Page 92 of In Too Deep

“OK. I can make that work. Where to?”

“The Bahamas. Andros Island.”

“Fresh Creek?”

“No. I’ll give you the coordinates. It’s a new strip. Private. You won’t find it on any maps.”

“Good deal.”

“There’s one other thing. I want you to send your receptionist home, right away.”

“Why? What did she do wrong?”

“Nothing. She seems like a good person. One of my crew isn’t. She doesn’t need to be exposed to that.”

“If your guy’s such an asshole, why do you hang around with him?”

“Call it a marriage of convenience. One that’s not going to last very long.”

—

When Vidic textedthe hangar’s address to Kane and Paris, he told them to take the kind of precautions he had, because the place was being watched. Kane did not do that. He got out of the cab, crossed the street, and knocked on the rear door of the landscaping van. He got no response so he took hold of the handle and wrenched the dooropen. Two guys were inside, sitting at a console with cameras hooked up to computer monitors and microphones feeding compact speakers. They were in their mid-thirties, wearing shirts, ties, and shoulder holsters. They both went for their guns, but they weren’t fast enough. Kane shot them both in the head with a silenced .22.

Kane walked into the hangar and crossed straight to the cargo cage. He looked in at the wooden crates and said, “That’s $56 million? I thought it would be bigger.”

Paris stopped in front of Vidic. She put her hand on his chest and said, “Everything went OK?”

Vidic said, “Like clockwork. We’re just waiting for the pilot to switch over one of the planes. We should be loading in ten minutes. Out of here in twenty. It would speed things up if we could drag those crates over to the door. I tried, but they’re crazy heavy.” He turned to Kane. “Mind giving me a hand?”

Kane shrugged.

Vidic moved to the side of the cage door and waited for Kane to move.

Kane didn’t move. He said, “So let me guess. Vidic, you make like you’re going to push. I pull. I don’t get anywhere because these damn things must weigh a ton, but while I’m giving it the good ol’ college try, Paris whips out her little Walther and pops a .38 behind my ear?”

Paris pulled her PPK out of her purse and said, “That’s pretty much what we were thinking, yeah. But if you’d rather take it straight in the face, that’s fine, too.” She raised the gun and lined it up on the bridge of Kane’s nose.

Kane said, “If today’s my day to go, then so be it. But maybe hold that thought for a second. Wait till you have all the facts.”

“I have all the facts I need. I pull the trigger, the world has one fewer asshole in it, and I’m nine million dollars richer. Am I missing anything?”

“Only that your boyfriend is an FBI agent.”

Paris lowered the gun. “Wait. What? I don’t have a boyfriend. Who’s an agent?”

Kane stepped to the side. “Vidic.”

Vidic reached for his gun, but he didn’t have it. He’d come directly from the airport. So he said, “Paris, shoot him already.”

Kane said, “Notice he’s not denying it.”

Vidic said, “Of course I’m not denying it. It’s a joke. You’re just desperate to save your own miserable skin. You’d say anything.”

Paris raised her gun and pointed it at Kane. Then she lowered it again. She said, “I want proof. You have thirty seconds.”

Vidic said, “This is ridiculous. Gibson was the agent. We all know that.”

Kane said, “Gibson was on board way before you. How could he have been an undercover agent so long and not have done anything?”

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