Easy, right?
Except now that I was standing next to the boulder, there was no clear path cutting through the woods, at least none that I could see. Instead, there was a thick menagerie of sharp, dry branches, thorny brush, and patches of soggy ground just starting to thaw, camouflaged by a blanket of fallen leaves and pine needles. I had passed only three other hikers on the trail before I reached the boulder, an old couple out for a stroll and a jogger lost in his playlist. Everyone else was either on the slopes or warming themselves with a glass of whiskey by the big stone fireplace in the lodge.
Anybody wanna trade places? I thought before breaking off the trail into the true wilderness.
By the third stretch of mud, my shoes were soaked through and I regretted not stopping to pick up a pair of rubber muck boots on the drive in. I’d tried poking around with the shovel, looking for drier land, but the mud extended so far in both directions I was afraid of straying off course just to avoid a case of frozen feet.
When at last I reached the stream, I could see why Robert chose it as a hiding place. Between the hike through hell and the shallow water, there had to be a dozen better spots for anyone looking to drop a line in the water. The current was moving quickly, forming little whitecaps in places where a branch or the tip of a submerged stone broke the surface.
I made my way along the bank until I came to Jay and Abby’s tree, about twenty yards from where I’d run into the stream. I scanned around the trunk, certain the Rock of Texas would be gone, washed away by the rain or tossed in the stream by the only other person stupid enough to make it this far, but it was right where Robert said it would be. I flipped it over and watched an earthworm dig itself deeper into the wet earth while a family of little gray pill bugs scattered.
I took off my suit jacket, hung it on a nearby tree branch, rolled up my sleeves, drove the tip of my shovel into the dirt and started digging.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
At the risk of sounding like Denise at the end of our fifth date, it was tinier than I expected. I had pictured something the size of a cigar box, when in actuality I could hold the container easily in the palm of my hand. Robert assured me it was safe to open, that in pellet form the radiation was lower than a standard X-ray, but I still turned my head as I lifted the lid, as if that alone would shield me from whatever deadly rays were emanating from within. There were maybe two dozen of the little gray pellets, filling up half the box. I tilted it from side to side, watching them roll back and forth like a contained wave.
There are a couple thousand lives in this box. Give this to the wrong person with the right set of skills, and you’ve got the terrorist attack on domestic soil that keeps Homeland Security chiefs up at night. One of many possible attacks, anyway. Not the one with the mushroom cloud in Midtown Manhattan, but the one that fills up the hospitals with radiation poisoning for months to come, leaves the water undrinkable and the air toxic to breathe. All that in the palm of my hand.
Holding it steady, I snapped a picture and sent it to the chat room I had just opened.
“Happy?” I said, returning the phone to my ear.
There was a pause as she examined the photo I’d just sent, then Trish came back on the line and said, “Very much.”
“Good, because the price just went up. One million dollars, cash, in addition to calling off the hits. Call it punitive damages for pulling that shit with Robert’s partner.”
“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Carter. You should be grateful I took this call at all, after keeping me waiting for so long.”
“And you should be grateful I haven’t gone public with this already.”
“Don’t be silly, Rick. Going public does nothing good for anyone, and you know it.”
“Send the money with The Persian,” I said, refusing to get sucked into a back and forth with her. “Alone. I find out she hurt Jimmy’s kids and all bets are off.”
“What’s the location?”
“I’ll text it when we hang up. And if anything happens to Robert or my family in the meantime—”
“Yes, yes, I know, you’ll disappear with the box and leak your own story to the press.”
“And continue my quest to cut you out of every deal you’ve ever brokered.”
“I wouldn’t puff my chest out over that too much, Rick. We have ways of dealing with clients and suppliers who deviate from our arrangement. Don’t think we’ll hesitate to dole out consequences for their disloyalty. Forcefully, if necessary.”
“And the pile of bodies will stack up, like one big arrow pointing back to you, Van De Berg, General Xin, Lynch, and the rest of your publicity-shy Board of Directors.” I paused to let those three names sink in. Her silence felt wonderful. I pictured her on the other end of the line, wondering what else I knew about her organization.
“Your family will not be harmed, Mr. Carter,” was all she said.
“Glad we understand each other.”
“I’ve always understood you, Rick.”
“I think you mean ‘underestimated.’”
I hung up, my heart racing. After a quick look around to make sure I was still alone, I texted the following:
Blue hiking trail on the ground of Woodlake Resort and Spa. Poconos. Midnight tonight. The Persian comes alone with the cash in a black duffel bag. Unarmed.
I watched the little bubbles dance in the chat room as Trish typed her reply. It didn’t take long.
She’ll be there.
Then I resealed the box in the evidence bag, dropped it in the hole I’d just dug and started to refill it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“Everything good?” I asked.
“No different than the last time we spoke,” Erica replied. They were currently westbound on the Ohio Turnpike, stopping only for gas, food, and bathroom breaks, as per my instructions. They’d dropped Jimmy off at the nearest ER and took off, not even giving their names. Been driving ever since. Robert still wasn’t happy about it.
“Tell him Laila and Lexi are still alive,” I said. “Hopefully that will make him feel a little better.”
“Turning this car around and heading back home to face things head on is the only thing that will make him feel better. Can’t say I blame him.”
“Tonight,” I said. “If all goes well, you can be Jersey-bound tonight.”
“Any sign of her yet?”
