“Good,” Javier said. “If the police believe that is where we will attack from, we will be successful—as long as we can control the traffic in the harbor. Can you guarantee that as well?”

“I can,” Soh said. “I have a man who will make sure that the harbor will be clear. He is monitoring the situation, and if anything changes, he will notify me, and he will make sure that the situation is set right.”

“Who is this man?” Javier asked. “And how does he have so much power?”

“Under normal circumstances, he would be a man of no consequence. It is just fortune that has made him instrumental to our plan.”

“And you trust him?”

“I trust that he fears me. He has allowed himself to be used before, and that has made him vulnerable. And I have made promises to him, in exchange for his help. Promises a man like him cannot ignore.”

“Does he understand the power that he has over the lives of so many?”

Soh shook his head. “He knows nothing, other than that he must do as he is told, and that he will be rewarded for it. That is all he needs to know.”

It was evening when the call came in. Toby looked at the number on the caller ID screen and braced himself. His heart was beating so fast, he thought he might throw up. He was never cut out for the kind of deception he had been forced to practice in recent weeks, and he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to pull it off one more time.

He took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. “Yeah.”

It was Cormack. “I’m just checking in,” he said. “Everything OK there?”

“Yeah, Boss, everything’s good.”

“You got all the allocations done for tomorrow’s harbor traffic?”

“Yeah, it’s done. We’re all good.”

“OK, good.” Cormack sounded weary—lost, even. Responsibility could do that to a man, Toby was just discovering. It wasn’t, as Toby had always suspected, freeing. “Listen, Toby,” Cormack continued. “I want to let you know, you’ve done a good job. Things are crazy right now, but hopefully it’ll be back to normal soon. In the meantime, you should know that the way you’ve stepped up to keep the harbor running hasn’t gone unnoticed, OK?”

“Yeah, OK, thanks, Boss,” Toby said. The praise made him uncomfortable. “You coming in tonight?” he asked. “You could look over the books for tomorrow.”

“I would, but I can’t,” Cormack said.

“You got a date?” It was meant as a joke, but Toby could hear it fall flat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No worries, Toby. I’ve gotta see someone. Depending on how things go, I may or may not be in tomorrow, OK?”

“Sure, I can keep things running either way.”

“OK. Thanks again Toby.”