“Where are they now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Rakes have them?”
“No, that’s why he was hurting me, trying to find out if I knew where they were. That’s when your friend rescued me.”
“And you don’t know where they are.”
“No. The last time I heard from my sister was on a message she left on the answering machine. It said they were saved by the star and he was taking them somewhere safe. She said she would call me, but I haven’t heard from her.”
“Did you save the message?”
“Yes, and Carl got into my apartment and heard it. That’s why he thought I knew where Maria was.”
“The star, do you think Maria’s talking about Bob Landman?”
“The actor? How would she know somebody famous like that?”
“It seems when Mr. Landman gets into a role, he gets into a role.”
“Huh?”
“Landman’s going to portray a Border Patrol Agent in an upcoming movie. They say he tries to live the part before playing it.”
She thought a minute, then said, “Maybe it is. Maria mentioned something about a beautiful man they met. It might be Landman. He’s very handsome.”
“Why is Rakes after your sister?”
“For what they carried.”
“Like what?”
“Maria told me that was how they paid for part of their journey. The smugglers gave them small items to carry and if stopped by the Immigration, to say it was theirs.”
“Do you know what they were carrying?”
“Maria told me she had a golden egg covered in jewels and inside was a tiny wagon.”
“A wagon?”
“Like in Cinderella, is what she said.”
I glanced in my rear view mirror as a black suburban with dark tinted windows pulled in ten feet behind us. The driver got out. It was the Russian whose eyes I had soaped.
Simon Mortay exited the passenger’s side, looking like he was nothing but bones under the black suit. Charon the ferryman, come to collect his toll. He wasn’t carrying a cane; instead Mortay had a large Beretta in his gloved hand.
Blanca’s eyes were big and she whispered, “Oh no, no, no...”
I grabbed her arm, “When I get their attention, start the car and get out of here.” She nodded.
My pistol was at the office, and I patted my clothes for anything to use and found a hardness in my shirt pocket. I got out, armed with a box of Tic-Tacs.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I went to the back of the Yugo and blocked their view through the rear window. My calf touched the rear bumper and I felt the car move as Blanca slid to the driver’s side.“You son of the bitch,” Mortay said. “You vill get the same as your friend.”
He was three feet from me, standing in front of one Suburban headlight. The second Russian was in front of the other. I was the point of the V in front of them.