Outlaws by Matt Rogers (phonics books TXT) 📕

makes? Scraps. We donate to their rainy day fund, they let us straight through. Aaron and Vince and — well, you — play lookout down the delivery corridor, and the rest of us find the right container and load it up.’

‘Quinn,’ Duke said. ‘Shut the fuck up. He doesn’t need to know.’

King drained his third beer. ‘Why not? You said it yourself. I talk, and you bust my safe house. Then I go down in flames.’

‘We have more to lose than you do. And the more you know, the more likely you can bring us down.’

‘Am I helping you with this job or not?’

‘Probably,’ Duke said. ‘All in due time…’

‘You really haven’t decided?’

Quinn stepped forward and draped an arm over King’s shoulder. ‘Oh, come on, Duke. Give him a break. He’s a good lad.’

‘Get him proper drunk,’ Cal said. ‘Then interrogate him. Hard to lie well when you’re plastered.’

They all laughed it off, but King sensed an undercurrent of truth in the suggestion.

He said, ‘What’s the plan for tonight?’

‘Dinner at Laguna Beach,’ Duke said. ‘All on us. A gift for putting up with our bullshit.’

It seemed Quinn and Cal’s interference had softened him a bit.

That’s your cue, King thought.

Dinner sounded nice. He had no doubt they’d order platters of the most expensive stuff, accompanied by unlimited drinks, with an unimpeded view of the Pacific and a golden sunset, but then he remembered he’d be in the company of scumbags and the simple truth was he could expedite this process right here and now.

He said, ‘You got a bathroom?’

‘Yeah,’ Quinn said. ‘I’ll show you.’

48

The delivery driver dropped them at the edge of John Paul Jones Park in Bay Ridge.

They pulled up in the lee of the enormous Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

When they got out, Slater nodded to Alexis, and she handed over another bundle of notes. She’d withdrawn both sets the previous day at Slater’s request — if he’d left his tower to go to a bank, Violetta and her people would have known he was planning something. Now, he handed the thick wad of hundred-dollar bills to the driver.

‘That’s another two grand,’ he said. ‘I haven’t hurt you. In fact, I haven’t laid a finger on you. You can go report this to the police, and they’d arrest me, but then I’d tell them about the bribe I paid you, and you’d have to cough it up. Better for everyone if you keep quiet.’

‘Yes,’ the driver said, nodding vigorously.

Four grand would change his life.

He wouldn’t say a word.

Foolproof.

The van peeled away, leaving them standing there on the sidewalk, with the two enormous suspension towers of the bridge behind them, like massive beacons in front of the Manhattan skyline. They’d slipped off the island practically effortlessly. Beside them, the park stretched out in its carefully tended pleasantry. The atmosphere was calm, quiet, serene. It didn’t gel with the ordinary chaos of New York.

Alexis took his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. ‘What happens now?’

‘I sorted accommodation online,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘I booked an Airbnb, right here next to the park, under a false name. It’s ours for a month, with the option to extend. We can order meal delivery and get them to leave it on the doorstep. No one is going to see us for as long as we don’t want them to. If you know what you’re doing in today’s society, it’s easy.’

She said, ‘We’re staying here?’

‘They’ll expect us to run,’ he said. ‘And I need to see what they do. Worst case, they put our photos out for the mainstream media to run with. It won’t be hard. Enemies of the state, delusional, psychotic, likely to rant about secret government black divisions. That sort of thing. But I have a hunch they don’t want this in the public eye. It’s too volatile. I know too much. In all likelihood they’ll use all their resources to try and track us down discreetly, but they’ll cast the net wide, expecting us to be on the move with each passing day. Patience is the key. If we hole up, they’ll never find us.’

She bit her lip and nodded. ‘A month?’

‘At least,’ he said. ‘And I go dark. No contact with King, no contact with Violetta…’

He trailed off, the name triggering a wave of anger that he immediately quashed.

Silent, he pulled out his burner phone.

‘What are you doing?’ she said.

‘Sending a final message. This call is encrypted. They’ll never track it.’

He dialled a familiar number.

It rang.

He wasn’t sure if she would answer.

She did. Silently.

He said, ‘You bitch.’

Alongside him Alexis froze, unaware of Violetta’s betrayal.

Violetta said, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Oh, I’m sure.’

‘I had no choice.’

‘Of course you didn’t.’

‘The crew in your building was assaulted. So were two of the tactical team at Alexis’ building. There’s no sign of either of you.’

‘It wasn’t hard,’ he said. ‘There’s eight million people in New York. Good luck trying to track us through that maze.’

‘This isn’t the way it should have gone.’

‘You really left me with a range of choices.’

‘You shouldn’t have run. You shouldn’t have asked me. I never could have been honest.’

‘They would have killed me,’ Slater said. ‘If I wasn’t fast enough. If I actually stepped into 732 and got bottlenecked, like you wanted.’

She didn’t answer.

‘At least you’re not trying to pretend it was an honest mistake,’ he said.

‘No,’ she said. ‘No point lying anymore.’

He said, ‘You’re never going to see me again. You’re never going to hear from me again. And you’d best be watching over your shoulder, because when all this dies down…’

He trailed off.

She said, ‘What?’

‘I’m coming.’

He ended the call, snapped the smartphone in half, and skewered it into the nearest public bin, burying it under the top layer of greasy rubbish. Then he wiped his palm on his jeans and took Alexis’ hand with his clean one.

‘She betrayed you?’ Alexis said.

‘She did.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ he said. ‘I was done with that world regardless.’

‘Will you really go back for her?’ Alexis said.

He knew what she was really asking.

Did I agree to run away