The Heist

smelling? A corpse flower?”
    “No, this scent comes from the mass grave about a hundred yards away from here, midway between this compound and the village. That is the smell of people who’ve dared oppose me. That, Mr. Burnside, is the scent of power. My corpse flower. And it is
always
in bloom.”
    Kate made a gagging gesture at the screen, where Boyd was staring directly into the hidden camera. “I didn’t think it could get any worse, but Boyd just managed to take his performance to a whole new level of overacting. Is there actually a corpse flower? Who would believe something like that?”
    “That man is a natural!” Nick leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, a smile on his face. “And that was sheerbrilliance. Boyd took the reeking Salton Sea and used it as a prop. Look at Burnside. He’s gone pale.”
    “Look at Tom,” Kate said. “He’s choking back laughter.”
    That was true. Luckily, Burnside’s back was to him.
    “Tom will control himself,” Nick said. It was more of a strongly expressed hope than a fact.
    “It’s not Tom I’m worried about,” Kate said. “Boyd should stop hamming it up for the camera and start squeezing Burnside for information.”
    “He’s already begun,” Nick said. “It’s subtle.”
    “Subtle? He just said that he fills mass graves with his enemies and that he enjoys the fragrance of their rot.”
    “That was setting the stage, creating an environment of terror. Now he’ll make it personal.”
    Diego motioned to Burnside to take a seat on one of the plush couches, and Diego sat on a facing couch. Char remained standing.
    “All of the surviving inhabitants of the nearest village, recently rechristened ‘Boriga,’ work in some aspect of my business. I pay them very well. But they are a simple people. They don’t know how to handle money. So they’ve entrusted their savings to me to protect and to invest. I take the responsibility very seriously. I invested their money and my own with Derek Griffin, which brings us to why you are here.”
    “I had nothing to do with Mr. Griffin’s business.”
    “You merely tipped him off to his impending arrest and helped him escape with five hundred million dollars.”
    Burnside leaned back on the couch and crossed his legs, tryingto project the image that he was a man at ease, not someone whose chest felt like it was being crushed in a vise. He hoped he wasn’t having a heart attack.
    “You’re mistaken,” Burnside said. “I had nothing to do with his disappearance. I don’t have any idea where to find him or the money he invested for his clients.”
    “That’s a shame,” Diego sighed wearily. “I apologize for inconveniencing you for nothing. Char, take him outside and execute him.”
    Char took a step forward. Burnside sat up straight and held his palms out in a halting gesture. “Wait, wait, wait. You don’t have to kill me.”
    “You expect me to fly you home?”
    “I can be an asset to you,” Burnside said.
    “I don’t see how.”
    “I could be your legal counsel in Los Angeles.”
    “Do I strike you as someone who gives a damn about laws? I lost two men bringing you here. I must now support their families. At least I will have the satisfaction of ridding the world of another lawyer. Put him up against the wall, Char, and be sure to hose off the mess right away.”
    Char took another step forward.
    “Wait,” Burnside said again, more emphatically this time. “The only reason I am alive right now is because you think I have information that you want. Assuming I do, if I were to reveal what I know then there would be nothing stopping you from killing me.”
    “There is nothing stopping me now.”
    “What assurance do I have that you’ll let me live if I tell you what you want to know?”
    “None at all.”
    “Okay, then fuck you and your money.” Burnside suddenly felt the pressure in his chest ease and he waved Char over. “C’mon, get your ass over here and shoot me.”
    “That’s it, game over,” Kate said.
    Nick slid a sideways look at her. “I have to say, conning people was a lot more fun before I had to listen to your running commentary. Have some faith.”
    “Boyd overplayed his hand and Burnside nailed him. There’s no coming back from this.”
    “You have a lot to learn about swindles. Boyd is giving Burnside a little slack, that’s all. Burnside doesn’t want to die. He knows he’s going to have to put himself entirely at Boyd’s mercy and is