factory?”
No answer.
“The finger was to throw Jackie off your trail. Right? Then why did you hire us to see if Vic was at the Cuban Social Club?” I waved the gun menacingly. I tried to appear like they do in the movies, but he didn’t scare easily. He already knew I was a lousy shot.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Just tell me if I’m right. Once we knew about the finger, you had to do your little act for us too-so we’d go back to Jackie and tell her how sad it was that you were being blackmailed with the kidnapping of your son. It really would have been a lot easier if we hadn’t gotten involved.”
“Skip, let’s go.”
“One more question, Angel, then we’ll go.” I kneeled down on the ground and in the dim light I could see the grimace of pain on Fuentes’s face. I was just thankful I hadn’t killed him. “What about the list of donors? Come on, tell me what that was all about.”
He gave me a hateful look. “That was a huge mistake. You were never to have seen that list.”
“But these people were investing in what they thought was a business venture. They didn’t know about the invasion.”
Fire leaped from his eyes. “Some of them. And some of them donated to the cause. Some of them knew exactly what they were investing in. And you’re fucking with a very powerful group of people. There will be repercussions. That list was never to have been seen.”
I thought about some of those names. Huge power players. Politicians, entertainment moguls. Did they know? Did they “donate to the cause”?
“These people will smash you like a bug. Like the bug that you are. They will hurt all that you love, and take away everything you believe in.”
Angel grabbed my shoulder. “Don’t listen to the madman.” We ran around the side of the building, past the Buick, past the outside forklift to the side door.
“Walk fast, as if you know what you’re doing. We hold our guns at our sides, walk to the far wall, tell the guard that she belongs to us, and we take her.”
If my face didn’t hurt so much I would have laughed. “Angel, they’re killers. It just doesn’t work like that.”
He put his hand on mine. “Friend, if you believe it will happen, almost always it will happen. Do as I say and you will see the success.”
Angel pushed the door open and strode in. I followed as closely as possible. Christ, I’d been free and clear three times now, but I kept going back. What the hell was wrong with me? James had said I cared about people and maybe that was it. Or maybe I was just born stupid.
We were halfway across the floor and no one had said a word. The workers were busy pushing everything into the back of the truck so they could close the door. Big strides, guns by our sides, my face streaked with blood, and it was as if we belonged.
“We’re here to take the girl.” Angel grabbed her by her shoulder and pushed her toward me.
“Huh?”
The guy wasn’t the brightest bulb on the circuit.
“We’ll take it from here.” Angel walked away.
“Hey, wait a minute.” The guard shouted.
I looked over my shoulder, Jackie by my side. The guy had his gun up and was pointing at us. Angel spun and fired. The guard collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“Run!”
We did. I grabbed Jackie’s hand and we ran faster than any of us had ever run before. Out the door, through the parking lot, and down the block. The sirens were screaming as we screeched to a halt at the pine grove. Police car after police car, horns honking, sirens wailing, came racing to the warehouse.
“I called in the address before I shot the CIA agent,” Angel said.
“So you had all of this in hand?”
“Not everything. Obviously you played a big part.”
He opened the Jeep and James was lying where we’d positioned him, breathing deeply. I heaved a sigh of relief.
Jackie stepped in and sat by his head, stroked the matted hair, and talked softly to him.
“We’re going to the closest hospital.” Angel started the Jeep. “I think our friend needs a checkup.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
They didn’t say how long he’d be in, so I left at one thirty. As I walked into the apartment, “Born in the USA” blared from my pocket. Two in the morning.
“Em. Boy do I have a story for you.”
“Skip, I’ve got one for you too.”
I went into the bathroom and examined the dressing they’d put on my face. A long strip of gauze covered the hideous gash from Fuentes’s gun.
“Skip, I saw the doctor today, well, yesterday.”
“Oh. I thought it was-”
“I went. You need to know.”
“What? I need to know what?”
“I lost the baby. Or, the baby was never totally there. It’s called a blighted ovum. It makes no difference. We’re not having a baby.”
I had nothing to say. Neither did she. We spent a minute not talking to each other.
“Em, I’m sorry. I’d gotten used to the idea.”
“Me too. Lots of ups and downs.” She sounded like she was ready to choke.
“God, I hope you’re okay with this.”
“I made a decision.”
“What?”
“I’m taking some time off.”
Time off? “A couple of days?”
“Months.”
I lost my breath. “How many?”
“Two, six, I don’t know. I told Dad-”
“About-”
“No. He doesn’t have a clue. I told him I needed some time. If you want to stay at the condo once in a while you could keep an eye on it for me and-” she was crying.
“Em, where are you going? God, I don’t want you to leave for months. Do you know how much I love you?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“And still you’re leaving for months.”
“I am, Skip. I have to. I’ll call.” And she was gone.
I lay awake most of the night, getting up at eight and calling Sammy.
“Sam, I had a rough night. I won’t be in today.”
He cleared his throat and I could tell he was pissed. “Skip, did you tell somebody they won the hot tub? What the hell are you doing giving out my private cell phone number. You know better than to-” I hung up the phone, grabbed a beer, and lay down on the couch, flipping on the television. My face was itching like crazy under the gauze.
Maybe it was too early and they didn’t have the entire story or maybe the entire story was never going to be told, but the only news mention of the warehouse incident was that police had been called and found some illegal
