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46
THE SWAT pla
They dropped us by the Neon, then quickly drove away.
I said, “Don’t look around for the surveillance teams. You won’t see them, but someone might see you looking for them.”
“What happens if he doesn’t come?”
“We’ll be bored. You’d better get in the house. If he sees me out here with you, we’re screwed.”
I waited until she was inside, then moved into a gnarled clump of scrub oak on the opposite side of her car. If Levy stopped anywhere at the front of the house, I would be able to approach him without being seen. I wanted to surprise him.
I settled in to wait. Levy would come or not. Might be ten minutes, or never. The occasional car passed without slowing. Local residents. Construction workers. First-time hikers trying to find the park who took the wrong turn. None of them was Levy. I listened to thrushes and mockingbirds. None of them was Levy, either.
The trees whispered behind me, followed by a voice that wasn’t much louder.
Pike said, “Good spot.”
He settled onto the earth beside me.
I said, “Marx is really pissed right now. I’m wired.”
“You think I’m trusting someone else to cover your back?”
We fell silent. Marx would be cursing. He would be livid, but the blond plus-one would be trying not to laugh.
Jo
Jo
The three sniper teams would be on him with telescopic sights, ready to rock if a gun appeared. If any of them saw a gun, that shooter would touch off a.30-caliber round traveling at 2600 feet per second. We didn’t want him dead. We wanted him alive, but that’s the way it would be if he made the wrong move.
The Dodge swung in a lazy arc and parked directly between Jo
Pike sighed a whisper.
“Perfect.”
Jo
She said, “How did you find me?”
Levy responded as if this was the most natural moment in the world.
“You had me worried. Why didn’t you answer?”
I slipped from the trees, and he didn’t hear me until I was directly behind him.
I said, “Worried about what, Alan?”
He stumbled sideways so dramatically I thought he would fall, then spun in a panicked circle. I held up my hands, showing my palms and taking a step back.
“Don’t have a stroke. Everything’s cool. How’d it go at Leverage?”
When he realized he was still alive, he pulled himself together. He glanced past me to see if anyone else was coming, then at Jo
“The meeting got canceled.”
“Good. We have a lot to talk about. Jo
Jo
Levy glanced at Jo
Levy said, “I can talk to her alone. You didn’t have to wait.”
I edged toward Jo
“Yeah, I did, Alan. My new best friend here, Jo
Levy glanced at her again and continued backing away.
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you do. Killing Lionel Byrd.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Alan, please. I caught you in one lie when you drove up. You told me you never met this girl, but you asked her why she hadn’t answered, you told her she had you worried.”
“I didn’t say anything like that. You must have misheard.”
Jo
I took a step after him, trying to keep up the pressure. I wanted Levy focused on me, not her, and I was still trying to get between them.
“Here’s what’s going to happen-you can pay me to keep your filthy little secrets, or we’ll go to the police. I’m thinking two million dollars, one for her, one for me. Sound good?”
Levy glanced up and down the street again as if he sensed the police were watching and knew he was being recorded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t understand why you’re trying to do this, but I’m leaving-”
He suddenly veered toward the Dodge, and then Jo
“I taped you, Alan.”
Fear played over his face as his eyes bulged.
“The day you gave me the pictures of the dead girls, I had a tape recorder under my shirt. I gave it to him. I let him listen.”
Jo
“Go in the house, Jo
She didn’t go into the house. She moved toward him.
“Two million dollars isn’t enough.”
Levy wet his lips. He looked from me to Jo
He said, “How much do you want?”
We had him with those words. Alan Levy had demonstrated knowledge and awareness of the pictures by negotiating with us. We had him, and Marx would now be issuing commands to effect the arrest, but then Jo
“There isn’t enough.”
Jo
Everyone had been so concerned Levy might kill Jo
The shooter teams crashed from their hides, but they were far away and unable to shoot with the three of us clumped together. Pike burst out of the trees. I grabbed Jo
“Gun!”
Levy had a small black pistol pressed deep into her belly and made a high, keening sound as he shot her. He pulled the trigger as fast as he could.
Jo