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.The door closed behindJake.Nick pulled out hiscell phone and pressedBert s number.It rang only three timesbefore a familiar gravellyvoice answered. Yeah? It s Nick.I told you I dget back what Elliot stole.Now I ve got it the mostimportant part, anyway.I llbe starting back to NewYork today to deliver it aspromised. Don t bother.I m on myway to Wisconsin.I ll meetyou, Bert answeredshortly. What aboutJensen?For the first time inhours, Nick could breathenormally.Bert was willingto deal.They were allprobably safe.Probably. Gone.I don t knowwhere, but I d guess out ofthe country.Does it matterso long as you ve got theledger and some of themoney back?There was a pause inwhich Nick heard theunspoken answer ofcourse it mattered andthen Bert said,  Where doyou want to meet? There s a diner calledthe Back Porch.Theparking lot there. Too public.Maybe afield outside of town, Bertsuggested. Too isolated.Bert gave an annoyedgrunt. You want to do thisright in front of the Podunkpolice station? I know a place.Anempty house in thecountry.But I m going toneed some kind ofinsurance.I&  He paused,trying to decide how togive himself a bit ofleverage without pissing offBert even more. We vebeen friends since we werekids, but I gotta tell you,Bert, I don t feel realconfident you re not goingto end me.So I ll give youthe ledger and money Ifound, but I m holding backthe flash drive. Fuck that.You ll giveeverything or no deal. You understand myposition.Your familymakes an example ofanyone who crosses them,I get that, but I had nothingto do with this other thanhaving the misfortune ofrooming with Elliot Jensenin college.I m not the onewho stole from you.Another pause and thenBert sighed. I believe you,and I haven t forgotten ourhistory, but this isn t up fornegotiation.Bring meevery damn thing you vegot, or you re going tohave to pay for what yourpal did.Now tell me theaddress of the house.Chapter TwelveAmes sipped the coffee,surprisingly good stuff,though her stomach wasclose to rebelling.Jake tapped a rhythmon his mug, got up, lookedout the window. So youtrust this guy? Yes. She realized itwas true.In one short day,she d gone fromsuspecting Nick of harmingElliot to completelybelieving in him. Yeah. Jake looked atthe table where the cashand the rest of the stuff lay a very strangedecorative centerpiece inAlice Greely s neat kitchen. Doesn t matter anyway.Who d have guessed oldElliot would tangle with realbad guys? His slow headshake seemed to beadmiring.Jake wouldalways admire her brother.She closed her eyes andwaited.A few minutes later, Nickcame in the back door,closing it softly behind himand then locking it.Shewanted to run to him,burrow in close to feel hisreassuring touch, but shecouldn t look like a weenieor he d leave her here. We re meetingtomorrow at the house. House?He grinned briefly. Yourhouse.The place I mstaying. Why didn t he want tomeet in the café? Amesshivered and huggedherself. He must figure hispeople would stand out likesore thumbs or more likespace aliens. His  people ? Oh God. Don t worry.Bertwouldn t travel anywherealone. He shrugged as ifto emphasize howunimportant the extra menwere. His dad, Cesar, iseven worse.The guy musthave seen too manygangster movies or maybetoo many rockdocumentaries.He likes tohave an entourage.He pointed to the stufflying on the kitchen table. Got another garbage bagwe can use?Jake went to a drawerand, after fumbling with abox for a while, extracted abig green bag.Ameswondered how often hehad to take out thegarbage.Nick tossed the moneyand the book into the bagand slung it over his back.He shoved the drive intohis pocket and walked tothe kitchen door.Ames jumped up. Waitfor me. Me too. Jake put hiscup in the sink.Nick looked at them, asour scowl on his face.She wished he didn t lookat her with the sameexpression he used forJake. All right.We ll take twocars.Jake grabbed somekeys from the counter andjingled them. Ready togo, he said cheerfully, asif they were going on a tripto Dairy Queen.The roads were nearlyempty.Nearly.Ames glanced over hershoulder.Jake s truck wasbehind them, but anotherset of headlights soonappeared as well.Even ifshe hadn t been entirelyparanoid, she would havenoticed another car turningonto the road out of town,especially at two in themorning.She twisted in her seat. We re being followed.Doyou suppose it s yourfriends?Nick glanced in therearview. Shouldn t be.Not yet.She expected him to dosome kind of maneuveringand try to lose the tail justin case, but he just turnedinto the long gravel drivethat led to the house.Partway down, hestopped and waited.Onlyone set of headlightsfollowed Jake s.They pulled up to thefront of the house, andJake jumped out of histruck and headed to thecar.He held something athis side. Oh no, she breathed. He s got a shotgun.Nick put his hand on hershoulder for a moment. It ll be okay.They got out of the car,but Nick kept the keys inand headlights on.Henodded a greeting at Jake. Thanks for coming along. You didn t sound sohappy about it at myhouse. Jake looked himup and down. Anyway, I mdoing this for Ames andElliot, not you. All good, Nick soothed,and Ames thought, he s upto something.When hegets diplomatic, he s got aplan.She wasn t sure ifknowing that made her feelbetter. Listen, Jake.I need youto go back into town andcheck around for that SUVthat was behind us.Didyou get a good look at it?Would you recognize it ifyou saw it again? Yeah.Absolutely.Iknow pretty much whateverybody drives aroundtown, and that wasn t alocal.I can hunt for it.Andthen what? Maybe take a look atthe motel parking lot.Ifyou see that car, call meand let me know ASAP.Don t go near it. Damn, I ll go talk to Billyand see what he knows.Jake went back to his truckand began rooting throughthe empty fast-food bagsand other junk on thepassenger seat. Who s Billy?Ames sighed. The nightguy on the desk at theMiddle Inn.He ll want toknow why you re curious,Jake. And that s a bad thing?Jake ambled back.He hadput on a ball cap andcarried a phone [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]