Riegel looked up from his chair. “What are you talking about? You want to kill the woman? The children?”
“I told Gentry if he didn’t show, they would die. He didn’t show. Don’t look so goddamn surprised.”
“He didn’t show. That means he’s dead. Why punish a dead man, you idiot?”
“He should have tried harder.” Lloyd pulled the silver automatic from his hip and let it hang in his hand by his side. “Get out of the way, Riegel. This is still my operation.”
“Not for much longer.” There was menace in the big German’s voice.
“Be that as it may,” Lloyd said, “I still have a job to do, andI don’t see you stopping me. You can act all sanctimonious about that family, but you know they could identify us. Identify this place. They’ve got to die.” He pushed past Riegel and stepped into the hallway.
On the Tech’s desk, Sir Donald Fitzroy’s phone rang. Lloyd reappeared in the doorway instantly. The young technician quickly sat back down and slipped his headphones back over his ears. Felix stepped back into the room, curious, his attaché in his hand and a camel-colored raincoat over his arm.
The Tech put the call through the overhead speakers. Lloyd said, “Yes?”
“Good morning, Lloyd. How are things?”
—
“You are too late, Court. We lost the contract, which means you have failed. I don’t need the leverage of the Fitzroys anymore. I was just heading downstairs to put some bullets into them. Want to listen in?”
“You need them alive more than ever now.”
Lloyd smiled. “Oh really, and why is that?”
“Life insurance.”
“Yeah, Court? I watched you fall off that bridge last night. I don’t know where the hell you are, but you are in no position to—”
“Forget about the contract with Abubaker. Don’t worry about your boss firing you. Put out of your mind Riegel’s henchmen showing up at your door some cold night. Ignore all your future troubles. Right now, the only danger in your world is me.”
“How are you a danger to—”
“Because I’m heavily armed, I’m royally pissed, and I’m right outside.”
In the control room there was a silent flurry of activity. Riegel moved to the window quickly, pushed the lace curtains aside with a fingertip. He scanned the heavy mist over the back lawn. The Tech lurched across the desk to his handheld radio and frantically began whispering the news to the guards on the property. Felix pulled out his mobile and charged into the hallway, thumbing buttons as he moved.
Only Lloyd did not flinch. He stood as if his feet were stuck to the floor. “You’re bluffing. You just expect me to let the Fitzroys go because you say you are outside? What kind of an idiot do you take me for?”
“An idiot with an expiration date. And I assume LaurentGroup’s grim reaper is listening in. Riegel, the same goes for you. You brush a hair on the heads of those kids or Mrs. Fitzroy, and you will die in that house.”
Riegel spoke up. “Good morning, Mr. Gentry. If you are outside, why don’t you come to the front door? The Lagos contract is lost; our incentive to kill you has vanished. We’ve just called off the wet squads. The game is over. If you are really here, why not drop in for coffee?”
“If you doubt that I’m in the neighborhood, maybe you should try checking in with the four smelly guys in the blue Citroën.”
That sank in a moment. Riegel did not know what car the Kazakhs drove, but the Tech anxiously began trying to raise them again. As he did so, receiving no reply, he looked up to his two superiors with eyes of terror.
Finally Riegel said, “Most impressive. A man in yourcondition still able to dispatch four tier-one operators without a shot fired. As I said, we have no quarrel with you any longer. Please come in and we’ll—”
“You free the Fitzroys and hand over the SAD files, or I swear to God I will murder every last living thing in that house!”
Lloyd had been quiet, his hands on his hips and his sweat-stained shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. But now he moved. Storming across the room to the Tech’s desk, he leaned into the mobile phone’s microphone. “Fucking bring it, you gimpy piece of shit! In the meantime, I’m going to take a straight razor to those two stupid little bitches downstairs—”
Riegel pulled the American lawyer away from the phone, shoved him hard against the stone wall. He leaned in himself, cleared his throat. “Yes, Court? Could you allow us a few moments to discuss your proposal? You know how corporations are; we must call a meeting for everything.”
“Sure, Riegel. I’ll check back in a bit. Take your time, no rush.” The phone went dead.
—
