“Okay, go do that, and come see me when you’re done.”

Frank led Charlie down the hall, sat him down in his office, and closed the door. “How’d you find me?” he asked.

“I didn’t,” Charlie replied. “I found your partner. About you, I had no idea.”

Frank sat down and took a legal pad from a drawer and shoved it across the desk. “All right, draw the bank for me.”

Charlie did so and handed the pad back.

“When did you last see it?”

“Yesterday. I went in and got change for a hundred.”

“And it’s as simple as this?”

“It is.”

Frank ran through his rules, though he didn’t really feel it was necessary.

“Got it.”

“Is there a back way out?”

“Yep, and an alley, too.”

“What are you using for vehicles?”

“One old van will do it—there’s just three of us and a driver. I’ll go into the vault alone with the manager; the other two will stand guard until we’re ready to leave the premises.”

“Go to a design shop and get business names made for the van, then peel them off when you’re done. Carpet cleaning is good.”

“Good idea.”

“Any questions, Charlie?”

“Nope.”

“Where are you going to divide the money?”

Charlie wrote down an address. “It’s a restaurant that went bust. One of my guys has a key to the back door.”

“I’ll be there for the divvy. Any arguments, my decision is final—make sure your guys understand that.”

“Done.”

“Wait here, and I’ll get your money.”

“Will do.”

Charlie went back to Jimmy’s office. “We’re done. It looks good.”

“You’re sure about Charlie?”

“All he needs is instructions, and he has those.”

Jimmy handed him a thick envelope. “Here’s twelve-five.”

“Right.” Frank went back to his office, opened his safe, counted out the other half, and handed it to Charlie, along with a couple of throwaway cell phones.

“Call me when you’re out of the bank, then when you’re on your way to the location. And Charlie . . .”

“Yeah, Frank?”

“Don’t fuck it up.”

Chapter 35

Stone got a call Thursday morning:

“Dino on line one.”

“Hey, there.”

“Hey, yourself. Are you still in one piece?”

“Let me check.” Pause. “No missing pieces.”

“Let’s try and keep it that way. Get out of town.”

“How come?”

“Gene Ryan is out there somewhere. We lost track of him.”

“You were tracking him?”

“He was being watched. The watchers are now officially on my shit list.”

“Poor guys.”

“You better believe it. Now go away, please.”

“If you think I should.”

“I’ve said it twice.”

“You want to go with me?”

“It may surprise you to learn that, occasionally, I’m busy.”

“Bye-bye.”

“I hope so.” Dino hung up.

Stone worked for another hour, then Joan buzzed. “Pat Frank on line one for you.”