Nunes shows me a letter in which Charlie details everything that has happened from day one. She tells all the details of Azar’s program, her insinuation into my life, my ignorance of her plan, my insistence that no one get killed, the value of the Nakamura sword vis-à-vis the cargo on the Saqueador. She says I was tricked into breaking into Schermer’s apartment. She says I assaulted Schermer in self-defense and that I killed Herkimer only to save her life. She specifies all her own thefts. She even advises Nunes how to find Azar. She gives Nunes everything she wanted.

Except me. And, of course, herself.

“I have responsibilities outside of the country right now,” the letter says. “And don’t bother looking for me. I won’t be back.”

“So if this all checks out,” says Nunes, “I guess we’ve got to cut you loose.”

“You don’t seem to mind it.”

“I don’t think of it as losing a mang; I think of it as gaining a mobster. That info, at least, was solid.” Nunes points down the hall through the glass. Sitting hunched on a bench, wrists locked together, his trach hole sneering pinkly at the world, is Azar. My body flinches at the sight.

“Spooked, huh? Well, he’s a spooky guy. But your girl’s letter gave us everything we needed. We’ve got him.”

“Congratulations.”

“So. Where is she, Otto? How can we find her?”

“I wasn’t going to tell you anything when I was up for life. Why would I tell you anything now that I’m free?”

“She helped you. I thought you’d want to help her.”

“Help her how? By leading you to her?”

“You love her?”

My response is to double over in my chair, moan, and hug my elbows as if trying to squeeze myself into another dimension.

“If you love her you’ll try to protect her. It’s a lot safer if we can bring her in peacefully. If she puts up a fight, maybe I’m not there, you know what I’m saying? You take a whole bunch of eager-beaver cops, all those guns, all that anger over making them look bad all this time—anything can happen.”

“The letter said she’s out of the country.”

“So you believe that.”

I nod.

“Why do you think she’s out of the country?”

“I don’t think it. I know it.”

“How do you know it?”

“I’ve been wrong about a lot of things lately, Detective Nunes. I’ve been wrong about pretty much everything you can be wrong about. But not this time. I know this in my stomach. I know it absolutely. Charlie Izzo is long gone. You’ll never see her again. Neither will I.”

Clean Getaway

Clean Getaway