what’s in that briefcase. No need to complicate matters.
Okay?”
Jason nodded.
Before DePazza could light the menthol, there were three quick knocks on
the door. Jason stood up, as did DePazza, who quickly put the cigarette
away and opened the door. In the doorway stood a man, small in stature,
his hair solid gray, his skin tanned and heavily wrinkled. Behind him
were two men, dressed in cheap suits and wearing sunglasses despite the
dim light. They both appeared to be in their late thirties.
The older man looked at DePazza, who in turn pointed to Jason.
The man looked at him with penetrating blue eyes. Jason suddenly
realized he was drenched with perspiration, although the entire
warehouse was unheated and the temperature must have been close to forty
degrees.
Jason glanced at DePazza, who slowly nodded. Jason quickly handed over
the leather briefcase. The man looked inside the bag, briefly perusing
its contents, taking a minute to scrutinize one piece of paper in
particular. The two others did likewise; smiles sprouted on their lips.
The older man smiled broadly and then replaced the page, closed the
briefcase and handed it to one of his men. The other one handed him a
silver metal case, which he held briefly and then handed over to Jason.
The case was secured by an electronic lock.
The sudden roar of the airplane overhead made them all jerk their heads
upward. It seemed to be landing on the building. In a few moments it
had passed by and the silence returned.
The elderly man smiled, turned, and the door quietly closed behind all
three.
Jason slowly let out his breath.
They waited for a minute in silence and then DePazza opened the door and
motioned for Jason to walk out. DePazza and the driver followed. The
lights were turned out. The surveillance camera instantly shut off as
the darkness returned.
Jason climbed back into the limo, holding tightly to the silver case. It
was fairly heavy. He turned to DePazza.
“I didn’t expect it to go exactly like that.”
DePazza shrugged. “However you count it, though, it was a success.”
“Yeah, but why couldn’t I say anything?”
DePazza stared at him, faintly annoyed. “What would you have said,
Jason?”
Jason finally shrugged.
“If I were you, I’d focus my attention on the contents of that.”
De-Pazza pointed at the briefcase.
Jason tried to open it but without success. He raised his eyebrows at
his companion.
“When you get to where you’ll be staying, you can open it. I’ll tell
you the code when we get there. Follow the instructions inside.”
He added, “You won’t be disappointed.”
“But why Seattle?”
“It’s doubtful you’d run into anyone you know here. Correct?”
DePazza’s calm eyes rested on Jason’s face.
“And you won’t need me anymore. You’re sure?”
DePazza almost smiled. “As sure as I’ve ever been about anything.”
He shook Jason’s hand.
DePazza leaned back in his seat. Jason put his seat belt on and felt
something jab him in the side. He pulled his SkyWord pager from his
belt and looked guiltily at it. What if it had been his wife calling
earlier? He looked at the tiny screen and his face suddenly registered
disbelief.
Flashing across the screen, the pager’s headline feature told the story
of a terrible tragedy: Western Airlines’ early morning Flight 3223 from
Washington to L.A. had crashed in the Virginia countryside; there were
no survivors.
Jason Archer couldn’t catch his breath. He tore open his black metal
case and frantically reached for the phone inside.
DePazza’s voice was sharp. “What the hell are you doing?”
Jason handed DePazza the pager. “My wife thinks I’m dead. Oh, Christ.
That’s why she was calling. Oh, my God.” Jason’s fingers fumbled over
the phone case, trying to open it.
DePazza looked down at the pager. He read the digitized headline and
the word “Shit” silently passed between his lips. Well, this would only
accelerate the process slightly, he thought. He didn’t like to deviate
from the established plan, yet clearly he had no choice but to do
exactly that. When he looked back up at Jason, his eyes were cold and
deadly. One hand reached over and snatched the cellular phone from
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