Part 22 (2/2)
”We can work out the details, ”he said. ”But first, are you interested in the proposition?”
”It's possible. But I have to know the details first.”
”Why the details first?”
”I've never done business with a killer before, ”t.i.tus said evenly. ”I'm going to be very cautious.”
Macias's face was immobile. He didn't like t.i.tus's choice of words. A dew of perspiration appeared in the creases on either side of his mouth.
”And how would you get the money to me? ”Macias asked in turn.
”I can do it with a phone call. The same way I did the other ten million.”
”When?”
”In the morning. You'll get confirmation from your bank within an hour of my call.”
Macias nodded again. ”When I get the phone confirmation about the money, I'll tell you precisely step by step how to do it.”
”Not good enough.”
Macias studied him a moment. ”I know you have someone working with you. I don't know what's going on there. I have to protect myself.”
”Well, we seem to be at an impa.s.se, then.”
”What would you propose? ”Macias asked. ”As a compromise?”
”Look, ”t.i.tus said. ”You've seen me give Luquin ten million already, like I said I would. And I'll put it in your account, too, just like I say I will. But the only thing I've seen from your side of this deal has been lies and death. Now you tell me you're willing to give up Luquin. Well, tell me how he's protected-exactly how. You don't do that it makes me think you're going to screw him-and me-and skip out on both of us. So my feeling right now is, f.u.c.k you.”
Macias studied t.i.tus again. He was trying to reconcile this hard stance against what he'd heard over the bug. But, of course, the moment he'd contacted Cain with his proposal to sell out Luquin, Cain's situation had s.h.i.+fted radically. What Macias was seeing here was how quickly Cain's compet.i.tive mettle came to the forefront when he saw even the slightest opening. Macias might have more to deal with here than he had expected.
Macias drank quickly from his gla.s.s, weighing the upside, the downside. He was smelling the $10 million, and more important, he was thinking what life would be like without Cayetano Luquin breathing down his neck and not actually having to do anything about it himself. But Cain was right, of course; he needed something to believe.
”What does it matter to you how he's protected, ”Macias asked, ”if you are only going to turn the information over to the police?”
”Did I say I was going to turn the information over to the police?”
”What is this, then? ”he asked cautiously and with an amused smile. ”Your own personal vengeance? But this is such a Latin thing, Mr. Cain.”
t.i.tus could feel himself trembling from the high-voltage energy produced by the adrenaline pumping through him.
”Did you really think I was going to watch that man kill my friends and steal my money, and then let him go? He told me that if I didn't do what he said, he'd haunt me the rest of my life by killing my friends, my family. Well, I did what he said, and he killed people anyway. ”He paused. ”Or rather, you did it for him.”
The smirk stiffened on Macias's face.
t.i.tus went on. ”Did he really think ... I was going to let that happen without any kind of response? Fifty-four million dollars. If he thinks that kind of money is going to enable him to get certain things done, to buy certain information, to have people killed, what makes him think it won't do the same things for me? Does he think I'm an idiot?”
t.i.tus had no idea that he was going to say all of this, but suddenly as he looked at Macias several obvious ideas converged. The advantage that Macias had over everyone-first, with Luquin over t.i.tus; and now, working only in self-interest, over Luquin as well-was based solely in his willingness to simply disregard the rules by which everyone else in society agreed to play. Even the trust that Luquin had put in Macias, twisted though it was, had its own rules of order. And now Macias was ignoring even those corrupt boundaries.
But what really infuriated t.i.tus was that Macias apparently a.s.sumed that t.i.tus would continue to obey the traditional rules of society, that t.i.tus would not resort to Macias's own lawless tactics, even though not doing so would put him at every conceivable disadvantage. The condescension of that presumption suddenly struck t.i.tus like a lightning bolt. What in the h.e.l.l had t.i.tus been thinking about?
He fixed his eyes on Macias and lowered his voice.
”Has Luquin ever stopped to think how much revenge that amount of money will buy ... me?”
Macias said nothing. He waited. He was dealing with the unavoidable reality that everything Cain said about Luquin was directed at him as well.
”I'm not going to pay for more lies, ”t.i.tus concluded. ”Unless I can believe what you tell me, I'll just keep my ten million.”
Macias was suddenly scrambling to reevaluate his position. This kind of talk from Cain was not what he had antic.i.p.ated. Why was he suddenly so confident? How much more did Cain know than Macias had thought he knew? If Cain was after revenge, then maybe he was on his own after all. No legitimate law enforcement agency would be involved in that kind of operation. Was it possible that Cain had hired some very capable professionals? Maybe Macias had caught this just in time to prevent a debacle of his own tightly planned scheme.
”Maybe I can tell you a few things, ”Macias said, buying time to think.
”How's he protected? ”t.i.tus asked again. ”What will my people be facing if you 'give'him to me? How many guards? Where are they located? Give me some details to believe. But I've got to have a h.e.l.l of a lot more than a promise from a man like you before I'll fork over another dollar.”
Macias's handsome face was stiff with anger and more than a little suspicion.
”You are asking a lot for a man who has Cayetano Luquin hanging on to his b.a.l.l.s with both hands. Maybe I should just let him go ahead and take your fifty-four million ... and however many more lives he wants in the process.”
t.i.tus put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, way forward, almost in Macias's face, to make his point. ”Listen to me, you sick son of a b.i.t.c.h. Just sitting here with you makes me want to puke. Don't ... threaten ... me.”
Even as he spoke, it occurred to t.i.tus that he had juiced himself up so much that maybe he had said too much. Maybe he had gone way too far, way past smart. But from the moment he'd walked into the courtyard and seen Macias, the idea of conversing with this man had been repugnant to him. It was suddenly fantastical to him that he should be sitting down and talking calmly with the man who had orchestrated the deaths of Charlie and Carla.
But now maybe he had really screwed up. He could see from the look on Macias's face that he knew something was definitely wrong here. Why the h.e.l.l couldn't t.i.tus have contained his temper for another hour? And where the h.e.l.l was Kal's phone call?
Chapter 50.
Cope and t.i.to checked in with Cal just moments before they drove past the Pathfinder parked down the street from Luquin's house. They pa.s.sed it only once, slowly, going in the opposite direction, with Cope driving and t.i.to slumped down out of sight in the seat beside him.
”Windows down, ”he said. ”I think I heard a radio.”
Two blocks away they pulled to the curb in front of a darkened house.
”They're parked beside an embankment, ”he went on, ”to the side of the house. The yard sits about four feet higher than the street. The garage opens up right at the rear of the Pathfinder. There's some kind of hedge, about six feet high, at the top of the embankment to give the house privacy from the street. There's a bush jammed up next to the rear of the Pathfinder, planted right at the curb to hide the trash cans.”
”What about the approach?”
”We could come at the house from the back of the garage through the street side of the neighbor's yard. From the corner of the garage we'd be protected from their rearview mirrors by the big bush. They can't see the rear right corner of the Pathfinder from inside the vehicle.”
t.i.to was silent.
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