Edge

little flip at Loving’s perverse sense of humor, if that was what it was. Jonathan was his own middle name.
    “And,” I asked, “when did you call him exactly?”
    “Had to be forty-five minutes ago, just after Benny got a look at the kidnapper when he delivered the food. He’s got a gun but I guess you know that. You have to move fast, they’ll be leaving any minute.”
    “All right. Now listen,” I said seriously. “The MO of this man—you know MO?”
    “Modus operandi. The wife and I watch Criminal Minds. ”
    “His MO is that he sometimes leaves somebody behind to stop pursuers. You understand what I’m saying? I want you to try to keep everybody inside their rooms for the next hour or so. I don’t want any innocents caught in a cross fire.”
    “God . . . Sure. Okay. I’ll do what I can. God.”
    I disconnected and rubbed my forehead as I debated, considering the timing. Loving had heardforty-five minutes ago that we were here. He and his partner would have to rendezvous, ditch the car Loving had collected on the embankment near the flytrap. They’d switch wheels, which would take a little time.
    But not much.
    Rock, paper, scissors . . .
    Defense or rabbit?
    I thought for a moment. “Okay, we’re going. Now, fast.”
    “Still clear,” Garcia said, peeking out through a splinter of window.
    Ahmad echoed him.
    Then Ryan limped closer to me, the skin around his drunken eyes crinkled. “Corte, come on, we can take him. We can do it. There’s four of us. Jesus Christ, we’re running from one man.”
    “Two,” Joanne corrected. “His partner. And he could have more.”
    Ryan ignored her and said to me, “You just called for backup. Look, it’s perfect. He doesn’t know we know about him. He’ll walk into a trap. Get him in a cross fire!”
    I said, “No. My job is to get you away.”
    “I’m tired of running. I’m tired of this crap. Fuck it, Corte. You get Joanne and Maree out of here. Take ’em to that safe house. I’ll stay. Him too.” He looked at Ahmad, who wore two weapons.
    “We don’t do last stands, Ryan. Too many innocents.”
    “There’re always innocents around, Corte. There’re always excuses for not doing what you should.”
    “Ryan,” Joanne snapped. “Please! I’m scared.”
    I calmly said, “ This is not the time or place for a firefight. It’s not the rational choice to engage.” Implying: The safe house we’re headed for is better.
    “Honey,” she begged. “Please.”
    With the obligatory look of disgust, Ryan grabbed his belongings. “Fuck.”
    I gazed over Ahmad’s shoulder into the courtyard of the hotel. What troubled me were the dozens of black windows facing us across the parking lot and garden. We would have to exit the suite, turn to the left and traverse about fifty feet, exposed to those windows, before we got to the alley that would lead us behind the building where the Yukon was parked.
    I regarded the windows of those rooms facing us. You couldn’t open them but every hitter or lifter in the world knows the two-shot technique of firing through windows—first bullet aimed way off target into the sky or ground to take the glass out without letting your target know he or she is under fire and then the money shot a moment later.
    Still, we’d have to take the risk. I knew the Yukon was safe; it had a security system that called the key fob in my pocket if somebody so much as breathed on the bumper. I decided to break us up into separate groups. That way Loving or his partner—a good shot, I now knew from experience—couldn’t hit all of the personal security officers at once. “We’re going to the SUV, behind the building, three groups. Garcia, you’re with Maree. Ahmad, Joanne. Ryan’s with me.” In the air I drew a letter U on its left side, explaining, “Garcia, you first. Out the door, down the sidewalk to the left. Hold at the alley to the parking lot and cover us. Ahmad, younext. Go all the way to the lot and hold there. You cover the back.”
    “Roger.”
    “We’ll go next and cover your retreat to the lot,” I said to Garcia.
    Her pretty jaw trembling, Maree looked like she was going to cry. The flippancy was gone completely. In many ways she was a child in a woman’s body.
    “I’ll start the SUV remotely. Jump in and get your belts on. Okay. Now.”
    Garcia and Maree moved slowly along the sidewalk as I crouched in the doorway, looking for threats. I saw no obvious ones.
    My phone