“What will he do?”
“He’ll want to kill something, of course,” he said. “Preferably you and me.” He shrugged, as if that was the first rational thing Raul had thought about. “But he’ll be way past being patient. Or subtle.”
“So you think he’ll bite on the same bait?”
“At this point,” Brian said, “I think Raul would bite on bare hooks if it might get him to us.”
“All right,” I said. “And you did say he’d have more shooters?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Brian said. “Manpower is never a problem. Not for a successful man like Raul.”
“Good. So what’s the best way to do this?”
We both thought about it for a moment. Then Brian said, somewhat hesitantly, “Um…perhaps through Kraunauer?”
“Will Kraunauer go for it? I mean, he has to suspect something by now, doesn’t he?”
“I don’t think so,” Brian said. He raised a finger and wagged it like he was lecturing me. “Raul when angry has a way of making everybody around him very jumpy. Very anxious to please. Even Frank Kraunauer.”
I frowned and I pondered and I didn’t see any other way. “All right,” I said, reaching for my phone. “But, Brian—we absolutely have to get one of them to talk this time.”
“Oh, yes, absolutely,” Brian said.
I dialed.
Kraunauer answered right away. “Mr. Morgan, what the—Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“I just…I heard—I mean, there was some kind of shooting at your hotel, wasn’t there? And that detective—that was the same one that, ah—”
“Yes, that was him,” I said. “But I wasn’t there when it happened.”
“Oh,” he said, and even he heard the disappointment in his voice. He cleared his throat hurriedly and rushed on. “I mean, that’s good, absolutely, but how—and what…what…where are you now?”
“Actually, I’m hiding out,” I said. “I’m up in North Miami.” Which was in reality quite far from where I was, since for some reason, I just didn’t trust him.
“Good, good, okay,” he said. “But that’s…How did you…with that detective. I mean, what happened?”
“He called me on my cell phone,” I said, letting my imagination run. “He, um, he said he had documents. That he said would prove I was innocent. And I would never get them—that he was going to burn them in front of me and I couldn’t stop him.”
“All right,” Kraunauer said. “And then?”
And then? Nothing—my mind went completely blank. “Then…then,” I stammered, waiting for something to occur; it didn’t. “I have the documents, Mr. Kraunauer. And they really do prove I’m innocent,” I blurted out. I could only hope that Brian was right and had Kraunauer so anxious he wouldn’t notice the rather large gap in the story line.
“Wonderful,” Kraunauer said with no hesitation at all. “Where are you now?”
I said a silent thank-you to Raul and sprinted for the finish line. “The thing is, I don’t think I can keep them safe,” I said, lowering my voice for sheer theatrical effect. “I want to get them to you as soon as possible.”
“Great!” he said, with very believable enthusiasm. “I’m having dinner at Tick Tock at ten o’clock; do you know it?”
“Um, South Beach?” I said.
“Right.” He gave me the address, and said, “Can you be there a few minutes before ten?”
“It’ll take me forty-five minutes,” I said. “But I need to be careful, make sure I’m not followed, so—maybe a little longer?”
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll be there about a quarter of. Can you meet me out back then? There’s a parking lot.”