He came back down, poured his own martini and sat down. “So, how’s it going?” he asked.
“Not so hot,” she said. “Ed knows I’m either in town or on my way. Those two P.I.s, Vittorio and Cupie Dalton, have figured out that I rented my house, and they’re out there every day, trying to catch me there. I’m going to have to get a new place when I get back.”
“Sounds like a good idea. They can waste their time looking for you while you’re here with me.”
“Jimmy, tell me more about this pilot of yours-what’s his name?”
“Bart Cross. I’ve known him since he was a kid, and he’s done a lot of work for me on films. I helped him get a union card.”
“Is he one of those people who always needs money?”
“I think that’s true of most people, babe, but more so of Bart than most. He’s a poker player, and no better than so-so. He wins sometimes, but he loses more often. And he has to make the payments on that Beech Baron of his. That’s gotta be costing him four or five grand a month, and then there’s insurance, hangar and maintenance.”
“So, you think he’d be up for making some large cash?”
“How large?”
“I guess I’d go to twenty-five grand,” she said. “If I have to.”
“Bart would do just about anything for that kind of money,” Long said.
“Good. I’d like to meet him tomorrow. Can I have his number?”
“I’ll call him for you.”
“No, I’d rather do it directly and cut you out of this. We don’t ever want him to be able to testify that he put us in touch.”
“All right.”
“Does Bart know that I escaped from prison in Mexico?”
“Not from me he doesn’t, and nothing’s been on TV about it here, and he’s not the sort to read the papers. I’d say he’s ignorant of your Houdini act.”
Barbara looked at her watch. It was an hour earlier in Santa Fe, so she called her real estate agent.
“Yes, Mrs. Keeler?”
“I wanted to let you know that I won’t be needing the house after the end of the first month.”
“I’m sorry you couldn’t stay longer,” the woman said. “Will you be needing another place?”
“No, I’ve decided to go back to San Francisco.” Barbara gave her a bank account number to wire her security deposit to when her month ended.
“Thank you for all your help,” she said, then hung up. She thought about Dolly Parks and whether to call her, then decided not to. Best to cut her trail clean.
“So, you’re not going back?”
“Eventually,” Barbara said, “but that house is blown for me. I’ll find another place, if I need it.”
Long went to his desk, opened his address book and wrote down a number. “Here’s Bart Cross’s cell number,” he said, handing her a slip of paper. “He’s not working at the moment, so you’ll probably catch him at home in the morning.”
Barbara tucked the paper into her bra. “Thanks, sweetie,” she said. “I’ll be sure to tell him you know nothing about my seeing him.”
“I’ve still got your old Toyota,” Long said. “It’s in the garage, on a trickle charger. It should be okay.”
“I think I’ll have another martini,” Barbara said, holding out her glass.
25
The following morning Barbara called Bart Cross’s cell number.
“This is Bart,” he drawled.
“We last met in Yuma,” Barbara said.
It took him a moment. “Oh, yeah. How are you?”
“Lunch today.” She gave him the name and address of a restaurant on the Santa Monica waterfront. “One o’clock sharp,” she said.
“Uh, okay.”
She hung up. She spent the morning shopping in Santa Monica, especially in a bookshop, where she bought a fairly large-scale map of Santa Fe. Then she went to a RadioShack and bought two prepaid cell phones. Back in the car, she opened the map and marked her rental house and Ed Eagle’s house. Then she put on her blond wig and made herself up in an overdone fashion with lots of eye shadow.
AT ONE O’CLOCK, she watched from a distance as Bart arrived at the restaurant and got a table outside. When he was settled she walked over and sat down. “I won’t be here long,” she said, “so listen carefully.” She placed an envelope on the table. “I’ll be blunt,” she said. “I want two people killed: They’ll be together. I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand dollars for the job, and another five thousand for expenses. There’s ten thousand in this envelope, and the rest will be paid when the work is done. Do you want the job? If not, say so now, and I’ll be gone.”
Bart lifted the flap of the envelope and peeked inside. “Yes,” he said.
“The man is in Santa Fe. His name is Ed Eagle, and he’s a lawyer. He cheated me out of a lot of money in the settlement of a lawsuit, and I want him dead by the end of the month. Specifically, I want his throat cut. The other is his wife; I don’t care how you kill her.”
“That can be done,” Bart said.
She pushed the folded map and a key across the table. “There are two houses well marked on this map. Don’t open it now. The one on Tano Norte is a guesthouse where you can stay; the other is Eagle’s house. Your best chances are going to be morning around nine when he goes to work, or after dinner when he comes home. You’ll have to watch him for a while to get the lay of the land.”
“All right.”
“I want them both dead, together, and you have eighteen days to do it. After that day, you have to vacate the house. If anyone comes to the door looking for me, say that you sublet the house, paid me in advance, and that I may be in San Francisco.”
“All right.”
“Fly into Double Eagle Airport in Albuquerque, without filing a flight plan, and take a taxi to the big airport.” She placed a car key on the table, along with the parking receipt. “This is for a Mercedes station wagon, tan metallic, which is in long-term parking at Albuquerque Airport. The space number is written on the back of the ticket. When the work is done, park the car as nearly as possible to the same spot, and you can give me the key when we meet for your final payment.”
She gave him one of the two phones. “Memorize this number,” she said, reciting the number of the phone she retained.
“Got it,” he said.
“You are to use this phone to contact me and to avoid making calls on your own phone. You will contact me only if absolutely necessary.”
“Got it.”
“Make no calls from your own cell phone after you leave L.A. Clear?”
“Clear.”
“When you are back in L.A., call me and I’ll arrange to pay you the remainder of your money. After you have it, destroy the cell phone and scatter the pieces. Any questions?”
“No.”
“Call me if you need more information. I’m leaving now. If anyone sees you here with me, tell them I’m a hooker who tried to pick you up. One more thing,” she said. “If they’re both not dead by the eighteenth day, you’re dead.” She got up and walked away.
BART PUT THE MONEY and the map into his inside coat pockets. His heart was beating rapidly. This was a gift from heaven, he thought. He put the prepaid phone in his pocket and got out his own cell phone and dialed a number.
“Yes?”
“It’s Cross.”
“You better have my money.”
“That’s why I’m calling. I can give you the cash whenever you like.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at a restaurant in Santa Monica.” He gave the man the address.
“I’m five minutes away,” the man said.
Shortly, a car pulled up in front of the restaurant, and a large man got out. He came to the table.
“Sit down,” Bart said.