“Would you prefer we called it the botched Barrington hit?”
“The garbage truck case sounds just fine. Is there news?”
“As a matter of fact, there is.”
“That should do it,” Bob announced.
“Let’s table this until after,” Stone said to Dino.
“Good idea,” Dino said.
“Unless Jack’s extortionist is completely incompetent, they’ll block their number,” Bob said. “The longer you keepthem on the phone, the more chance I’ll have to decode the number and maybe even find out where they’re calling from.”
Bob donned a pair of wireless headphones, then handed one each to Stone and Dino. “The mics on these are muted, so you can listen in without worrying about anyone hearing you breathe.”
“The perfect Christmas gift for the discerning snoop,” Stone said, then glanced at his watch. They had two minutes until the scheduled call time. “Jack, whatever they ask for, don’t promise anything. Instead, tell them that you need time to work out logistics, or something similar.”
“Got it.”
“It’s okay to sound a little angry, too,” Dino said. “They’ll be expecting that. But don’t let it get the better of you. They might hang up.”
The phone rang at noon on the dot. As Bob predicted, the caller ID read:Blocked.
Jack accepted the call. “Yes?”
“Is this Jack Coulter? Or would you rather I call you Johnny Fratelli?” a digitally distorted voice said.
“Who are you?”
“I think I’ll go with Johnny. And you don’t need to know whoweare.”
“Then what do you want?”
“You have something of ours and we want it back.”
“And what would that be?”
“Money, of course. With interest and penalties, we’ll call it an even fifty million.”
“I guarantee you I don’t oweanyonefifty million dollars.”
“Like I said, interest and penalties. That’s what happenswhen you hold on to something that doesn’t belong to you for as long as you have. If you pay up, we go our separate ways, and you never hear from us again. If you don’t, people around you are going to start dropping like flies.”
“Do you think I have that kind of money lying around?”
“My associates and I are reasonable people. We understand it will take you a little time. So, here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to call back two days from now, at noon. You will be given a routing number and an offshore account number. Immediately following the call, you’ll transfer the entire amount to that account. That’s it. Couldn’t be simpler. I’ll talk to you again in forty-eight hours.”
“Hold on! Two days is not nearly enough time,” Jack said, but the line was dead.
They all looked to Bob, who tapped his keyboard a few times, then grimaced. “Not enough time.”
“What about a location?” Dino asked.
Bob worked his computer again. “Somewhere in the Bronx.”
“That’s a big area,” Stone said.
“Sorry. It’s the best I could do.”
