"No,” Mickey said. “The call caught me totally off guard, as you can imagine."
"Did they make any other demands, set a timeline, give you a location for the exchange?”
“No. None of that. They just said they'd be in touch, and details would follow. They warned me not to go to the police or involve anyone else.” Mickey panicked. "What if they're monitoring this phone call right now? What if they know I'm talking to you?”
"Just take a deep breath and try to relax. JD and I handle this type of thing all the time. One thing to keep in mind is that they need to keep her alive if they want to get paid. Did they give you a specific ransom demand?"
Mickey hesitated. "$150 million.”
That hung there for a moment. It certainly wasn't chump change.
"They either think I have the money, or they think I know where it is.”
“Do you?”
Mickey hesitated again. “Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Un-complicate it.”
Mickey went silent for a long moment. “I don’t remember.”
My brow wrinkled with annoyance. “What do you mean, you don’t remember?”
He sighed. “It was the fucking ’80s, man. Do you know how much cocaine, weed, and whiskey I ingested? Jail was probablythe best thing that ever happened to me. It saved my life. I was on the fast track to a pine box.”
“Let me get this straight. You stole $150 million from Pepe Sandoval, hid it somewhere in the Keys, and you don’t remember where?”
“Stole might be a strong word.”
“Mickey!”
“Okay, yeah. I stole the cash and ratted him and all his buddies out. I figured I’d grab the money when I got out. I’ve been looking for it ever since.”
“You weren’t worried about reprisals?”
“Hell yes, I was worried. But Pepe Sandoval is dead.”
“This could be someone from his crew. Maybe someone who just got out.”
“Or it could be some random loser trying to get their hands on my stash.”
There was another long silence as we contemplated our next move.
“You know where Diver Down is?”
“Yeah.”
“Meet us there,” I said. “We’ll go back to my boat and come up with a game plan. In the meantime, I’ll try to track the call to your phone.”
“You can do that?”
“I have resources. Where are you now?”
“I’m at home.”
