“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one annoyed with you.”
“Stow the attitude,” he said.
“Sure, Ricky. Whatever you want.”
“That’s better.” He instructed her on how to handle the pickup and where to bring it after, then said, “Repeat it back.”
She did so.
“Good,” he said. “I’ll contact you when it arrives. Be ready.”
He hung up.
“Everything all right?” Toomey asked.
“What?” Gennaro asked, surprised. Toomey was standing closer to him than he had thought. “Oh, yeah. That was my sister. She can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”
Toomey nodded. “So, we still headed to the subway?”
Gennaro glanced across the street and spotted several of the ubiquitous food carts. “We have a little time to kill. How about I treat you to a hot dog?”
Rosa knew she probably shouldn’tkeep pushing her brother as much as she had, but it was too much fun. She was sure he’d panicked when she’d acted like she wasn’t going to hang around long enough to collect his money. She would have loved to see that in person.
But what she really wished she could witness was his reaction when he found out that she’d double-crossed him and had been playing him all along.
She moved over to the wall as a new wave of commuters jostled past her, holding tight to the pair of duffel bags she’d purchased that morning.
One held two boxes. In the first was a Setchu cashmere and cotton dress that looked nothing like the drab clothes she usually wore, and in the second was a pair of Jimmy Choo flats she’d been eyeing for months. They were the most expensive things she’d ever bought herself, but she’d been squirreling money away for years in anticipation of finally getting back at her brother.
The contents of the other duffel were more important, however, as it would be the key to her clean getaway.
Her phone dinged with a text. She pulled it out, thinking it was a message from her brother.
Instead, it was from the InterContinental Presidente Cozumel Resort Spa, confirming her reservation for that evening.
She smiled and put her phone away.
Chapter 56
As Bryant Park came intoview, Alicia asked, “Was there a specific spot you’re to be taken?”
“No,” Jack said. “He didn’t say.”
“Parking in this area is near impossible,” Stone said. “I suggest just circling the park until he calls.”
They were just starting a second circuit when the throwaway rang. Jack answered it on speaker.
“How you holding up, Johnny?” the digital voice asked. “Getting tired yet?”
“Just tell me where you want me to go next,” Jack said.
The caller laughed. “Here’s where the real fun begins. You have three minutes to get to Forty-First and Sixth Ave. When you arrive, get out of the car and bring the briefcase with you.”
The line went dead.
“Alicia?” Stone said.
“I heard, sir. It’ll be cutting it tight, but I’ll do my best.”
