“Smart counts,” Chavez agreed, finishing his beer. “I gotta go fix dinner.”
“Say again?”
“My wife’s a doc, gets home in an hour or so, and it’s my turn to do dinner.”
A raised eyebrow: “Nice to see you’re properly trained, Chavez.”
“I am secure in my masculinity,” Domingo assured the aviator and headed for the door.
Andre worked late that night. Worldpark stayed open until 2300 hours, and the shops remained open longer than that, because even so huge a place as Worldpark couldn’t waste the chance to earn a few extra copper coins from the masses for the cheap, worthless souvenirs they sold, to be clutched in the greedy hands of little children, often nearly asleep in the arms of their weary parents. He watched the process impassively, the way so many people waited until the very last ride on the mechanical contrivances, and only then, with the chains in place and after the good-bye waves of the ride operators, did they finally turn and shuffle their way to the gates, taking every opportunity to stop and enter the shops, where the clerks smiled tiredly and were as helpful as they’d been taught to be at the Worldpark University. And then when, finally, all had left, the shops were closed, and the registers emptied, and under the eyes of Andre and his fellow security staff, the cash was taken off to the counting room. It wasn’t, strictly speaking, part of his current job, but he tagged along anyway, following the three clerks from the Matador shop, out onto the main street, then into an alleyway, through some blank wooden doors, and down the steps to the underground, the concrete corridors that bustled with electric carts and employees during the day, now empty except for employees heading to dressing rooms to change into their street clothes. The counting room was in the very center, almost under the castle itself. There the cash was handed over, each bag labeled for its point of origin. The coins were dumped into a bin, where they were separated by nationality and denomination and counted, wrapped, and labeled for transport to the bank. The paper currency, already bundled by currency and denomination was . . . weighed. The first time he’d seen it, it had amazed him, but delicate scales actually weighed it there, one point zero-six-one-five kilos of hundred mark German notes. Two point six-three-seven-zero kilos of five-pound British ones. The corresponding amount was flashed on the electronic screen, and the notes were whisked off for wrapping. Here the security officers carried weapons, Astra pistols, because the total amount of the currency for the day was the master tally display said £11,567,309.35 . . . all used cash, the very best sort, in all denominations. It all fit into six large canvas bags that were placed on a four-wheeled cart for transport out the back of the underground into an armored car with a police escort for transport to the central branch of the local bank, still open this time of day for a deposit of this magnitude. Eleven million British pounds in cash-this place took in billions per year in cash, Andre thought tiredly.
“Excuse me,” he said to his security supervisor. “Have I broken any rules by coming here?”
A chuckle: “No, everyone comes down sooner or later to see. That’s why the windows are here.”
“Is it not dangerous?”
” I think not. The windows are thick, as you see, and security inside the counting room is very strict”.
“Mon lieu, all that money – what if someone should try to steal it?”
“The truck is armored, and it has a police escort, two cars, four men each, all heavily armed.” And those would be only the obvious watchers, Andre thought. There would be others, not so close, and not so obvious, but equally well armed. “We were initially concerned that the Basque terrorists might try to steal the money this much cash could finance their operations for years-but the threat has not developed, and besides, you know what becomes of all this cash?”
“Why not fly the money to the bank on a helicopter?” Andre asked.
The security supervisor yawned. “Too expensive.”
“So, what becomes of the cash?”
“Much of it comes right back to us, of course.”
“Oh.” Andre thought for a moment. “Yes, it must, mustn’t it?”
Worldpark was largely a cash business, because so many people still preferred to pay for things that way, despite the advent of credit cards, which the park was just as pleased to use, and despite the ability of guests to charge everything to their hotel room accounts – instructions for which were printed on every plastic card-key in the language of the individual guest.
“I wager we use the same five-pound British note fifteen times before it’s too worn and has to be sent to London for destruction and replacement.”
“I see,” Andre said with a nod. “So, we deposit, and then we withdraw from our own account just to make change for our guests. How much cash do we keep on hand, then?”
“For change purposes?” A shrug. “Oh, two or three million at minimum-British pounds, that is. To keep track of it all, we have those computers.” He pointed.
“Amazing place,” Andre observed, actually meaning it. He nodded at his supervisor and headed off to punch his time card and change. It had been a good day. His wanderings had confirmed his previous observations of the park. He now knew how to plan the mission, and how to accomplish it. Next he had to bring in his colleagues and show them the plan, after which came the execution. Forty minutes later, he was in his flat, drinking some Burgundy and thinking everything through. He’d been the plans and operations officer for Action Directe for over a decade he’d planned and executed a total of eleven murders. This mission, however, would be by far the grandest of all, perhaps the culmination of his career, and he had to think it all through. Affixed to the wall of his flat was a map of Worldpark, and his eyes wandered over it, back and forth. Way-in, way-out. Possible routes of access by the police. Ways to counter them. Where to place his own security personnel. Where to take the hostages. Where to keep them. How to get everyone out. Andre kept going over it, again and again, looking for weaknesses, looking for mistakes. The Spanish national police, the Guardia Civil, would respond to this mission. They were to be taken with respect, despite their comical hats. They’d been fighting the Basques for a generation, and they’d learned. They doubtless had an arrangement with Worldpark already, because this was too obvious a target for terr – for progressive elements, Andre corrected himself. Police were not to be taken lightly. They’d almost killed or arrested him twice in France, but both of those occasions were because he’d made obvious mistakes, and he’d learned from both of them. No, not this time. He’d keep them at bay this time by his choice of hostages, and by showing his willingness to use them to his political ends, and as tough as the Guardia Civil might be, they would quail before that demonstration of resolve, because tough as they were, they were vulnerable to bourgeois sentimentality, just as all like them were. It was the purity of his purpose that gave him the edge, and he’d hold on to that, and he would achieve his objective, or many would die, and neither the Government of Spain nor France could stand up to that. the plan was nearly ready. He lifted his phone and made an international call.
Pete came back early in the evening. His face was pale now, and he was even more listless, but also uncomfortable, judging from the pained way in which he moved.
“How you feeling?” Dr. Killgore asked cheerily.
“Stomach is real bad, doc, right here,” Pete said, pointing with his finger.
“Still bothering you, eh? Well, okay, why don’t you lie down here and we’ll check you out,” the physician said, donning mask and gloves. The physical examination was cursory, but unnecessary for all that. Pete, like Chester before him, was dying, though he didn’t know it yet. The heroin had done a good job of suppressing his discomfort, removing the pain and replacing it with chemical nirvana. Killgore carefully took another blood sample for later microscopy.
“Well, partner, I think we just have to wait this one out. But let me give you a shot to ease the pain, okay?”
“Sure thing, doc. The last one worked pretty good.”
Killgore filled another plastic syringe and injected the heroin into the same vein as before. He watched Pete’s brown eyes go wide with the initial rush, then droop as the pain went away, to be replaced with a lethargy so deep that he could almost have done major surgery on the spot without getting a rise from the poor bastard.