A Maidens Grave

of the board, where the things they’d actually given Handy were recorded. “You’re right, Charlie.”
    Angie asked, “He hasn’t?” Surprised.
    LeBow scrolled through his files and confirmed thatHandy had not once mentioned money. He asked the captain, “How’d you think of that?”
    “I saw it in a movie,” Budd explained.
    “It’s an opportunistic taking,” LeBow offered. “Handy’s not out to make a profit. He’s an escaping criminal.”
    “So was this fellow,” Budd said. Potter and LeBow glanced at the captain, who, blushing, added, “In the movie, I mean. I think it was Gene Hackman. Or maybe he was the one playing your role, Arthur. He’s a good actor, Hackman is.”
    Angie said, “I agree with Charlie, Henry. It’s true that a lot of criminal takers don’t want money. But Handy’s got a mercenary streak in him. Most of his underlying raps’re larceny.”
    “Let’s try to buy a couple of them,” Potter said. “What’ve we got to lose?” He asked Budd, “Can you get your hands on any cash?”
    “This time of night?”
    “Immediately.”
    “Geez, I guess so. HQ’s got petty cash. Maybe two hundred. How’s that?”
    “I’m talking about a hundred thousand dollars in small bills, unmarked. Within, say, twenty minutes.”
    “Oh,” Budd said. “In that case, no.”
    LeBow said, “I’ll call the DEA. They’ve got to have some buy money in Topeka or Wichita. We’ll do an interagency transfer.” He nodded at Tobe, who flipped through a laminated phone book and pushed in a phone number. LeBow began speaking through his headset in a voice as soft and urgent as his key strokes.
    Potter picked up his phone and rang Handy.
    “Hey, Art.”
    “How you doing, Lou? Ready to leave?”
    “You bet I am. Go to a nice warm cabin . . . . Or a hotel. Or a desert island.”
    “Whereabouts, Lou? Maybe I’ll come visit.”
    You got yourself quite a sense of humor, Art.
    “I like cops with a sense of humor, you old son of a bitch.”
    “Where’s my chopper?”
    “Close as we could get it, Lou. In that field just over thetrees. Turned out the river was too choppy after all. Now listen, Lou. You saw that chopper. It’s a six-seater. I know you wanted an eight- but that’s all we could rustle up.” He hoped the man hadn’t gotten a very good look at it; you could fit half the Washington Redskins in an old Sikorsky. “So, I’ve got a proposition. Let me buy a couple of the hostages.”
    “Buy?”
    “Sure. I’m authorized to pay up to fifty thousand each. There just isn’t room for the six of you and the pilot. No overhead racks for carry-ons, you know. Let me buy a couple of them.”
    Shit, Art, I could shoot one of ’em. Then we’d have plenty of space.
    But he’ll laugh when he says it.
    “Hey, I got an idea. ’Stead of giving one of ’em to you, I could shoot her. Then we’d have plenty of room. For us and our matched sets of American Tourister.”
    The laugh was almost a cackle.
    “Ah, but Lou, if you kill her you don’t get any money. That’d be a bummer, as my nephew says.” Potter said this good-naturedly, for he felt the rapport had been reestablished. It was solid, fibrous. The negotiator knew that the man was seriously considering the offer.
    “Fifty thousand?”
    “Cash. Small, unmarked bills.”
    A hesitation. “Okay. But only one. I keep the rest.”
    “Make it two. You’ll still have two left. Don’t want to be greedy.”
    Fuck it, Art. Gimme a hundred for one. That’s the best I’ll do.
    “Nope,” Handy said. “You get one. Fifty thousand. That’s the deal.”
    Potter glanced at Angie. She shook her head, perplexed. Handy wasn’t bargaining. After some feigned horse trading, Potter had been prepared to turn over the full one hundred for a single girl.
    “Well, all right, Lou. I accept.”
    “Only, Art?”
    There was a tone in Handy’s voice Potter hadn’t yetheard and it troubled him. He had no idea what was coming next. Where had he left himself exposed?
    “Yes?”
    “You have to tell me which one.”
    “How do you mean, Lou?”
    The chuckle again. “Pretty easy question, Art. Which one do you want to buy? You know how it works, good buddy. You go to a car lot and say, I’ll take that Chevy or that Ford. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Which one you want?”
    His heart. That’s where Potter had left himself unprotected. In his heart.
    Budd and Angie stared at the agent.
    Tobe kept his head down, focusing on his