Ten seconds later the phone rang. River watched it without answering as he threw on clothes, then grabbed his gun and headed for the car with his hair dripping. Halfway there he turned back long enough to get an eight-inch serrated knife from the top dresser drawer.
The knife and gun got thrown on the seat next to him.
Then he squealed out.
The traffic was thick.
Everyone in the universe was in his way.
The minute he passed someone, some other idiot popped up in front.
Calm down.
Calm down.
Calm down.
That’s what his brain said,
Calm down and be smarter than him.
Calm down and come up with a plan.
Calm down and kill the little prick.
Traffic loosened.
River actually got some breathing room and opened it up. Then a car at a crossroad turned right in front of him. The jerk could have waited-
River got on his tail and honked his horn.
The guy looked in his rearview mirror.
His hand came up.
His middle finger came up.
The finger waved back and forth.
River put every muscle of his leg into the accelerator and swung violently into the other lane to get alongside.
The massive grill of an oncoming 18-wheeler suddenly appeared from out of nowhere directly in front of him.
He slammed on the brakes.
The rear wheels locked and went into a fishtail.
76
Wilde went to the law firm to find that London hadn’t shown up for work, to the puzzlement of the receptionist. Wilde found her at home, packing a suitcase. Her face was stressed. Her eyes wouldn’t look into his for more than a heartbeat.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“It’s over, Wilde.”
“What’s over?”
“Everything.”
He lit a cigarette, blew smoke and said, “Last night was close, I’ll admit. You’re alive though.”
“This time,” she said.
He tilted his head.
“So you’re going on the run?”
She nodded.
“As far and as fast as my legs will take me.” She looked into his eyes, then away. “You can come with me if you want.”
The words rolled through Wilde’s brain with the force of a freight train. He pulled up the image of them getting into her car, heading down the road and never looking back.
“That’s quite a statement,” he said.
She walked over, put her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.
Her body trembled.
“I have some money saved up,” she said. “We’ll go down to Mexico and find the treasure. I’ll cut you in. We’ll be fifty-fifty partners.”
Wilde pictured it.
The picture was intoxicating.
Secret would be history, but London was every bit her equal. The only reason he hadn’t fallen for London yet is because he’d let Secret in first.
He’d made no commitments to Secret.
If he left, it wouldn’t be a violation.
There was chemistry with London.
He couldn’t deny it.
It was the same as with Secret, maybe even more so.
Finding the treasure and getting it out of Mexico would be dangerous, in fact damn near impossible. In all probability they’d be caught and end up in rat-infested prison cells, either that or dead. But if they actually pulled it off, if they actually got away with it, the math would be fun.
“Come with me,” London said. “Say you will. After we get the treasure we’ll buy an island and spend the rest of our lives on the beach.” A beat then, “Or first we can travel. I want to go to Hong Kong.” She pulled her stomach tighter to his and looked into his eyes. “How about you, Wilde? Have you ever wanted to go to Hong Kong?”
He grinned.
“I never really thought about it.”
“If we get the treasure, that’s what our lives will be,” she said, “thinking about things we never thought about before. Not just thinking about them, either-actually doing them. We’ll make the world ours. Everyone else will just be a trespasser.”
He kissed her forehead.
“When you think you don’t mess around, do you?”
“No I don’t.”
She kissed him on the mouth.
Her lips were soft and moist.
“So what do you say?” she said. “Are you in?”
77
Waverly’s plan was to make contact with the woman Bristol spanked in his houseboat,
