Taking the Highway

NO CALLS. THAT WAS rule number one. No calls, no e-grams, and certainly no blips. Andre had looked for signs of a tracer on the temp phone. It was as clean as he could expect it to be, but Talic had reserved this phone. Talic would be monitoring it. He couldn’t get rid of it and he couldn’t use it to call anyone that mattered.

Of course, this was just what Talic wanted—Andre alone, without the means to call for backup or help or even advice. A man alone made desperate choices. A man alone made mistakes.

Not this time.

He drove past the Pen, watching the front door open and close, cops and civilians going in and out. He drove to the rear of the building and parked in the alley between the dumpster and the recycling bins. The sun slanted between the buildings and shone a spotlight on the back exit. No customers used this door, but sooner or later, a bartender or a waitress would come out this way.

He paced the alley in front of his car. Every cell in his body screamed at him to act, and act fast. He flexed his swollen and bruised right hand. He would wait.

And when the time came to act? What then? He reached the end of the alley and paced back again. His mind flipped over possibilities, each one worse than the last. Talic had Oliver, Talic wanted Nikhil. Andre was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t, and no matter what happened next, someone he loved would die. He refused to make that choice.

But if he waited too long, he wouldn’t have any choice at all.

Five endless minutes later, the back door opened. A gray-haired waitress stepped into the alley, carrying a steel bucket full of empty bottles. She caught sight of Andre and tensed, then relaxed as she recognized him. “Our special tonight is Sandborn Canadian. Bottle for the price of tap.”

“Thanks, Chloe. You deliver out here?”

“Only the dead soldiers.” She staggered toward the recycle bins.

“Let me get that.” He took the bucket from her and tipped it in. Bottles clattered and broke.

Chloe took the bucket back. “Thanks. You lurking out here for a reason? Because if you’ve turned flasher, you can show me your pecker right now and get it over with. I got to go back to work.”

“Is Danny Cariatti still in there?”

“Honey, it’s Friday. Everyone is still in there.”

“Any way to get him out here?”

“I doubt it.” Chloe’s hair brightened into a white halo as she moved from shadow to sun. “The beer is in there. Nothing out here but you.”

“And my pecker.”

“Which I haven’t seen, so I can’t say.” She disappeared inside.

The temp phone vibrated in his pocket. Andre ignored it. He knew he should answer it, tell Talic something, beg for more time. He knew he was endangering Oliver with every passing minute, but what could he do?

The alley door burst open and Danny leapt out, reaching under his coat for his weapon. He looked left, then right, drawing on Andre.

Andre threw his hands in the air. “Whoa, whoa, Danny! It’s me.”

Danny’s eyes widened. “Chloe said something about a creep in the alley trying to flash her.”

“She wishes.”

Danny swiped his few remaining hairs off his forehead. “I knew it. I switched to coffee the minute you called me.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Not half as drunk as I wish. What are you doing here? And if you say ‘my job’ I will shoot you where you stand.”

“I’m not, okay? I’m not doing my job, or my duty, or anything else you’d approve of.”

“Well, that covers a lot.”

“It’s Talic.”

“Talic again? When are you going to let that go?”

Andre swallowed past a dry throat. “He took my brother.”

“Why does Talic want your brother?”

“He thinks I have Nikhil. He wants to trade.”

“Do you have him?”

“Would we be having this conversation if I did?”

“Talic.” Danny shook his head. “I never liked that guy. What are you going to do?”

“I can’t do anything. I don’t have a shield. I don’t have a base of operations, or tech support. I don’t even have decent hardware. I have a shitty backup piece and a possibly bugged temp phone, and just over an hour to deliver Nikhil.”

“You can’t trade your nephew for your brother.”

“Not planning on it. But I have to give Talic something.”

“We’ll arrest him. I’ll do it myself.”

“You can’t. Nobody can. The city manager’s office is holding the other end of his leash.” He held up a hand to forestall Danny’s next statement. “You could try to untangle that mess, but by the time you do, my brother will be dead.”

Danny exhaled and leaned his hips against the wall. “You make a single move, in any direction—try to take your car on the highway, get your prints on a weapon—your career is over. You go after Talic, your life is over.”

Andre scoffed. “It’s over anyway. It’s just a matter of whether I’m alive to see it.”

“Precisely why you—”

“I’m not asking for your approval! I’m not even asking for your help. I’m going to do this. You can’t change it.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Go back inside, drink more beer than you should, and forget where you parked your car.”

Danny stood up straight, folding his arms. “I should also forget that I gave you the key?”

“And your gun, too. Way, way too much beer.”

“F*ck you, LaCroix.”

Andre flexed his swollen right hand. He should have known better than to come here. He was asking the impossible, and Danny was right to say no. He nodded his understanding.

Danny spread his hands. “I’m going to gear you up and let you go? Alone? Screw that.” He tossed Andre his key card. “My Jeep is parked out front. Let’s go.”

“Okay. Right. I need Nikhil and I don’t even know where to find the little turd. I told him to stay away from me and now he’s blocked every call I’ve placed. In twenty years the kid’s never listened to a damn thing I’ve told him, except this.”

Andre’s datapad vibrated for attention. He glanced at the display, grimaced, and put the pad back in his pocket.

“Talic?” Danny asked.

“My mother.”

“Answer it.”

“It’s my mother.”

“So you said. Ask her where Nikhil is.”

“She’s in Arizona. She doesn’t know.”

“She’ll find out. Nikhil’s blocking your calls. He won’t block your mom’s.”

“I block my mom’s calls all the time.”

“Yeah, but you’re an a*shole.”

“And Nikhil’s not?”

“Answer the call!”

Andre glared at him, but he clicked the call through. “Mom. Hi.”

“I am so worried about my taxes, darling. What if I have government trouble?”

“Mom, you don’t owe any taxes.” Andre hurried out of the alley.

“Terrible trouble, governments. You never know what they will do.”

“Mom! Mom, mom, mom.”

“I am right here. Why do you say my name over and over?”

“You need to call Nikhil. Call him right now. Tell him to go home and stay there.”

“What is going on? You boys—”

“Maman! Tu dois lui dire qu’il doit rentrer chez lui maintenant! Est ce que tu as compris?”

“Oui. Oui.”

Danny’s Jeep was parked halfway down the block. Andre rushed toward it. “Tell Nikhil to turn off the lights and lock the doors. Tell him to wait for me.”

“Andre Francois LaCroix, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I—”

“You have newsnets in Sedona, don’t you?”

“Of course,” his mother sniffed.

“Then I suggest you watch.”