“Right now? You have him in custody right now?”

“That’s right.”

“Damned good news, Mr. McBride.”

“I need to interrogate him.”

“I see.”

“I’m not sure you do. I mean interrogate him.”

“If I understand what you’re implying, we don’t do things that way.”

“I think you’ll make an exception.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I know about the Ortega-Bridgestone connection.”

Lansing said nothing.

“And the Semtex.”

More silence.

“You still there?” asked Nathan.

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Are we on the same page now?”

“Yes.”

Nathan kept his tone even. “May I ask why the FBI was at Pete’s Truck Palace?”

“Amber Sheldon wanted the reward money. There’s a million-dollar reward on the brothers. Half a million each. She called and told us about tonight’s money drop.”

Nathan shook his head at the two-dimensional double-cross Sheldon had pulled off. “Well, I guess that money belongs to Harv and me now.”

“What about Sheldon?”

“Bridgestone turned her into red mist.”

“Then yes, the money’s yours. You collared him. It’s yours.”

“One of your field agents is with us. She needs clarification on our arrangement.” Nathan handed the phone to Grangeland. She took it, walked a few paces away, and kept her back to Nathan, but he could still hear her end of the conversation.

“This is Special Agent Grangeland from the Fresno residence office,” she said. After a few seconds, Grangeland tensed as if she wanted to object, but said, “Yes, sir. Understood.” She handed the phone back to him.

“You’ve got one hour, Mr. McBride.”

“I don’t need that long. One more thing, Director Lansing.”

“What?”

“Keep this under wraps. Tell absolutely no one we have Ernie until we’ve got his brother. Leonard can’t know Ernie’s been apprehended. If it leaks, he’ll bolt and we’ll never catch him. Play along and you’ll get your front-page headline and no one will be the wiser. You have my word on it.”

“All right, agreed. I want you to call me back when you’ve got something to report.”

“Will you put Special Agent Grangeland under my command for the remainder of this operation?”

“Yes.”

“She’ll need to hear it from you.” Nathan handed her the cell again.

She listened for several seconds before saying, “Yes, sir.”

Nathan took the phone back. “Thank you, Director Lansing. We’ll collar Leonard if you play along.”

“No mutilations, McBride.”

“We’ll see.” Nathan ended the call. “You’re welcome to stay, if you think you’ve got the stomach for it.”

“I’ll stay.”

“Suit yourself, Grangeland, but don’t interfere. Are we crystal clear on that? No matter what you see.”

She nodded tightly.

They hustled back to Harv’s position.

“Are you ready, Mr. Bridgestone?”

Chapter 23

Chapter  23