to talk to her? I’ll call her now.”
Kowalski nodded.
Murphy called Anita’s new cell number and got her. “Where are you?”
“I just got to the house,” she said.
“You know that bar where we heard the guitarist?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m there now with a buddy, and he’s got something for us. Come straight over.”
“I’m on my way.”
“How long you know her?” Kowalski asked.
“Going on five years. We’ve done very well together, and she’s never once dropped the ball.”
“The big guy has a girl in on this, too, so maybe he’ll go for it.”
They sipped their beer and waited for Anita. She spotted them immediately, picked up three beers at the bar, and came over.
“Nita, you remember Jerry.”
“Sure.”
“I’m helping to set up a job, and Bill tells me you can handle yourself.”
“I beat him up all the time,” she said.
“You think she’s kidding?” Murphy laughed.
“Okay, here’s the deal: we’re hitting a jewelry show at a big hotel. The big guy has all the inside info, and he’s got the scene tapped, plans and everything. It’s going to run like clockwork.”
“When?” Nita asked.
“Pretty soon. You won’t get any notice. I’ll come get you, we’ll go to a place where everything is set up. Everything’s provided: clothes, weapons, masks, transportation. You sit down with the big guy, he runs us through it, we do some practicing. We sleep over, next day we walk in, point guns at people, take out the security, and walk out with a couple of duffels full of high-end diamond jewelry.”
“Anybody going to get hurt?” Murphy asked.
“Only if there’s opposition. The plan is so good they won’t see us coming. We’re in, we’re out.”
“Nita and I are in,” Murphy said.
“Lemme make a call,” Kowalski said. He went outside for five minutes, then came back, tucking his cell phone into his pocket. “Okay,” he said, “the big guy has bought you both.”
“What’s the money?”
“Fifty grand five days after the job, another fifty after the stuff is fenced—couple of weeks.”
“That’s a hundred grand each?”
“Right. We all get the same.”
Murphy and Anita looked at each other and nodded. “We’re up for it.” Murphy gave him their new cell numbers.
Kowalski made notes about their clothing and shoe sizes. “Here’s how it will go,” he said. “I’ll call you and say, ‘We’re on.’ No conversation. Exactly one hour after the call you’re standing in front of Washington Square Arch, and I’ll pick you up in a black van. Bring a small overnight bag and a change of clothes. No guns, knives, or other weapons. And no cell phones. You’ll be thoroughly searched, then equipped. We rehearse that day. The next day the job goes down. You’ll be delivered well away from the job, you go home and wait. Five days later you’ll get a call from me again. I meet you at Washington Square, you get your money, I drop you off. Any questions?”
“Who’s the big guy?” Anita asked.
“You’ll meet him. You won’t know his name. You don’t want to know his name or anything about him, believe me. You perform, you get paid, that’s it.”
“So we’re trusting you,” Murphy said.
“Remember what the big guy said? You don’t get paid, you can kill me?”
“So that’s how it is.”
“That’s how it is. You still in?”
“We are,” they both said simultaneously.
Kowalski got up and left, and Murphy and Anita ordered a burger.
“You really think it’s going to go the way he says?” she asked.
“Kowalski is a standup guy. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.”
“Well,” she said, “if it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me.”
“After lunch, we need to call the cops,” Murphy said.
“Do we?” she asked. “Do we really need to?”
55
Mike Freeman was at his desk, his office door open, then there was a soft rap on the jamb. He looked up to find Crane Hart, fetching in a white dress that was fitted tightly across her breasts. His breath quickened a little, and he felt himself growing tumescent. “Hi,” he breathed.
“Good afternoon,” she said.
“Come in.”
Mike worked in a soft chair at a coffee table, and she took a chair across from him and crossed her legs. He didn’t see much, but he knew she only rarely wore underwear, so his carnal tension went up a notch. “What’s up?”
“I came to protest,” she said.
“Really? About what?”
“You’re shipping me off to Atlanta just when the big event I planned comes off. I want to be here for that.”
Mike shook his head. “There would be nothing for you to do,” he said. “The plan and