“I didn’t sand it down, Muerto. Was it what you expected?”
“Yep. The powers that be are climbing all over Neil a day earlier than I thought. I hope Paul gets to work on my cover up. I can’t blame him for being slow on the draw with the cam footage gathered at the Wharf. If the PD moved that quickly and thoroughly on the muggers, El Muerto, Payaso, Ka Bong, and Geezer could have sipped cocktails on the deck instead of baiting traps to save old people. Where is the justice? Now, I’ll have to really push on the Pence. The only upside to this travesty is if I can pull off this caper, there’s no way they would tie in his disappearance with me, because of the degree of difficulty.”
“You mean impossibility,” Rachel replied. “That’s over a three hour drive one way. It will take seven hours, there and back, if you don’t want to be pulled over with him in your trunk. That doesn’t take into consideration locate and snatch time. It makes my head hurt imagining the complications. Now I understand why I hate going to the beach with you bozos. I could be on the couch eating bonbons, and watching movies. No damn wonder I never see my bestie Tina down here in Depressionville.”
By the time Rachel finished, her male companions, all but Dan, were humming violin concertos, while making gestures they were playing invisible violins. Nick stopped his violin playing pantomime. “Sorry, Rach. Now you know why we drink when we come down here.”
“I’m glad to be out of this road trip,” Dan said. “I think Rachel’s right. You guys are nuts to try this. Nick can wait a few days before going after Didricson.”
“You’re forgetting the impossibility factor,” Nick reminded him. “If Neil points somebody my way, and I answer the door at home, I’m golden for anything connected with Didricson disappearing. Don’t sweat it though. I’ll abort the mission if too many things happen messing with success. I admit I’m anxious to get Pence. He’s the key between Sadun and Formsby. Anything Tim and Grace find for me, threading the names together, will give Paul more leeway to protect me. Pence is the daily double for me, selling out the country, while blackmailing the government. If he had been smart, Pence would have taken his ill-gotten gains, and fled into Mexico. He could have bought a new identity down there, and went anywhere he wanted.”
“I wish you luck.” Dan stood. “I’m walking to the house, and start my time off with a nap. Please call me tomorrow morning to let me know you goofballs made it back in one piece.”
“Okay, Dan. I resent the ‘goofball’ tag though, partner.” Nick watched as Dan didn’t turn. He simply waved. Deke ran to him as if to find out where Dan was going. Dan petted him roughly, and told him to stay.
“Dan’s okay, isn’t he,” Rachel asked.
“He’s never going to be okay. Dan’s been helpful, and we give him enough to do and worry about to fill some of his hours. For now, that’s all we can do. I’m glad he wants to go with us to Washington. I know we’ll keep him busy there. Plus, getting away from here won’t hurt him any either. God only knows what it feels like to live in the house where he and Carol were together for over four decades.”
Rachel stared off at the ocean. “You’re right. I know I don’t want to imagine it.”
“Let’s go home. I need to wash Deke off, and get to work on entry codes. Then I have to see if my man Jerry can use another car.”
“When do you want to leave?” John began gathering their beach paraphernalia.
“We’ll leave about 6 pm. That’ll give us some leeway in case we hit any traffic. I’ll get some sleep before I pick Jean up from school.”
“Do you have an approach in mind at the bar?”
“We’re going to use the Frank approach, John.”
“The what?”
“He gets the entry codes to Pence’s BMW, waits for him in the backseat, and sticks him with a needle after Pence gets comfy in the driver’s seat,” Gus explained. “Nick’s old boss, Frank Richert tried to sanction us. He thought he was invincible too, until Muerto showed him the error of his ways.”
“That guy was evil, John,” Rachel added. “Not El Muerto level evil… but evil.”
“Hey… I think I resent that.”
*
“Are you sure you don’t want me to meet you at closing. I can go into work anytime I want now,” Pence Didricson explained to the blonde waitress serving his drink while putting a twenty dollar bill on the bar. “C’mon, Nat, give me a chance. I have money. I’m not hard to look at, and I have a great job.”