“Uh huh. Sound good to me, ” Moses said.
“Then I’ll get you home safe and sound. ”
“Yeah. ” Moses limped along. “That sound fine. ”
Tatters of yellow crime-scene tape fluttered in a stiff cold wind and Moses looked around a bit uneasily and stared at a burn mark on the concrete and an overturned plastic bucket.
“Well, look at that, ” Andy said in annoyance as he picked up the bucket. “Yeah, real good policing. I can’t believe they just left this thing lying around out here. ”
He set the bucket on the wall and placed the heavy suitcase several feet away. Moses tied a plastic worm on his fishing line and attached a bobber.
“This ain’t where that fisherman blowed up, is it?” he worried.
“As a matter of fact, it is, ” Andy replied, preparing his own fishing gear.
“I hope you ain’t meeting no killer here, ” Moses said. “I had my share of mean people for a while. ”
“Don’t be alarmed, ” Andy assured him. “Just mind your own business and fish. The person who’ll show up isn’t going to do anything to you. All he wants is to grab this suitcase and run. ”
“Got to admit, no one would ever recognize you in that getup, ” Moses said, smoothly casting his line into the sluggish, rocky river. “You look like a leftover hippie, one of them types that drives an old VW with big flowers stuck all over it. ”
“Good. And make sure you don’t call me Andy or Trooper when this dude shows up. ”
“Not me, ” Moses said. “I ain’t tipping my hand with no killer around. Why’d he blow up that poor black fisherman, and what makes you so sure he won’t take one look at me and decide to do the same thing? You gonna need to put a bobber on or your worm’s gonna sink straight to the bottom and get hung on a rock. ”
“This guy just wants to take the money and get the hell out of Dodge, ” Andy said as he clipped a bobber on his line and cast it into the river. “Besides, I’m here, and if he tries anything, he’ll have a big problem on his hands. ”
“You packing?”
“Got my friend right here in the back of my waistband, ” Andy said as he felt a slight tug on his line.
Major Trader rolled up in a Blue Bird taxi and told the driver to wait or he wouldn’t get paid. Trader spied two bums fishing on the wall and a beat-up aluminum suitcase sitting all by itself. His loaded flare gun was in his coat pocket just in case anybody tried to give him a hard time, and he strode right up to the suitcase.
“This belong to either of you fellows?” Trader asked.
“Never seen it before in my life, ” Andy replied, because it was perfectly acceptable to be deceptive when one was undercover.
“Me neither, ” Moses echoed. “Was sitting there just like it is when we come here to fish. ”
“Someone stole my car and my suitcase was in it, which is why I had to take a taxi, ” Trader lied. “I had a feeling whoever the culprit was, he’d probably dump the suitcase somewhere because there’s nothing in it but clothes and a few books. ”
“Help yourself, ” Andy said.
Trader took a good look at the two fishermen to make sure they weren’t paying him any mind and would not be able to identify him later, should they ever get questioned. Both of them were obviously losers and probably had never held a real job in their lives. Why else would they be out fishing on a Friday afternoon while decent people were at work? Trader grabbed the suitcase handle and his shoulder practically came out of the socket as he yanked.
“Shit!” he muttered in surprise.
The damn thing must weigh two hundred pounds! He imagined hundreds of silver dollars and stacks of bills and maybe gold. The pirates must have made quite a score. He tried to lift the suitcase again and couldn’t get it an inch off the ground. Then he tried to open it, but the combination was set and the locks wouldn’t budge. While he was deliberating what to do and furtively glancing about and starting to sweat, the old black fisherman, who looked as if he had been in a bad car wreck, jerked up his pole and started reeling hard.