The Bootlegger (Isaac Bell 7)
Page 137
IT TURNED OUT to be a short night, and, afterward, he looked even sadder, she thought.
“What is it?”
“Isaac Bell has beaten me.”
“How?”
“Detroit’s exploded. They’re killing each other like rats in a sewer. And I can’t control New York without being on top of it. And now, thanks to Isaac Bell, I can’t get money from Storms. But I will tell you this: Isaac Bell will wish he had died when I go home a hero.”
“Russia?”
“You will come with me.”
“Do you really want me, Marat?”
“Of course I want you. Now I need your help. Bell has put out a general alarm for my arrest.”
“How can he do that?”
“The Van Dorns have the ear of the Department of Justice and every police chief on the East Coast. I can’t take a train. I can’t land in a flying boat. I can’t board a liner.”
“What will you do?”
“I’m going to New York.”
“You just said there’s nothing for you in New York.”
“Comrades will hide me on a ship.”
“How will you get there?”
“Black Bird.”
“It’s over a thousand miles.”
“Twelve hundred.”
“But you could find a ship in Havana. Or San Juan. Or Port-au-Prince.”
“I have business to finish in New York.”
“What business?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Marat, how can I trust you if you won’t trust me?”
“It’s something Yuri and I were doing.”
“Shall I meet you there?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“It is something you would not understand. Meet me in Rotterdam. We’ll go home heroes.”
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