Persuader

wanted to get well clear before they did another thing. They might have even gotten a little lost, way out there in the wilds.
    Then they had gotten their bearings and hit the highway. Accelerated north. Then they had calmed down, checked the view behind, slowed up, stayed legal, and started looking for a phone. But by then Duffy had already killed the lines. She had acted fast. So their first stop represented a waste of time. Ten minutes, maybe, to allow for slowing down, parking, calling the house, calling the cell, starting up again, rejoining the highway traffic. Then they would have done it all again a second time at the next rest area. They would have blamed the first failure on a random technical hitch. Another ten minutes.
    After that, either they would have seen the pattern, or they would have figured they were getting close enough just to press on regardless. Or both.
    Beginning to end, a total of four hours, maybe. But when did those four hours start? I had no idea. That was clear. Obviously somewhere between four hours ago and, say, thirty minutes ago. So either I had enough time or no time at all.
    I came out of the bathroom fast and checked the window. The rain had stopped. It was night outside. The lights along the wall were on. They were haloed with mist. Beyond them was absolute darkness. No headlights in the distance. I headed downstairs. Found Beck in the hallway. He was still prodding at his Nokia, trying to get it to work.
    "I'm going out," I said. "Up the road a little."
    "Why?"
    "I don't like this thing with the phones. Could be nothing, could be something."
    "Something like what?"
    "I don't know," I said. "Maybe somebody's coming. You just got through telling me how many people you got on your back."
    "We've got a wall and a gate."
    "You got a boat?"
    "No," he said. "Why?"
    "If they get as far as the gate, you're going to need a boat. They could sit there and starve you out." He said nothing.
    "I'll take the Saab," I said.
    "Why?" Because it's lighter than the Cadillac.
    "Because I want to leave the Cadillac for you," I said. "It's bigger."
    "What are you going to do?"
    "Whatever I need to," I said. "I'm your head of security now. Maybe nothing's happening, but if it is, then I'm going to try to take care of it for you."
    "What do I do?"
    "You keep a window open and listen," I said. "At night with all this water around, you'll hear me from a couple miles away if I'm shooting. If you do, put everybody in the Cadillac and get the hell out. Drive fast. Don't stop. I'll hold them off long enough for you to get past. Have you got someplace else to go?" He nodded. Didn't tell me where.
    "So go there," I said. "If I make it, I'll get to the office. I'll wait there, in the car. You can check there later."
    "OK," he said.
    "Now call Paulie on the internal phone and tell him to stand by to let me through the gate."
    "OK," he said again.
    I left him there in the hallway. Walked out into the night. I detoured around the courtyard wall and retrieved my bundle from its hole. Carried it back to the Saab and put it on the rear seat. Then I slid into the front and fired up the engine and backed out. Drove slow around the carriage circle and accelerated down the drive. The lights on the wall were bright in the distance. I could see Paulie at the gate. I slowed a little and timed it so I didn't have to stop. I went straight through. Drove west, staring through the windshield, looking for headlight beams coming toward me.
    I drove four miles, and then I saw a government Taurus. It was parked on the shoulder.
    Facing toward me. No lights. The old guy was sitting behind the wheel. I killed my lights and slowed and stopped window to window with him. Wound down my glass. He did the same. Aimed a flashlight and a gun at my face until he saw who I was. Then he put them both away.
    "The bodyguards are out," he said.
    I nodded. "I figured. When?"
    "Close to four hours ago." I glanced ahead, involuntarily. No time.
    "We got two men down," he said.
    "Killed?" He nodded. Said nothing.
    "Did Duffy report it?"
    "She can't," he said. "Not yet. We're off the books. This whole situation isn't even happening."
    "She'll have to report it," I said. "It's two guys."
    "She will," he said. "Later. After you deliver. Because the objectives are right back in place again. She needs Beck for justification, now more than ever."
    "How did it go down?" He shrugged. "They bided their time. Two of them, four of us. Should have been easy.
    But