the exchange on their terms, without even demonstrating that they've got a living hostage for us to ransom.'
'But if you make them mad—'
'They're already madder than hatters. I know what you're saying, you don't want to give them an excuse to kill her, but they don't need an excuse. It's already on their agenda. They have to have a reason to keep her alive.'
Kenan backed me up. 'I did everything their way,' he said.
'Everything they wanted. They sent her back—' He hesitated, and I finished the sentence mentally: 'in pieces.' But he hadn't shared that aspect of Francine's death with Yuri and didn't do so now. '— sent her back dead,' he said.
'We're going to need cash,' I said. 'What do you have? What can you raise?'
'God, I don't know,' he said. 'Cash I got damn little of. Do the bastards want cocaine? I got fifteen kilos of slab ten minutes from here.'
He looked at Kenan. 'You want to buy it? Tell me what you want to pay me.'
Kenan shook his head. 'I'll lend you what I got in the safe, Yuri.
I'm in the bucket already waiting for a hash deal to fall apart. I fronted some money and I think it was a mistake.'
'What kind of hash?'
'Out of Turkey via Cyprus. Opiated hash. What's the difference, it ain't gonna happen. I got maybe one hundred large in the safe. Time comes I'll run back to the house and get it. You're welcome to it.'
'You know I'm good for it.'
'Don't worry about it.'
Landau blinked away tears, and when he tried to speak his voice was choked up. He could barely get the words out. He said, 'Listen to this man. I hardly know him, this fucking Arab here, he's giving me a hundred thousand dollars.' He took Kenan in his arms and hugged him, sobbing.
The phone rang in Lucia's room. I went to answer it.
TJ, calling from Brooklyn. 'At the laundromat,' he said. 'What I do? Wait for some white dude to come in an' use the phone?'
'That's right. He should get there sooner or later. If you could park yourself at the restaurant across the street and keep an eye on the laundromat entrance—'
'Do better than that, man. I be right here in the laundromat, just another cat waitin' on his clothes.
Neighborhood here's enough different colors so's I don't stick out too much. Kongs ever call you?'
'No. Did you reach them?'
'Beeped 'em and put your number in, but if Jimmy don't have the beeper with him, it's like it ain't beepin'.'
'Like that tree in the forest.'
'Say what?'
'Never mind.'
'I be in touch,' he said.
WHEN the next call came in Yuri answered it, said, 'Just a minute,' and passed it to me. The voice I heard was different this time, softer, more cultured. There was a nastiness in it but less of the obvious anger of the previous speaker.
'I understand we have a new player in the game,' he said. 'I don't believe we've been introduced.'
'I'm a friend of Mr. Landau's. My name's not important.'
'One likes to know who's on the other side.'
'In a sense,' I said, 'we're on the same side, aren't we? We both want the exchange to go through.'
'Then all you have to do is follow instructions.'
'No, it's not that simple.'
'Of course it is. We tell you what to do and you do it. If you ever want to see the girl again.'
'You have to convince me that she's alive.'
'You have my word on it.'
'I'm sorry,' I said.
'It's not good enough?'
'You lost a lot of credibility when you returned Mrs. Khoury in poor condition.'
There was a pause. Then, 'How interesting. You don't sound very Russian, you know. Nor do the tones of Brooklyn echo in your speech.
There were special circumstances with Mrs. Khoury. Her husband tried to haggle, in the nature of his race. He sliced the price, and we in turn—
well, you can finish that thought yourself, can't you?'
