Page 72 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Fifty-Three

“It’s a lot to ask,” Jesse said. “I’ll understand if you can’t do it.”

Tom nodded as if in thought. “Lanton will wet himself when he sees Perez and Jesse together.” He grinned. “That alone is worth the risk.”

Suddenly she wasn’t so sure. “Tom,” she began, but he cut her off.

“It’s important he breathe easy for the couple of days it’ll take his sources to corroborate Cole’s report.” Tom shifted his attention to Cole, and Jesse wanted to cry. What had she done to deserve such a good friend? “You’ll get grilled right away,” he told Cole. “And he’s good. He’ll know you’re lying.”

“We’re counting on him coming to me,” Cole said. “He comes in early. I’ll be in his office fifteen minutes later. I’ll tell him how Jesse pronounced Perez dead, not me. We had no other choice but to scatter, and I lost her. That’s close enough to the truth that it’ll take some time for him to sort out the details. The reports he’ll get from Caruthers about tracking Jesse through Panama then Nicaragua will feed into his doubt.”

“With any luck, he’ll be desperate enough to move his money, or try to find where Perez is hiding,” Jesse said. “We need you to work surveillance. Can you bug his office?”

“No. I do have access to the security camera in the hall outside his office and his phones, though. But I don’t think he’s that soft. He won’t crack just because he saw you and Perez.”

Jesse shook her head. “We don’t expect him to. We’ll let him stew and dig. He’ll grill Cole. He’ll probably interview you, as well.”

“Yeah,” Tom agreed. “I’m the closest thing to family you have.”

Surprise, then tenderness filled her. This was the first time he had ever referred to himself as family.

“I don’t work for him,” Tom said “so I can put him off for a little while. That’ll make him sweat.”

“Good,” she said. “We let him worry until just before noon, then Cole will call his secure line using Perez’s voice.”

The Professor looked at Cole. “No kidding?”

Cole cleared his throat. “Senor Lanton,” he said in a near perfect approximation of Perez’s voice. “You have double crossed me.”

Jesse gave a nod of approval. “A little longer O in Lanton and it’ll be perfect. Tom, you’ll be watching him inside, while Cole and I are outside. We’ll have to be in constant contact, so we’ll need spread spectrum radios.”

“Won’t work,” he said. “I’ll never get away with that inside the building.”

“Okay,” she said. “You’ll use a secure line to call when he leaves the building.”

“What if he does nothing after Perez’s call? He’s smart.”

“That’s where Perez comes in again,” Cole said. “I’ll call and demand we meet.”

“We need a surveillance van,” Jesse said.

“Done.”

“We meet Lanton. I’ll be armed with blanks,” Cole said. “The idea is to get him to talk. If he gives us what we want, we’ll simply disarm him. If he plays hard-ball, Jesse will shoot me.”

Tom looked nonplussed. “That’s going a bit far, even for your country.”

Cole shook his head. “Her gun will be loaded with blanks. The special effects device I’ll wear will blow the studio blood strapped under my suit, and I go down dead.”

“Ahh,” Tom said. “Green Leader will then feel closer to Jesse Evans.”

Jesse nodded. “He’ll deal with us once and for all. Cole and I will be wearing wires.”

Cole shook his head. “No wire for me.”

She looked sharply at him. “Why?”

“The special effects have sonic triggered charges that blow out the blood bags. They’re highly sensitive in order to sense where a weapon is aimed and discharge the correct bag. If the gun is pointed at my stomach and my chest explodes, it’s all over. The radio transmission could interfere with the sensors. I’ve seen it happen.”

Dammit. She didn’t like it, but he was right. “There’s no guarantee any of this will go down the way we plan. I see your point about not wearing the wire. You will be wearing a vest.”

He nodded. “On one condition. If we don’t get him to talk, and he shoots me, you get him to talk. I don’t want you running to my rescue. I want him.”

She recalled his words at the Dan Hotel, “My men gave their lives for that mission, and the people they loved weren’t given any explanations for why they died.”

She had her mission. He had his. “All right. No running to your rescue.”