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“Because then she’s worthless to King,” Danny pipes up.
“Sandy needs King to have some skin in the game,” I go on. “Something worth having. No Pearl, no money, no skin. He needs King’s guns and can’t risk him leaving town without supplying them. Money is King’s prize, we are Sandy’s.” Fuck me, my head could fall off it’s so full.
“If money’s King’s prize, why the fuck isn’t he simply taking Sandy’s money for the guns?” Ringo asks.
And that’s the unanswered question. “It could be as simple as Sandy hasn’t got what King wants.” Two hundred million.
“Could be,” James muses, thoughtful. I’m not the only one doubting that.
“So this is the plan,” I say.
“Great,” Danny sings. “There’s a plan. And there I was worried we were going in blind.” He goes and lines up a dozen tumblers and tips a bottle, running it up and down the row of glasses a few times, haphazardly filling them. “Anyone want one?”
A collection of mumbled yeahs fill the room, and a flurry of bodies move in and claim a drink.
“The deal is two hundred million for Nolan, Pearl, and no guns for Sandy and Luis.” Many cheeks expand in disbelief, but not James’s and Danny’s. They remain thoughtful. “I don’t trust King to return Nolan in the exchange. Sandy has Nolan, and Sandy won’t release Nolan without getting his guns or us. King won’t supply the guns until he has his money from us. If he supplies the guns at all. There’s nothing to say he won’t fuck off once he’s got what he wants. Basically, no one trusts anyone, and they’re both covering their arses.”
“King’s trying to get what he wants without giving Sandy the guns?” Goldie asks.
“It’s looking like that, yes.”
“That’s good for us, right?”
You’d think so. “I’m not taking any chances. I don’t trust King.” I say quietly. “Chaka’s going to move in on the motel where Nolan is being kept at the same time I’m meeting King in a location yet to be agreed.” Because I’ve no doubt he’ll want to call those shots. “I’ll need you all to have my back if I need it. We have to let King think he’s in control. Where he wants to meet, I’ll meet him. What time he says, I’ll make it work. Any demands he makes, I’ll accept.” He won’t risk two hundred million for the sake of seeing Pearl. “I’ll transport the cash to a designated location. Again, King’s choice.”
Danny nods and points to Pearl’s phone on the desk. “Only one more thing to do.”
I nod, staring at the cell for a few beats, willing myself to remain in control. I pick it up and dial him. “We have the money.”
“Exciting,” he says. “I’ll call you with details of where and when within the next forty-eight hours.”
“Okay. And Sandy and Luis?”
“This is our little secret, my American friend.”
I look at Danny. He doesn’t believe it either. “And you have my son?”
“I do.”
“Good,” I say quietly. Fucking liar.
“And my niece?” he drawls.
I can’t. I just can’t. “I already told you, she’s not included in these plans. You get two hundred million. You don’t get to see the girl too.”
“So you get to keep my pumpkin?”
“No. I just get to save a young woman from the depraved clutches of a rapist.”
“That’s very gallant of you.”
“I call it principled.”
“For two hundred million?” He laughs, and it’s like razors on my skin. “That’s an expensive principle.”
“You don’t need to worry about the cost of my principles.”
“But I have a necklace to return.”
