“No,” said Juba. “You are not thinking like a pursued man. What if, unknown to us, there have been burglaries in the area. So those two sleepy policemen aren’t as sleepy as they seem. Instead, they are carefully watching for cars that are performing reconnaissance for an upcoming robbery: orbiting blocks, parking and watching, hanging out in nearby stores. If they see a vehicle, sirens sound, and other cars arrive out of nowhere in seconds. No rifle, but they find your little bag of diamonds and rubies from the rifle, they check the wires and see that the authorities are desperately searching for two ‘Arabic-looking’ men our age, and, by morning, I am on a plane to a country I’ve never heard of where certain men with blowtorches await. You see, you must account for the unaccountable as well.”

“You must be the most careful man who ever lived,” said Alberto.

•   •   •

The next day, Alberto took the subway to the area, spent time in a coffee shop, had lunch at a sandwich shop, bought a T-shirt and a ball cap at a souvenir shop, and, through it all, kept his eyes open for unmarked sedans sitting idly by, dull, thick men on the lookout, chats into radio microphones, odd rendezvous where one unmarked car pulled out to be replaced by another. Of those phenomena, as charted out for him by Juba, he saw nothing.

Back in the low-rent suburban motel, he said, “I saw no movement, no action, no sign. The building is completely unguarded and unobserved. I went into the lobby and found it without attention. I watched the people come and go. They were black, most of them. It is safe, I tell you.”

“Tomorrow, you will go to one of those big stores and buy a disposable phone. I will make one call on it and it will be destroyed. The chances of an intercept are minimal, but we will take all precautions. If I am satisfied that all is well, I will arrange to take delivery of the key that admits me to a certain apartment in the building, and then I am where I must be. You and your little bag of diamonds and your junky little car—you will be free to go.”

“I could stay,” said Alberto. “I feel now as though this mission, whatever it is, is my mission.”

“No, go far away. Return to your life. Or buy a new one, if you want. Do not get involved in cartel affairs—”

“I wasn’t, to begin with. They dragooned me. I am lucky to be alive.”

“Yes, you are. So am I. You go, you disappear. If I am successful, you will read about it in the newspapers. If I am not, you will not hear a thing. If you hear nothing, tragedy has occurred.”

“Is there a date for all of this?”