Page 51 of In Too Deep

“What about Ivan? We shouldn’t keep him waiting, right?”

“Another minute or two won’t kill him.”

“Don’t use that word.Kill. And there’s no point going in. Not anymore.”

“Why not?”

“See that van? We spent basically all morning loading it with everything that wasn’t a complete turkey. It’s ready to burst. Andbefore you ask, I don’t have the key. Kane took it. They left me here to make sure no one else stole it but they didn’t trust me not to take it myself. I have the best co-workers, right?”

“Why pack it up?”

“We’re leaving.”

“All of you?”

“Obviously.”

“But not all together.”

“How…? Oh. Ivan? How much did he tell you?”

“He said you and he were going your own way. Ditching the others. Starting over.”

“That’s correct. It was supposed to be a secret. But we weren’t being disloyal. Not really. You don’t know how bad things had gotten. The early days were golden. Then Fletcher showed up. He was OK once. I guess. But after Kane arrived? Forget it. Unbearable. The pair of them, together? Talk about a toxic environment. And Gibson was OK, looking back. Which is ironic, given that he wanted to put us all in jail.”

“And Bowery?”

“He was with us. Or I thought he was. He’s gone now. I have no idea where.”

“Vidic?”

“What can I say? Things changed when he joined. He has a different way of thinking. I felt like I was trapped by the status quo. I was sleepwalking over a cliff. He sensed that. Showed me that I have a choice.”

“When did he join?”

“When I was at my lowest ebb. Kane had just killed a guard on a job. It was completely unnecessary.”

“OK. So the mine. Show me.”

“We call itthe cave.And it’s empty now, like I said.”

“You put the safe in the van? I heard it was too heavy to lift.”

Paris looked at the ground. “I had nothing to do with that whole scheme. It was Ivan’s idea. I told him he was overcomplicating things. But two million dollars? Split two ways? You can see the appeal.”

“Actually, no. I can’t.”

“Really? What are you? A monk?”

Reacher said nothing.

“Look, don’t be mad at Ivan. He really thought it was a win-win. You were obsessed with getting Fletcher and Kane. He was happy to give them to you. For obvious reasons. Who wouldn’t be? And with them gone there was no point in the money sitting in the safe, rotting away. Someone had to benefit from it. You can see that, right?”

“So after I moved the safe for him he was going to give me Fletcher’s whereabouts?”

“That’s what he told me. I know it sounds fishy now with the timing and everything but circumstances change. Situations are fluid. And the two of you are good now, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be helping him. You wouldn’t have come here for me. And speaking of him and me, we should go. He’s hurt. I need to see him.”

“We’ll go. After I see the inside of the cave.”

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