Page 31 of Pro Bono

“Threaten you? If they thought it would work, sure. Would they go through with whatever they threatened? Almost certainly not. They have too much to lose if they got caught at it and it hit the news organizations or the SEC or the FBI. I assure you, I would do everything in my power to make sure all of them would hear all about it. But those two men could be anybody.”

“What should I do?”

“What I recommend is that you pack a bag, leave some lights and a television on timers, and activate your alarm system as you go out theback door with me. We’ll sneak through your neighbor’s yard to my car, and you can spend the night at my place.”

“Is that necessary?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “If they’ve come to do you harm, yes. If not, it’s just a brief change of scene. It’s pretty peaceful. I don’t live in a fraternity house or above a bar. It’s a three-bedroom condo on the second floor of a very secure building.”

“Can you give me a few minutes? I have to make some decisions about what to take.”

“Of course.”

Vesper disappeared up the stairs and Warren went to the front window and moved the curtain a quarter inch to look at the street. The two cars were still there. As he looked at the one near the right corner, another car pulled up behind that one, and as it did, the newcomer’s headlights illuminated the reflective license plate for a moment before the driver turned them off. The car that had been parked turned on its lights and pulled away.

Warren looked to the left corner. As he’d expected, he heard another engine sound and he caught the sight of another car arriving and the one he’d been watching pulling away.

A minute later he watched Vesper coming down the stairs with the strap of a leather bag on her shoulder. “What were you doing?”

He said, “Watching the changing of the guard. The two who were here when I arrived were just relieved by two others.”

“You never stop, do you?”

“If you think somebody’s watching you, it’s always a good idea to watch them too. I don’t think these people are police.”

She set down the bag, went to the living room, and plugged a timer into the wall outlet, set the on and off times, plugged the television into it, and used the remote control to turn it on to a 24-hour cable newsstation. She set the living room lamp timer to remain on for the evening and switch off ten minutes after the television at 12:40A.M.and turn on at 6:10P.M.

He stepped toward the stairs, but she said, “I already set the bedroom and bathroom ones.”

“Then you’re ready to go?”

“Yes.”

He picked up her bag, walked to the back door, and waited. She punched in the code on the alarm control panel to arm the system, they stepped out, and she locked the back door with a key. They walked into the darkest part of her backyard, in the shadows under the tall oak trees, and stopped at the back wall.

Warren squatted and held his hands at knee-level with the fingers laced. She stepped into his hands, straightened her leg as he stood, and pushed down with her arms to help lift herself up onto the top. She sat on the wall, swung her legs to the other side, and then turned her body and lowered herself to the neighbor’s lawn.

Warren set her overnight bag on the top of the wall and she took it. He hoisted himself to the top of the wall, went over, and joined her. He took her bag and they walked quietly along the side of the neighbor’s house to the front lawn. His car was fifty yards up the street where the neighbor wouldn’t see it. They walked there and got in. “You’re so good at that,” she said.

“Maybe if I don’t succeed in getting your money back, we’ll give burglary a try,” he said. They hurried down the street to his rental car, got in, and drove off. After he had gone a few blocks, checking his mirrors every few seconds, he said, “Are you hungry?”

“Sort of. Nothing urgent.”

“Have you been to Honfleur?”

“The French town?”

“The restaurant.”

“No,” she said. “And I really don’t feel in the mood for spending two hours in a fancy restaurant. I feel like hiding.”

“That’s the plan. But stopping there on our way to my place takes about the same time as it does for them to pack a take-out order.”

“That sounds better.”

He put his phone on speaker so he could drive while they ordered. When they reached the restaurant, he left the car running while he hurried inside and came back with a large brown bag. He put it on the floor behind his seat and drove on. It took a much shorter time to reach his building. He pulled into the gated lot, and they were inside his condominium in another minute.

He set the bag on the kitchen counter, and Vesper Ellis stepped closer to it. “I’ve been smelling this in the car and it was making me hungry.”

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