'You want me to wire two thousand dollars?'
'No. I want you to wire five thousand dollars. That's our minimum fee.'
'Where's your bank?'
'In the Bahamas.'
Argrow's eyes narrowed. His eyebrows pushed together, and while he was deep in thought so was Spicer. The minds were in the process of meeting.
'Why the Bahamas?' Argxow asked.
'Same reason you used the Bahamas.'
Thoughts rattled around in both heads. 'Lemme ask you something,' Spicer said. 'You said you could move dirty money quicker than anybody else.'
Argrow nodded and said, 'No problem.'
'Can you still do it?'
'You mean, from in here?'
'Yes. From here.'
Argrow laughed and shrugged as if nothing could be easier. 'Sure. I still have some friends.'
'Meet me here in an hour. I might have a deal for you.'
An hour later, Argrow returned to the law library and found the three judges already in position, behind a table with papers and law books scattered about as if the Supreme Court of Florida were in session. Spicer introduced him to Beech and Yarber, and he took a seat across the table. No one else was present.
They talked for a moment about his appeal, and he was sufficiently vague on the details. His file was en route from the other prison, and they couldn't do much without it.
The appeal was a preliminary topic of conversation, and both sides of the table knew it.
'Mr. Spicer tells us you're an expert on moving dirty money,' Beech said.
'I was until I got caught,' Argrow said modestly. 'I take it you have some.'
'We have a little account offshore, money we've earned doing legal work and a few other things we can't be too open about. As you know, we can't charge for legal work:'
'But we do anyway,' added Yarber. 'And we get paid for it.'
'How much is in the account?' Argrow asked, knowing yesterday's closing balance to the exact penny.
'Let's wait on that,' Spicer said. 'There's a good chance the money may have disappeared.'
Argrow let the words hang for a second, and managed to appear confused. 'I'm sorry?' he said.
'We had a lawyer,' Beech said slowly, each word measured. 'He disappeared and he may have taken the money.
'I see. And this account is in a bank in the Bahamas?'
'It was. We're not sure if it still is.'
'We doubt the money is still there.' Yarber added.
'But we'd like to know for sure,' Beech added.
'Which bank?' Argrow asked.
'Geneva Trust, in Nassau.' Spicer answered, glancing at his colleagues.
Argrow .nodded smugly, as if he knew dark little dirty secrets about the bank.
'You know the bank?' Beech asked.
'Sure,' he said, and let them hang for a long second.
'And?' Spicer said.
Argrow was overcome with smugness and insider knowledge, so he stood rather dramatically and walked around the small library for a moment, deep in thought, then moved closer to the table again. 'Look, what do you guys want me to do? Let's cut to the chase.'
The three looked at him, then at each other, and it was obvious they weren't sure of two things: (a) how much they trusted this man they'd just met, and (b) what they really wanted from him.
But they figured the money was gone anyway, so what was there to lose.Yarber said, 'We're not too sophisticated when it comes to moving dirty money. That was not our original calling, you understand. Forgive our lack of knowledge, but is there any way to verify if the money is still where it once was?'
'We're just not sure if the lawyer stole it,' Beech added.
'You want me to verify the balance of a secret account?' Argrow asked.
'Yes, that's it,' saidYarber.
'We figure that maybe you still have some friends in the business,'. Spicer said, treading water. 'And we're just curious as to whether there's any way to do this.'
'You're lucky.' Argrow said, and allowed the words to settle.
'How's that?' Beech asked.
'You picked the Bahamas.'
'Actually, the lawyer picked the Bahamas,' Spicer said.
'Anyway, the banks are pretty loose there. Lots of secrets get told. Lots of officials get bribed. Most of the serious money launderers stay away from the Bahamas. Panama is the current hot spot, and, of course, Grand Cayman is still rock solid.'
Of course, of course, they all three nodded. Offshore was offshore, wasn't it? Just another example of trusting an idiot like Trevor.
Argrow watched them with their puzzled faces and thought how truly clueless they were. For three men with the ability to totally wreck the American electoral process, they seemed awfully naive.
'You haven't answered our question,' Spicer said.
'Anything's possible in the Bahamas.'
'So you can do it?'
'I can try. No guarantees.'
'Here's the deal, ' Spicer said. 'You verify the account, and we'll do your appeals for free.'
'That's not a bad deal.' Argrow said.
'We didn't think so. Agreed?'
'Agreed.'
For an awkward second they just looked at one another, proud of their mutual agreement but not sure who moved next. Finally, Argrow said, 'I'll need to know something about the account.'
'Such as?' Beech asked.
'Such as a name or a number.'
'The account name is Boomer Realty, Ltd. The account number is 144-DXN-9593.'
Argrow scribbled some notes on a sheet of scrap paper.
'Just curious.' Spicer said as they watched him closely. 'How do you plan to communicate with your contacts outside?'
'Phone,' Argrow said without looking up.
'Not these phones,' Beech said.
'These phones are not secure,' Yarber said.
'You can't use these phones,' Spicer said with an edge.
Argrow smiled and acknowledged their concerns, then he glanced over his shoulder and removed from his pants pocket an instrument of some sort, not much larger than a pocketknife. He held it between his thumb and index finger, and said, 'This is a phone, gentlemen.'
They stared in disbelief, then watched as he quickly unfolded it from the top and the bottom and from one side so that when properly opened it,still looked much too small for any meaningful conversation. 'It's digital,' he said. 'Very secure.'
'Who gets the monthly bill?' asked Beech.
'I have a brother in Boca Raton. The phone and the service were gifts from him.' He snapped it back smartly, and it vanished before their eyes. Then he pointed to the small conference room behind them, to their chamber. 'What's in there?' he asked.
'Just a conference room,' Spicer said.
'It has no windows, right?'
