Page 92 of Hidden Depths

“How is it,” shouted a man from inside, “that the law enforcement around here is so incompetent?”

Sara clawed at Tom’s wrists. “That’s Lansky,” she whispered. “It’s been so many years, but his voice is still so familiar.”

“You should go back.” Tom nudged her.

“No. I’m fine.”

“What do you expect us to do?” said another man who sounded like Balthazar.

“Did I ask too much? I thought everything that was required was quite simple. I expected the kinks to be sorted out by the time I came down here. But, hey, if you can explain to me why it’s so difficult to pick up a scared little girl, but putting me behind bars is a breeze, I’m all ears.”

“It wasn’t just the woman,” Balthazar said. “She had help.”

“From who?”

“An FBI agent named Tom Bennett. He’s the one who killed Dutch.”

Lansky growled. “What are the FBI doing down here? You said you scoped out the place, and it was safe. Now we’ve got the feds sniffing around?”

“It’s just bad luck. He’s not here because of us. A lot of people take vacations here.”

“Is that so? Well, your ineptitude means we’ll have to move the shipment forward.”

“To when?”

“Now.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not!” Lansky raged.

“There’s a storm coming. We’ll have to wait till it passes.”

Tom looked up at the sky, noticing a green tinge the clouds had taken on.

“How long will that take?” Lansky said.

“Could blow over in a few hours, but it’s sitting on our route and moving this way.”

More things banged around. “We can forget setting up shop here. Once we get back to Cuba, we’ll regroup.” More banging. “All these years I worked behind prison walls to set this up, and you guys screw it up almost instantly.”

Sara nudged Tom. “If they leave the US, can we pick them up in Cuba?”

“No. We’d have to get them when they come back.”

Her shoulders sagged. “Then we’ve lost them.”

“Not yet. We still have time.” Tom felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “That’s Agent Taylor. She’s landed. Let’s get her up to speed. I’ll appreciate having her input on this.”

“Let’s hope she has some good ideas. Where’s your car?”

“Probably impounded. I ditched it when Dodd’s deputy came after me. Taylor can rent one for us, but we’ll have to leg it from here. You think you’re up to it?”

She raised her eyebrow in challenge. “Are you kidding? This fancy skirt was made for speed.”

Chapter23

Tom and Sarahunkered down behind a squat building less than a mile from the airport and waited.

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