Crescent City Connection

just before they talked to him. But before he played it, he took Goerner aside and when Goerner came back, he took Lovelace aside. Skip couldn’t hear any of what they said, until Lovelace raised her voice. “I have a right to hear it. I’m not a child and I won’t be treated like one.”
    Goerner murmured some more.
    Lovelace answered, “That’s my dad over there. I swear to God I won’t continue with this unless you let me hear it.”
    Goerner’s lips were tight thin lines, wild things that wanted to get loose and say what was on the agent’s mind:
Fuckin’ civilians! Goddammit, how the fuck did I get talked into this crap?
    At least that was what Skip imagined he was thinking. A similar, faintly guilty thought had crossed her own mind:
When you’re running an operation you need obedient soldiers, not volunteer labor.
    Still, she wasn’t running it, and she thought a little irritation a small price to pay for Lovelace’s cooperation.
    Ferguson joined the duo and spoke to Goerner. “It’s okay. She needs to know what’s going on as much as the rest of us.”
    She was playing the good cop, but also, Skip thought, she was reminding Goerner that negotiation was her business, that she could handle Lovelace if she needed to be handled.
    He shrugged and held up his hands like Ferguson walking to The Jury’s safe house. “Okay, okay. Let’s just play the goddamn tape.”
    Kohler looked so smug Skip wanted to slug him. He flicked the switch for the tape.
    A man’s voice spoke, a voice Skip didn’t recognize. “Daddy, Ms. Owens wants to talk to you.”
    “Put her on.”
    There was a rustling, then silence.
    Jacomine said, “Baby, you there?”
    “Your fucking thug kidnapped me.”
    “How’re we doing with that plane?”
    “Goddammit, Earl, are you still Mr. FedEx in the sack? Faster than the competition ever thought about being?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “You are the most impatient man in the history of the world.”
    “Rosemarie, did it ever occur to you we might have a reason for it? Lives are at stake here.”
    “Did it ever occur to you they wouldn’t be if you weren’t playing your little game?”
    “Our son’s life is at stake.”
    Silence.
    Finally Jacomine spoke again. “I didn’t want to tell you, honey, but Daniel’s had an accident. He needs medical attention. Bad.”
    “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Well, we don’t know, exactly, but he’s pissing blood. He’s moaning, and in and out of consciousness.”
    They could hear her draw in her breath. “Earl, that’s not something you can mess with. Leave Daniel there. I swear to God if you don’t, I won’t lift a single finger to help you. I don’t care if you kill me if you endanger that boy’s life.”
    The phone went dead, and they heard Jacomine say, “Goddammit, Rosemarie, you can’t hang up on me.”
    There was silence for a while, then another man said, “You okay, Daddy?”
    Jacomine said, “You know what, Dashan? This is a good thing. The Lord just provided. I was going to use Bettina—but you know how much she would have hated to leave us. This is better. What you think, Dashan?”
    “You’re right, Daddy. You sure are right.”
    Skip thought:
I
wonder if he understood that any better than I did?
, and then Jacomine said, “Sarah Jane, for Christ’s sake, when’s lunch?”
    Kohler flicked it off.
    “That’s all?” asked King.
    “That’s it.”
    Shellmire said, “Anything during the negotiation?”
    “Yeah, but nothing worth playing. I guess they’re going to call us after lunch.”
    “I hope they all get E. coli.”
    Sandwiches were brought into the command post as well, along with soft drinks and another round of coffee. Abasolo, King, and Kohler ate. Lovelace nibbled.
    Everyone else fidgeted.
    When the call came, Goerner said, “Let it ring a few times.”
    Finally he said, “Pick it up” and Kohler answered, again going through the charade of transferring the call to Ferguson.
    “Hello, Reverend.”
    Jacomine said, “Here’s the deal. We got a real problem. We got a sick man in here. We’re gonna trade you my son Daniel for my granddaughter.”
    “Daniel’s sick?”
    “Daniel’s real sick. We need y’all to get him to a hospital.”
    “Can he walk?”
    “Afraid not. We’ll just have to put him out on the porch and y’all can pick him up. That okay with you?”
    “What about Shavonne?”
    “Well, now, she wants to get back to her mama. Real bad. But we