Rachel and Jean were still laughing as Terry walked away.
“It wasn’t that funny.” Nick pretended annoyance at his companions’ amused disbelief that the waitress would think he might be Brad Pitt. “I do look a lot like Brad.”
His statement brought renewed laughter. His satellite phone beeped in the bag next to him, where he’d stored his H &K.45. Nick took the phone out of the bag. “I’ll be right back.” He walked outside with the phone, unwilling to take any chances some noise or conversation might give away their location to the caller. It was still nearly ninety degrees outside in the Arizona town, and he felt the sweat start forming again after being in the air conditioned restaurant. Staying in the shade, he walked away from the restaurant entrance, but kept alongside the building wall providing cover from the five o’clock sunlight.
“I’m here,” he answered.
“Ready to come in from the cold, Nick? Eliminate the family problem and we’ll have you on a book tour in France, all expenses paid, plus a nice million for your retirement fund. We can heal this unfortunate rift between us easily. What do you say?”
Nick remained silent, inwardly masking the disappointment of hearing Frank’s voice.
“Thought your US Marshall friends nailed me, huh? This won’t go away, Nick. The DOJ is only one small thread. We have inroads everywhere. National security is all one big happy family. If one of our family units gets too hot for a while, we cut off contact until it cools down.”
“You’re on my bucket-list, Frank,” Nick stated calmly. “Kiss your wife, girlfriend, or significant other. Play video games or baseball with your spawn. You won’t know when or where, but I’m going to do my part for national security in a small way, by erasing your back stabbing ass.”
Frank laughed. “Turn that record over will you, Nick? You’ll never get close.”
“I don’t need to.”
“There’s a reason we don’t party together or exchange Christmas cards, Meat. We understand how some facets of our operation might one day go off the deep end, so anonymity is highly guarded.”
“I’m glad you don’t believe I can find you, Frank. I promise not to be vengeful, and kill everything you ever loved right down to your kids’ pet gerbil.”
This time, it was silent on Frank’s end of the conversation.
“Okay, let’s deal,” Frank said finally. “We know the safety deposit box is in Florida. We also know you’re heading there.”
“If you know everything, why don’t you get a court order and take the box? Oh, that’s right, whoever you’re in bed with would be on the DOJ’s radar, along with our little covert group. You could have played this straight up with me, Frank.”
“What? Keep financing your pretend world, give you a ready-made family, and throw all our other assets under the bus? You’re insane, pal. It doesn’t work like that. I follow orders, just like you used to do. I can see you don’t want the easy way back in. Why don’t I give you an alternate way out of this mess?”
“I’m listening.”
“We open the way into the bank for you and your sweetheart. You give us the flash drives. Then you and your family run along and live happily ever after.”
“I don’t think so,” Nick retorted. Shit, there’ll be pros shadowing our way into the damn box. “What is this all about anyway? We get the drives. I nail the bad guys and everybody’s happy. I might not even come looking for you under the right conditions.”
“Unlike you, they know where I live. We could out you to the whole world, Mr. Bestseller. We’ve already put the bug about your past in your US Marshall friends’ ears.”
“Then there wouldn’t be any reason for me not to release everything I have stored concerning the last ten years. How many people know where you live, Frank?”
“Wait a minute, wise guy, are you…hey, not bad,” Frank muttered. Nick waited patiently for Frank to sort out his complex conniving thought processes. “Would this square us, Nick?”
“Depends. If you feed me legitimate targets and manage to seal up any other possible leaks to this travesty, I could be persuaded to let bygones be bygones.”
“Say I give you a name or names and everything in the information department gets nice and tight. What happens to the drives?”
“Are you on them?”
“No, but a whole bunch of unintended consequences could arise if an unedited version of those drives hit the streets. It’s a deal breaker if I don’t get to pare them down for uninformed eyes.”
“One condition-I keep an unedited version of the drives. Also, my US Marshall friends get on your edited version list too. If I see anything out of sync you’re not taking care of, I’ll be able to remind you.”
“You’d be a damn target forever…oh -”
“Now you’re getting it,” Nick interrupted. “If my adopted family or I have any trouble at all, the unedited version would be out in the open, along with ten years of covert assassinations.”
“This extortion racket of yours is guaranteed to wear thin.”
“You’ll be in a position to make some really nice jumps in pay grade, Frank. I need you to post your proposition to me, including all the little details about why these names are the ones to take care of. I want a vid with you doing the presentation. We’re past the Texas Hold Em’ phase of this relationship. Put your cards on the table.”
“Agreed. How do I know you won’t kill me later anyway?”
“You don’t, but since I know you live in a fancy estate in Reisterstown, if I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead.”
“Christ!”
Nick pictured Frank’s hand trembling as he gripped the phone, looking wildly around in a panic. He could practically hear the thought streaming into Frank’s mind: ‘The son of a bitch could be right outside my house!’
“Don’t blaspheme. See, now we have the cards face up.”
“All right, I’m impressed.” Frank uttered what Nick wanted to hear in a wavering, hushed voice. “I’ll put together the presentation. It will be sent to your usual drop. Give me some time though…at least a day. Don’t do anything hasty, Nick.”
Nick leaned his head against the restaurant wall, imagining Frank at his desk in the study located in the east-wing of his estate. Having targeted Frank with his spotting scope in the past, he knew where Frank spent most of his time. “Quit glancing around your study like a caged animal. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Nick grinned when he heard a desk chair moving and the phone being juggled. “Will you relax? There’s no need to duck away from the window. I told you we have a deal. Just make sure you sell me on the proposition you present.”
Knowing the layout of Frank’s study intimately, Nick calculated Frank was probably hiding behind his bookcase. He confidently pondered what Frank was thinking at the moment as he leaned comfortably with his eyes closed, guessing Frank’s thoughts: ‘My God… is he really out there? Where the hell are my men?’
“You look like a little kid, peeking around the book case like that.” Nick gambled and won, hearing Frank’s breathing pick up.
“Nick, don’t do anything stupid. Like you said, we have a deal. I’ll have everything you need posted by tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, buddy.” Nick chuckled. “You know, a man like you should have some nice blinds instead of those sheer frilly curtains.”
“Jesus…”
Nick ended the call. Oh yeah. He went to the Cadillac and checked on Deke. With the sun visors up, vehicle windows cracked open, and the SUV recently air conditioned, the temperature inside was comfortable for the dog. Deke would be okay through the meal. Opening the passenger side rear door, Nick petted Deke for a couple minutes. The rear seat area was considerably cooler than outside, so he gave the dog a final stroke and returned to the restaurant. Rachel looked up questioningly. He could tell she expected the worst. He smiled to make her relax a little.