Sunset Express

Joe let the door close, and then he and I followed Ray and Worley into the bathroom and pressed against the door. We heard voices and curses and a woman's nervous laughter, and then I said, 'That's it, Luke. Showtime.'

I dragged Worley out, and we used the card key to open the door again as Pike turned off the alarm. I pushed Worley through white smoke and said, 'That's a minute, forty-five. The clock is running.'

Joe and Ray scrambled in behind us, Joe taking a dousing blanket from the gym bag and pulling on heavy gloves to recover the smoke canister. Leave no evidence. They stayed at the door and Worley led me into an office. He said, 'This used to be mine. Sharon must've taken it.' A Macintosh computer was up and running on the desk, as if she'd been in the middle of something when we pulled the alarm. I said, 'Ninety seconds. They'll be asking each other what happened. They'll be wondering why the alarm stopped and wondering if they should come take a look.'

Worley closed the files that were on-screen and opened others. A case log heading that read MARTIN, THEODORE appeared on the screen along with a list of topics. He grinned and slapped the desk. 'Y'see. Fuckin' magic. It's all right here.' Like we were on the same team, now. Like he'd forgotten that we'd had to put a gun to his head.

'Print it and open Green's personal file.'

Worley frowned. 'Whaddaya mean, personal file?'

'Letters, bills, work product, anything that has his name on it.' I went to the door and looked at Pike. The canister was out, but a heavy mist of white was spreading through the office as the smoke settled. I said, 'C'mon, Luke. Sixty seconds.'

Worley frowned harder. 'Faster if I disk it.' He could tell I didn't know what he was talking about. 'I'll just dupe it onto a disk. It's faster than printing.'

'Do it.'

Ray stepped into the door. 'We've got voices on the other side of the door.'

Worley slapped in a disk. He punched buttons.

I said, 'You'd better not be screwing with me, Luke.'

'Jesus Christ, I'm almost done.' His eyes were big again. 'Okay, now! We've got it! That's everything!'

He ejected the disk, and we hurried through the smoke in the outer office to the rear stairs and took them down to the parking level. I was sweating hard, thinking we might meet a blue coat or a maintenance man taking the back way up, but we didn't. Luck.

We crossed the parking garage and got into the Porsche and drove back to Lucas Worley's condominium. It was dark when we got there. No one had thrown up a road block to stop us, and a phalanx of police cars hadn't chased us in hot pursuit. I'd never seen a phalanx before, but I was happy to avoid the experience. I said, 'You did okay, Luke, but there's one other thing.'

He looked at me. The four of us were still in the Porsche, sitting there in his carport.

I said, 'You're going to keep your mouth shut about this. You're not going to tell your buddies. You're not going to brag to your girlfriend. We clear on that?' I was pretty sure that he would, eventually, but I wanted some time.

Ray said, 'DiVega still wants this fuckuh dead.'

I ignored Ray. 'We together on this, Luke?'

Lucas Worley's head bobbed. 'I won't breathe a word. I swear to Christ.'

I held up the disk. 'I'm going to check this stuff, and if it isn't complete, or if I figure you've screwed me, I'm going to call DiVega. We together on that, too?'

Luke flicked from Ray to Joe to Ray again. Ray was glaring at him. 'Man, I copied everything. If it was there, you've got it. I swear.'

Ray said, 'DiVega said we should do what you say, but I know he don't like it.'

I looked at him, making a big deal out of the look so that Worley would see. 'Tell Mr DiVega that we're even now. Tell him I said thanks.'

Ray turned back to Luke and punched him once in the forehead, lightly.

Worley said, 'Ow!'

Ray said, 'You ever buy any more dope, we'll hear about it. You ever sell dope again, we'll be back. What happened here won't matter a damn. You understand, Mr Harvard Law?'

Worley's head snapped up and down like it was on a spring. 'Hey, I'm retired. You tell Mr DiVega. I swear.'

Ray and Joe and I climbed out of the Porsche, left Lucas Worley sitting in his carport, and walked out to the street and back to our cars. Ray said, 'Is this guy DiVega for real?'

'Nope. I made it up.'

Ray nodded. 'I was trying to scare the little dip. Maybe wake him up.'

'I know.'

'That little sonofabitch will be dealing again inside the month.'

'You can bet on it.'

Ray thought about it. 'If this fool goes back to dealing he's gonna meet a real Mr DiVega sooner or later.'

'They always do.' We stopped at my car and shook hands. 'Thanks, Ray. I appreciate the help.'

Ray was staring back toward Worley's condominium, looking more than a little sad. 'Think of the waste. Goddamned Harvard.'

'Yep.'

Ray Depente took a deep breath, let it out, and then walked on to his car. I guess he just couldn't understand how someone could turn his back on so much opportunity. I guess he'd be thinking about it most of the night.

Pike and I watched him leave, and then we drove back to my house.

CHAPTER 30

We drove directly to my home, me in my car, Joe following in his Jeep, anxious to see if we had anything that Anna Sherman could use. It was eight-twenty when we arrived, and Lucy and Ben were snuggled together on my couch, watching what looked to be a Discovery Channel program about African plains game. The cat was watching the TV, too, but from the edge of the loft. He still didn't like Lucy and Ben much, but at least he wasn't growling.

Ben said, 'They're home! Hi, Joe.'

Joe said, 'Hey, bud. You want to show me how to boot up this Macintosh?'

'Sure.' Ben jumped up and the two of them went to the Mac. The cat stopped watching the television and started watching Joe. He began kneading his paws, but he still did not come down.

Lucy held up her hand, and I took it. She said, 'I'm still not going to ask where you've been or what you've been doing.'

I kissed her nose. 'Damnedest thing. Joe and I found a computer disk on the street. We suspect that it contains contracts and business agreements between Jonathan Green and Theodore Martin.' I held it up and showed her.

Lucy closed her eyes and slumped back miserably on the couch. 'God. For sure I don't want to know.'

'Of course, we won't know where it leads until we review what's here, and it would probably help to have an attorney decipher the stuff.'

Lucy buried her face in her hands. 'I'll be disbarred. I'll go to jail.'

Joe said, 'We're ready.'

I went over to the Mac. 'Yeah, you're right, Luce. Better stay over there out of the way.'

Lucy jumped up and hurried around the couch to join us. 'Oh, hell. It won't hurt to peek over your shoulder.'

We fed the disk into the computer and opened the files. The list of available documents pertaining to Teddy Martin's representation was lengthy. Lucy leaned past me and tapped her nail on the screen. She had put on her reading glasses. 'Most of this probably has to do with billing. You want the retainer agreement.'

I looked at Lucy. 'I thought you wanted no part in this.'

She took a half-step back and showed her palms. 'You're right. Forget I said anything.'

I turned back to the screen.

Lucy said, 'But you still want the retainer agreement.'