Flynn looked at his screen and had, indeed, set it to moving on foot. He clicked the car icon and the route adjusted. Not wanting to admit his mistake, he said, “Piece of shit. Go down to the next light and take a left. We have to box around to the other end.”
Shane accelerated to the next intersection, passing cranes and earth movers at a large construction site, then turned left on Michigan Avenue, driving a block to the final intersection. Waiting at the light, he saw what looked like a large lake across the street in front of them.
He said, “That’s the reservoir. It’s right there. I thought we were going to be away from it.”
Flynn looked and said, “We would have been, if the damn GPS had worked.”
“We’re going to drive right by the entrance. We’ll be on camera.”
Flynn said, “Would you quit whining? It is what it is. So they see us pass by, so what?”
The light changed and Shane said, “The ‘so what’ is that my name is attached to this truck through my CDL. If they get the license plate, it won’t matter if I drive away afterwards, they’ll know who was driving it.”
“You take the money and disappear. They’ll have to wonder if you were hijacked or some other weird shit. In fact, maybe we stage something like that with the truck when we’re done. Leave it in Virginia with a bloody handkerchief or something.”
Shane nodded, saying, “That might work. Maybe contact the shipper anonymously through that ‘How’s My Driving?’ bumper sticker and say the guy driving was out of control and leave a description that’s not me. A black guy maybe. It’s already late to the destination anyway.”
Shane saw the water extending out to his right and said, “You sure about this? I mean, poisoning the FBI and DEA?”
Flynn said, “I don’t really give a shit. Those assholes deserve it, and anyway, we’re not poisoning all of them, if you think about it. Maybe one or two people get enough fentanyl to OD, but they might not even die. Most will just get high from contact, and they’ll figure it out pretty quickly.”
Mollified, Shane said, “Yeah, that’s true.” He giggled, saying, “I’d hate to be taking a shower in one of those buildings tomorrow morning.”
They reached the front of the reservoir on the right, a two-lane entrance with an imposing eight-foot iron gate, a guard shack on the left with a stalk housing multiple cameras.
Flynn said, “This is it. Next left.”
“Here? Right in front of the entrance?”
“Yes! You’re about to pass it.”
Shane looked out his window and saw a line of the same brick silos on a concrete median. Interspersed between them were several squat one-story brick shacks, a narrow one way road looping around the structures, the park on the right and the construction area on the left.
He turned into the road and Flynn said, “All the way down, right next to where we passed the stairs on North Capitol.”
He inched forward past the silos and buildings, seeing the berm at the end, a sedan parked next to it. Just before he reached the final building he saw a man exit, holding his hand above his eyes to cut the glare of the headlights. It was Sardar.
Shane continued forward until Sardar was outside his window and stopped, rolling down his window. Sardar said, “Which side is the drain?”
“Left side.”
“Good. Loop around and stop next to the building.”
Shane followed his instructions and they both exited the cab. Sardar met them at the entrance to the garage, and Shane saw it was an old maintenance shed, with pipes and valves snaking around inside like spaghetti.
Flynn said, “Where’s the money?”
Sardar pointed to the vehicle at the berm, saying, “In my car, ready to go.”
“Let’s get that first.”
Sardar led them to the trunk and opened it, exposing two carry-on suitcases with the zipper expansion opened. He unlocked one and opened the lid, exposing stacks of hundred dollar bills. Flynn picked one up and flipped through it. Satisfied, he hoisted one bag out of the trunk, Shane getting the other.
They hauled them back to the truck, Shane asking, “What is this place, anyway?”
“It’s the original sand filtration site for Washington’s water. This is where the water was purified in the old days.” He pointed back to the reservoir andsaid, “Now, the DC water supply is modernized, all behind that fence, but the pipes from the old site are still connected to the outgoing water stream.”
Flynn said, “You mean the law enforcement water supply, right?”
