with the silhouette of a woman, Detective Serra went inside. The two men continued a few yards farther and went into the men’s room. A few minutes later, the three reassembled and walked on. They went down the escalator, past the baggage area, and out onto the sidewalk. Detective Serra handed Lieutenant Slosser the shopping bag she had been carrying. “Paree isn’t going to be quite as gay as he thought.”
“Thanks, Louise. You two can go off-duty now.”
“Good night, Nick,” said Timmons.
“See you tomorrow,” Serra said. They stepped onto the crosswalk and went into the parking structure across the circular drive, got into their unmarked car, and drove toward the airport exit.
Slosser glanced into the bag. It was neatly packed with banded stacks of hundred-dollar bills. He did a rough estimate, then closed it again and began to walk along the sidewalk in front of the terminal. When he came to the first taxi stand, he went out to the island and waited his turn to be put in a cab.
In a moment he was sliding into the back seat of a cab. “I’d like to go to Burbank,” he said. “4394 Cambria Street.”
The cab glided forward, picking up speed as it headed out toward the overhead sign for Sepulveda Boulevard. He hefted the shopping bag in his hand. It was a lot of money. It was just the thing for Nick and Rachel’s first college tuition payments, and he had been promising both wives new cars for at least a year.
