Stolen Prey

about the house, but I don’t think we’re wrong about her.”
    Shaffer said, “The house isn’t going anywhere. The thing is this: they think they’ve kept Martha White out of sight. And now they’ve got lots of reasons to lie low for a while. I suspect what they’re going to do is, they’re gonna leave the gold alone.”
    “Seems kind of strange to leave twenty-two million in gold coins unguarded in a neighborhood like that,” another of the agents said. “Seems more like they’d put it in a bunch of safe-deposit boxes.”
    Lucas nodded. “Bob and I considered that, and you’re right. They might have done that: it’s probably fifty-fifty. That’s why we
cannot
lose her. We need to see everywhere she goes. If she goes into a bank, we can make inquiries. On the other hand, they’ve got to know that if they put it in a bank, and the smallest thing goes wrong, we can paper every bank in the country and keep them from getting the gold back. If she hides it in this old house, and she’s smart about it, her biggest worry wouldn’t be some crackhead finding it, it’d be that the house burns down.”
    They spent another five minutes talking about it, working through the equities, dismissing suggestions that they bring in more cops from St. Paul or Minneapolis.
    Martínez hadn’t said a word during the discussion, and during a lull in the arguments, Lucas turned to her and asked, “Rivera’s remains…”
    “I will get them today.”
    “We’re so sorry about what happened.”
    “Before we start celebrating United Nations Day,” one of the agents said, “I’m happy enough that we’re getting these thieves, but what about the shooters?”
    Shaffer said, “Well, it’s mostly a snake hunt, now, Roy. I’m calling up every police chief between here and the border. We don’t think these guys can move, but who knows? Maybe they had a private jet over in St. Paul, and they’re now on the beach at Cabo, drinking cocktails with little umbrellas.”
    “It just seems like we’re giving everything we’ve got to tracking down the thieves, and do we really care that much?” said another agent.
    “There are a couple bankers who care that much,” Lucas said.
    “Is that what this is about? Bankers getting their money back? Did somebody make a phone call?”
    “Hey, fuck you, George. We’re not paying anybody off.” Lucas was pissed, and let it show.
    Shaffer held up his hands and said, “George, I’ll talk to you in my office in just a bit. But that was bullshit. I agree with Lucas. I mean, what the hell are you planning to do, drive around town until you see them?”
    “There’s gotta be something.”
    “Well, I’m waiting,” Shaffer said. “Tell me what it is. I’m more interested in the killers than the money, but I got nothing. So what do you have that we don’t? That we could personally do? Come on. Tell me.”
    George had nothing, and, cornered, he admitted it. O’Brien said, “I’ll tell you what, if we can get that gold, that’s not going to wreck the Criminales, but it’s going to give them a couple of flattires. We’re starting to see some places that they’re taking their investments in Europe.”
    “What about the thieves?” Lucas asked. “You see where their money is going?”
    “Yeah, but we’re not getting to the end of the line. We’ve got them in Europe, but it’s coming out of there to somewhere else. We’re talking to Interpol now, but that always takes time.”
    “We don’t have time.”
    “Tell that to some time-wasting asshole in Lyon,” O’Brien said. “They gotta cross every T twice.”
    “So we’re doing a full-court press on Martha White,” Shaffer said. “We keep our mouths
shut
on this. If anything leaks, somebody’s gonna be learning the private detective trade, because his ass is gonna be outa here. We all clear?”
    Everybody nodded, and the meeting broke up, with Shaffer saying, “We’ll get back here in two hours. Everybody take a leak, get something to eat. We could be on her for a while.”
    O UT IN THE HALL , Martínez touched Lucas’s arm and said, “If I get the ashes, and they say I will, I will not be here tomorrow morning. My flight leaves at nine o’clock. So, I thank you for your help.”
    “What can I say?” Lucas said. “It’s a tragedy, but honestly … he brought it on himself. If he’d only called us…”
    “I tried to get him to do it,” she said. “But he was a very stubborn man, with very big…”