Bowdeen took another sip of whiskey—a bigger one than he’d intended as he considered this strange information. “That’s the first I heard about any of this.”
Hunt grinned knowingly. “So that’s how it is. The old man don’t want the right hand knowin’ what the left hand is doin’. Maybe he got enough intel from what I saw so he didn’t need you to dig any deeper.”
“What did you find out?”
“Not too much. Looked like the Ayyy-rab and the Russian struck some kind of deal. Then the little doc drove back to the sticks and climbed inside his hole in the ground. And that’s all she wrote.”
“Can you remember where this place was?’ Bowdeen figured any bit of information he could glean, no matter how irrelevant, might be useful.
“Ain’t I the best tracker you know?” Hunt sounded insulted at the question.
Bowdeen soothed his friend’s injured pride until the cowboy was mollified enough to give detailed directions to the mysterious site.
Keeping a watchful eye on Hunt’s whiskey glass, Chopper beckoned the waiter over to order the cowboy another drink. Fortunately, Leroy was too focused on his personal comforts to notice that Chopper’s glass was still two-thirds full.
By this time, their salads arrived. Even though Hunt snorted in derision at what he called “rabbit food,” he did a good job of cleaning his plate.
Bowdeen wasn’t quite ready to push for any specific information. He’d wait awhile. They spent the next half hour talking about old friends in the army and back home in Alabama. The two continued to reminisce all the way through their main courses and, in Hunt’s case, a few more glasses of whiskey.
By the time the dessert cart arrived, the cowboy was mellow enough that Chopper was on the verge of starting his inquiry. Much to his surprise, Hunt had a few questions of his own.
The cowboy pulled two wrapped toothpicks out of his jacket pocket. He offered one to Chopper who declined. Leaning back in his chair, he picked his teeth. “Surveillance cameras, huh,” he began conversationally.
The comment came out of the blue and took Chopper by surprise. “Yeah,” he replied cautiously. “In every damn compound I visited.”
“I expect the old man set up a string of ‘em in the main compound seein’ as how that’s where his little bride ran away from.”
“More there than anyplace else,” Chopper agreed. “He had me cover all the hallways, the entrances, the outbuildings. Every place but the bedrooms and bathrooms. He went overboard in his office though. I don’t know what he expected anybody to steal from there. Just a bunch of dusty sermon books.”
Hunt’s face took on a veiled expression. “Now that is a right puzzle. So he had you set up cams facin’ his bookshelf?”
Not knowing where the conversation was headed, Bowdeen replied, “No. That was the odd part. He had me set them up facing the paneled wall opposite the bookshelf.”
“Did he now?” Hunt’s tone was still conversational, but there was an edge to it.
“There’s no accounting for crazy,” Chopper said. He had the sneaking suspicion that he had just revealed something important to Leroy. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what that something was. Another disconnected piece of information that might come in handy later.
The mercenary spent the rest of the coffee and dessert course trying to steer the conversation in a direction that might be more useful. Every time he nudged the topic toward what Leroy was working on, the cowboy somehow managed to bring the subject back to surveillance. How many cameras were set up at the main compound? Where was the control panel? How big was the security staff? How many cameras were in the old man’s study? Where were they positioned?
Chopper wasn’t entirely sure how it happened, but he knew he was giving more information than he was getting in spite of the cowboy’s intoxication. By the time the check arrived, Leroy was three sheets to the wind and humming a medley of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s greatest hits. Chopper figured that he’d better hustle him out of the restaurant before he jumped on a table and belted out a chorus of Free Bird.
The mercenary hailed a cab and steadied his old buddy until it pulled up to the curb. As he poured Leroy into the back seat, the cowboy began to chuckle. He seemed to have forgotten Chopper’s presence as he murmured to himself, “Yep, no doubt about it. Payday’s comin’ soon. Once Dan’l snags that last doodad for his daddy, ole Leroy is gonna cash in his chips.”
Hunt slid down sideways in the seat while Chopper gave the cabbie directions and paid him off. As the mercenary slammed the car door, he caught a few final snatches of song.
Leroy was softly crooning himself to sleep. “Go on, take the money and run. Go on, take the money and run.”
Chapter 24—Fireworks
“That was... um... different.” Hannah climbed out of the roller coaster seat. She listed to one side as Zachary rushed to prop her up.
“I guess the first time you ride one of these things it can make you a little dizzy,” he admitted.
“I think it made me a little sick to my stomach,” the girl said, heading for a bench across the street from the ride.
Zach held her arm for support until they were both seated. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid idea to bring you here.” They were spending Saturday night at a local amusement park. Zach insisted that Hannah needed to experience “thrills” as an important part of her education in all things Fallen. They’d sampled most of the rides the park had to offer though Zach had intentionally steered them away from anything too intense until the end of the evening. The park was due to close in half an hour, and he thought he’d push the envelope by getting Hannah to
