Outlaws by Matt Rogers (phonics books TXT) 📕

booked for California tomorrow morning. One of you needs to get on that plane. And I need to know tonight. Alonzo needs a final decision, so he can create a fake identity.’

Slater said, ‘California?’

She said, ‘That’s right.’

Then she left.

Nodded to both of them, made for the door, and disappeared through it before either of them could utter a word of protest.

Leaving them to discuss a volatile future.

39

King sized up Slater as soon as Violetta walked out.

The man was visibly rattled. Whatever he’d seen had spooked him, as much as he might like to pretend it hadn’t. Which made conversation unnecessary. Slater would lie, putting on a brave face, and King would know better. So he didn’t bother prying.

Instead, he said, ‘You think this is all a scheme. So take the gig. Prove it’s not.’

‘My heart isn’t in this,’ Slater said. ‘That’s not going to change. I’m not foolish enough to half-commit to a line of work this serious.’

‘So… what?’ King said. ‘Where does that leave you? You’ve been forced to continue working, and now you’re refusing to work.’

‘You were asked first,’ Slater said. ‘You fucking do it.’

‘I just came from a solo gig.’

‘Which had nothing to do with the government.’

‘You never would have said that before. You never would have nitpicked. That’s not what we do. We help each other, and we split the workload — whatever that entails.’

‘What are you trying to prove? I told you I’ve changed.’

‘You’ve made a decision. It doesn’t mean you’re any different to the person you were a week ago.’

‘I’m not going to California.’

‘If I do,’ King said, ‘and you stay here…’

‘Say it.’

‘I doubt you’ll be here when I get back.’

‘You think I’d be that stupid? To disobey the government?’

A rhetorical question if King had ever heard one.

‘Yes,’ King said. ‘I think you’re exactly that stupid.’

Slater eyed him.

King said, ‘Because I am too.’

Slater gave a half-nod. King watched his guarded expression lift. Ever so slightly. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed it.

Slater said, ‘If I asked you to stay, would you?’

King thought about it.

Then he said, ‘No.’

‘No?’

‘You want out. I don’t. Not yet. I’ve got a good thing going. And as long as I’m still working, then I can’t turn down a job.’

‘You can. There’s dozens of other operatives who can do it. I’m telling you I need you here. Because I’m objective enough to recognise that I might make a reckless decision in the next few days. I need you to be the voice of reason.’

‘You’ll have to be your own voice of reason,’ King said. ‘I’m going to California.’

Slater steered away from his own problems. ‘What’s the job?’

‘The paper trail left behind in the wake of Donati’s death,’ King said. ‘Violetta had her people look into it discreetly. They found a discrepancy with cargo en route to the Port of Los Angeles. A colossal cover-up. Something fishy is arriving in the next few days. The evidence would usually be swept under the rug, but now it’s exposed because the head honcho is dead.’

‘Why do they need you?’

‘Over ten million shipping containers pass through Long Beach every year. There isn’t a chance in hell they can narrow down which one they’re looking for. But Alonzo found a way in. He came across a discreet ad on the deep web for a manual labour job. Apparently a bunch of rich gangsters with a condo in Emerald Bay are looking for someone to stay with them for a few days and help move “illegitimate cargo” on the exact day Donati’s paper trail says the container is arriving. It’s too coincidental. It means they’re the muscle on the ground in Cali. Alonzo can forge any document on the planet, so he’s going to put one of us in as a crook with a mile-long criminal record. That way the gangsters think we’re legit, and think we have something to lose.’

‘Surely the container is listed in the paper trail?’

‘It’s redacted. Donati had covered that much before I killed him.’

Slater said, ‘You have to admit it’s suspicious timing. This came out of nowhere.’

‘Because I only got back from Moscow yesterday,’ King said. ‘They’ve barely had twenty-four hours to dig. It’s unfolding in real time.’

Slater shook his head. ‘There’s no breaks in this life, is there?’

‘There is if you run,’ King said. ‘If that’s what you want to do, I won’t stop you.’

‘You couldn’t stop me if you tried.’

‘Maybe. Maybe not.’

‘So you’re going to Cali?’

‘I don’t have a choice.’

‘You do.’

‘As soon as you start thinking that there’s a dozen other people who could do the gig you’ve been tasked with, you need to get out. There’s no room for doubt in what we do.’

‘I’m doubting everything,’ Slater said. ‘So, based on your diagnosis, I need to get out.’

King stood up for the first time since Slater had walked into the apartment. He drew to his full height — three inches taller than Slater — and faced the man across the room.

He said, ‘Neither of us is doing what the other is asking. That’s never happened before. You know what it means.’

Slater slowly nodded. ‘Is this it?’

‘It has to be.’

‘I didn’t think this would happen so … fast.’

‘Life is fast.’

Slater took a step forward. ‘We’re done?’

‘You’re out. I’m in. So we’re done.’

Now King stepped forward. They were six feet apart.

He said, ‘Will I see you again?’

Slater said, ‘Maybe.’

‘Will you be here when I get back?’

‘No.’

‘I assume you don’t want me to pass this information onto Violetta.’

‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.’

‘I can do that much, at least.’

‘Thank you. But it doesn’t much matter, does it? This place is probably bugged.’

King shook his head. ‘Not a chance. I sweep it regularly.’

‘If it was bugged, you wouldn’t tell me. You’d lie.’

‘I’ve never lied to you. I’m not about to start.’

Slater offered a hand. ‘Good luck, brother.’

King’s blood went cold, but he accepted the handshake regardless.

Sometimes in this field you have to do things you don’t want to do, but you know are for the best.

He said, ‘Enjoy retirement.’

‘I’ll try.’

‘Do it better than