After a moment Canada said slowly, “I can see I’m not going to be the most popular man in Miami.”
“Except with the birdwatchers. They’ll give you a certificate. Are you hungry? We can drive to Frieda’s and see what she has in the refrigerator. You and Tim can talk on the way.”
“I have another coffee cake with only one piece out of it,” Frieda said. “Most of a ham.”
“Very funny,” Canada said bitterly. “I was in a hurry last night, and I only had time for a light supper. I’ve been rolled around and bounced around and people have been trying to kill me. Now you lay out the terms-the least that can happen, I’m through in the construction business. Goddamn right, I’m hungry.”
“We’ll drive fast.”
“Do that. I want to be home for breakfast. Things to get underway.”
“Such as putting people on the street against DeLuca? No, Larry. I want somebody for Eddie Maye. Let’s send the ransom note and see what happens.”
“I already told you what will happen.”
“But wouldn’t you like to make sure? Then you’ll know who’s for and against.”
“I was hijacked once. They’ll have sense enough not to try it a second time.”
“Again, maybe not. They’ve got a lot invested. If we work it right, we can bring everybody out in the open. Don’t worry, Larry. You’re our bait, but you’re also our one big witness. We don’t want to lose you.”
Chapter 16
DeLuca didn’t get a hell of a lot of sleep. Greco had been told to call him the instant it happened, or the instant it failed to happen. DeLuca kept sitting up in bed to look at the time. He almost wished he had gone along. You couldn’t, though. That was the reason for armies, so the general can live to become president of Lockheed or General Dynamics.
His wife asked if he felt like being rubbed. That was her expression for making love. He said no, too much on his mind. He went to sleep finally. A few minutes later the clock went off, bringing him out of a crazy dream in which Canada lay on top of him with his full weight. He almost skipped his exercises this morning. He had never felt less like push-ups and bends. But for five years he had never missed a day, feeling that if he ever started to take it easy he would go all the way, back to cigarettes, back to the days when he was the humble accountant. So he forced himself to complete the full battery.
Greco called from downstairs while he was drinking his vegetable juice. It was O.K.! It had gone according to plan!
DeLuca took the six thousand he still owed the boys and went downstairs. Greco looked as though he had crawled first through a sewer, then through a blackberry thicket. He broke into a happy smile, which DeLuca returned. Mission accomplished, right? DeLuca passed the money and went back to his apartment. He skipped rope hard for fifteen minutes until he was able to stop grinning.
The first thing he did when he got to the office was call a meeting. He was making a list of things to be covered, when a thought struck him. Greco had described the scene in full detail, but before DeLuca went all the way out, he had better make sure.
He called the sheriff’s office, identified himself as a UPI man, and asked for confirmation. Indeed, he was told, a thirty-foot trailer had caught fire on the Interstate early that morning. Destruction was total. In the ashes the firemen had discovered the blackened remains of an adult male who had apparently been asleep in one of the bedrooms. A bit taller than average. The pickup that had been hauling the trailer was registered to a man named Allan Vaughan, who happened to be in jail at that moment on drug charges. They were figuring that the rig had been stolen.
When the others arrived, DeLuca, his face grave, announced that their friend Larry Canada had disappeared. His badly smashed Cadillac had been discovered at the Homestead construction site, and all in all, it didn’t look good. This might be one of those cases where the body would never be found. DeLuca was sorry to be announcing such bad news because Canada had accomplished a lot and he would be missed. But certain changes, in De Luca’s opinion, were overdue. Instead of waiting on further news, he proposed that the changes be put in effect at once.
Whether the others thought he had arranged this himself or was merely taking advantage of Canada’s absence, they seemed to accept the way he was taking over. His secretary broke in.
“Molly Canada-she says it’s very important. Can you take it?”
“Ask her to hold.”
He adjourned the meeting. As soon as the others were out of the office, he took the call.
“He’s alive!” Mrs. Canada cried into the phone. “They want one million dollars!”
DeLuca smiled, then erased it quickly so it wouldn’t show in his voice. “Now, Molly, somebody’s trying to pull something. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. I should have called earlier, but I was hoping against hope-”
“Lou, my God, what are you saying-”
“Get hold of yourself. You knew from the first minute we had to consider the possibility. You know he had enemies.”
“He’s dead?”
“Molly, I’m afraid so. The information I have, the vehicle he was riding in caught on fire, and well, he didn’t get out. I couldn’t be sorrier. Oh, we had differences, but there was one thing about Larry-nobody could ever accuse him of being anything but totally sincere.”
“Lou, his voice sounded so-”
“Sounded, what do you mean, sounded?”
“I got a tape. Lou, a million dollars!”
DeLuca had a good grip on the phone. A tape-when did those construction guys have a minute to make a tape, if they just happened to luck into the kidnapping when they were in there stealing tools? He’d better get over and take charge of that tape so it wouldn’t confuse things during the changeover.
“And then on the phone-” she was saying.
“The phone!” DeLuca came out of his chair, and only the force of gravity kept him from going further. “He talked to you on the phone? When?”
“Lou, I’m so-”
“Please, Molly. This is very important.”
“Maybe half an hour ago? An hour? He said not to call anybody until I listened to the tape. It was all staticky and there were car noises-It caught fire? Why did it catch fire?”
DeLuca said carefully, “Molly, I’ll be there in ten minutes. Make yourself a cup of tea and put some whiskey in it. I’ll take care of everything.”
He slammed the phone down and left at a run, checking his pace abruptly when he saw that the four men from the meeting were still at the elevator. They rode down together. Two of these men had national connections by kinship and marriage. In theory, they were all Canada’s men. If by some crazy chance Canada was still alive, DeLuca’s imprudent remarks of a moment ago would be reported back. DeLuca had moved boldly and decisively. As far as these men knew, he couldn’t be sure Canada was dead unless he had ordered the killing himself, quite a step for the number man. But to exploit the disappearance without being sure of the death took an equal amount of balls. Either way, DeLuca couldn’t back down. He had announced the revolution. It was stomp or be stomped on.
One of them asked if he was keeping up with his tennis.
“Every day.” He almost succeeded in smiling. “Maybe I’ll have to skip the next couple. Plenty to do!”
They parted on the sidewalk with another round of handshakes and smiles. He drove to the island, and Molly Canada let him in. She had taken his advice about the tea with whiskey in it, omitting the tea. She was shaky on her high heels. She fell toward him and clung. She had a damp Kleenex in her hand, but she might have done that with tap water to make him think she had been crying.
He moved her to the sofa. “Start with the phone call, Molly. You picked up the phone and a voice said, ‘This is Larry.’ Go on from there.”
