though the knot of tension in his stomach was tightening with each minute that passed. He glanced back at the guns.
‘You know, you can still say no,’ Cahill said, seeing the anxiety in Logan’s face. ‘And I’ll go it alone.’
Logan stood and walked to the window, looking out into the city.
‘Tell me what we’re going to do,’ Logan said.
He turned to Cahill and leaned back against the window sill.
‘Webb and Grange will be across the street in the building opposite the diner where Raines will meet Horn. It’s a three-storey residential apartment building. They’ll put the occupants of the second-floor apartment at the front up in a hotel and use that as their forward command post. They’ll have comms links to their agents on the ground and to the SWAT team.’
‘Hunter and Collins will be in the diner at separate tables,’ Logan added. ‘Dressed like regular guys getting breakfast before going to work.’
‘Correct. There will be two female agents and a male agent in there also posing as the owner and serving staff.’
‘No civilians?’
‘Never. Too risky.’
‘What about ordinary customers. How do they deal with them?’
‘Turn them away at the door. Make up some story about why they can’t serve anyone else. Regular people will swallow anything if you say it with enough conviction.’
‘We’re regular people.’
Cahill looked blankly at him.
‘Never mind,’ Logan said. ‘So, that’s a total of five law enforcement personnel in the diner and two across the street.’
‘Plus Ruiz and Martinez in a car around the corner on Seventeenth Street.’
‘And we’re just going to walk right into the middle of this operation and order breakfast.’
‘While wearing our illegal weapons.’
‘I forgot that part.’
Logan shook his head.
