Crisp was no fool. He would never leave anything incriminating, anything that could be used in court, but Win didn’t worry about court.
When he was done, Win placed three phone calls. The first was to his pilot.
“You’re ready?”
The pilot said, “Yes.”
“Depart now. I’ll signal when it’s okay to land.”
Win’s second call was Esperanza. “Any new developments on Mr. Bolitar?”
Al Bolitar has always insisted that Win call him Al. But Win just couldn’t.
“They just rushed him back into surgery,” Esperanza said. “It doesn’t look good.”
Win hung up again. The third call was to a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
When Win finished, he sat back and listened to Myron and Lex Ryder. He considered his options, but in truth there was only one. They had gone too far this time. They had brought themselves to the brink, and there was only one way to back away from it.
The security guard’s radio sounded. Through the radio static a voice said, “Billy?”
The voice belonged to Crisp.
Win smiled. That meant Crisp was near. Their big showdown was only minutes away now. Frank Ache had predicted that it would come down to this during the prison visit. Win had joked that he would videotape it, but no, Frank would have to settle for an oral recounting.
Win brought the radio over to the guard. As Win came closer, the security guard began to whimper. Win understood. He took out his gun and put it against the man’s forehead. Overkill, really. The man had already tried to be tough. It hadn’t lasted.
“You probably have a code word that tells Crisp you’re in trouble,” Win said. “If you use it, you will beg me to pull this trigger. Do you understand?”
The security guard nodded, eager to please.
Win put the radio to Billy’s ear and pressed the talk button. He said, “Billy here.”
“Status?”
“All clear.”
“The earlier problem was taken care of?”
“Yes. Like I said, it was the twins. They ran when I came out.”
“I have separate confirmation that they drove off,” Crisp said. “How is our guest behaving?”
“Still upstairs working on that new song.”
“Very good,” Crisp said. “I’m on my way up to the house. Billy?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no reason to tell him I’m coming.”
The conversation ended. Crisp was on his way.
It was time for Win to prepare.
Myron said, “Kitty?”
Lex Ryder nodded.
“How did she know Wire was dead?”
“She saw it.”
“She saw them kill Wire?”
Lex Ryder nodded. “I didn’t know about it until a few days ago. She calls me on the phone and tries to shake me down. ‘I know what you did to Gabriel,’ she says. I figure she’s putting me on. I say, ‘You don’t know squat’ and hang up. I don’t tell anyone. I figure she’ll go away. The next day she posts that tattoo and ‘Not His’ message. Like a warning. So I call her. I tell her to meet me at Three Downing. When I see her, I mean, wow, she’s bad, really wasted. I could have paid her off, I guess, but she’s a full-fledged addict now. Totally unreliable. Buzz ends up calling Crisp and tells him what she’s babbling about. Then you come barreling into the nightclub. During the commotion, I warn Kitty to get the hell out of there and not come back. She said she’s been doing that for sixteen years-since she saw Wire get shot.”
So, Myron thought, Kitty hadn’t been paranoid. She knew a secret that could cost Herman Ache and Evan Crisp millions of dollars. That explained Goatee and Neck Tattoo following him to Kitty’s trailer. Ache had realized that Myron might be able to lead him to Kitty. He had put a tail on him, and once the men located them, their orders were clear: Kill them both.
So why not use Crisp? Obvious answer: Crisp was busy doing something else. Tailing Myron was still something of a long shot. Hire cheaper muscle.
Win was back in his ear. “Are you done up there?”
“Pretty much.”
“Crisp is on his way.”
“You have a plan?”
“I do.”
“Do you need my help?”
“I need you to stay where you are.”
“Win?”
“Yes?”
“Crisp may know what happened to my brother.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Don’t kill him.”
“Well,” Win said. “Not right away.”
31
Two hours later, they were back at the small Adiona Island airport, boarding Win’s Boeing Business Jet. Mee greeted them in an aggressively tailored red stewardess uniform topped with a Jackie-O pillbox hat.
“Welcome aboard,” Mee said. “Watch your step, welcome aboard, watch your step.”
Lex trudged up the stairs first. He was finally sobering up and it wasn’t looking good on him. The baby nurse, carrying Lex’s son, followed. That left Myron, Win, and a still-wobbly Evan Crisp. Crisp’s hands were tied behind his back with several plastic cuffs. Win knew that some people could escape plastic cuffs. Few people, if any, could escape several, especially when the larger ones were wrapped around the forearms and the chest. Win backed these up with a gun too. Crisp had taken chances. Win would not.
Myron looked back at Win. “A moment,” Win said.
Mee came back to the door and nodded at Win. Win said, “Okay, now.”
Myron took the lead, half dragging Crisp behind. Win took the rear, pushing Crisp up. Myron had carried him before, fireman-style, but now Crisp was starting to regain consciousness.
Win had bought the luxury aircraft from a once-popular rapper who, like many before him, dominated the charts before becoming a trivia question and being forced to liquidate the fruits of his overspending. The main cabin had oversized leather recliners, plush carpeting, a wide-screen 3-D television, serious wood trim. The plane had a separate dining room, plus a bedroom in the back. Lex, the nurse, and the baby were closed off in the dining room. Win and Myron didn’t want them in the same room with Crisp.
They pushed Crisp into a seat. Win wrapped him in restraints. Crisp was still blinking through the tranquilizer. Win had used a diluted form of Etorphine, a sedative normally used for elephants and potentially fatal to humans. In the movies, sedatives work instantaneously. In reality, it’s hardly a guarantee.
In the end, Crisp had not been indestructible. No one was. As Herman Ache had so poetically put it, no one-not even Myron or Win-was bulletproof. The truth was, when the best were taken, they were normally taken easily. A bomb drops on your house, it doesn’t matter how good your hand-to-hand combat skills are-you’re dead.
From Billy the security guard, Win had learned the path that Crisp took to the Wire estate. Win had found the
