BooksBarbecue
Back The Deal Goes Down
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. CHAPTER FIVE
  9. CHAPTER SIX
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN
  11. CHAPTER EIGHT
  12. CHAPTER NINE
  13. CHAPTER TEN
  14. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  15. CHAPTER TWELVE
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  43. CHAPTER FORTY
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  55. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“An accident. He drowned.” I didn’t go into details. He already had them from his son. “Really,” I said. “The coroner will agree. Forensics will agree.”

“They better.”

“That woman,” I indicated Kaylee, though he knew who I was talking about, “is his widow. All she wants to do is go back to America, with her son, to be with her family, to deal with all this. Those guys, the ones who look like Russian thugs, they are Russian thugs. They want to restrain her, rip her off. It would be great if you could get rid of them. Get them out of the way. Then Kaylee, that’s her name, and Leo, very nice boy, will go to Innsbruck and get out of your hair.”

“My hair?”

“Out of Austria.”

“Maybe,” he said, open to considering it.

“Then they’ll send some money back to pack up their stuff. Clean up this place. Ship things home. Whatever it costs. In fact, I have an Amex Black Card, no limits, we could cover it now.” “No,” Franz said. “Cash would be better.”

“It will be sent. You have my word.”

“OK, Rick, Victor, Tony.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t fucking come back.”

“I promise. Not for another thirty years.”

—

We didn’t bother with a helicopter. We took two taxis to Innsbruck. It was before dawn. There was no traffic. The drive was only an hour and a half. On the way to the airport, I asked Kaylee if there were any special foods she’d like for herself and Leo on the flight. She indeed had a list. I wrote it down. I phoned it in on the way. When we got on our flight, every item was on board.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

TETERBORO

TETERBORO AIRPORT IS THE NEW York airport you’ve never been to, probably never heard of, unless you have a private jet.

It’s in New Jersey. North of Newark. If there’s no traffic, it’s twenty minutes to Midtown Manhattan by car. Fourteen minutes by helicopter. It was as comfortable and pampered a flight as I’ve ever been on. I didn’t know, I didn’t ask, but I guessed the flight cost about $65,000. The pilot sent our customs and immigration information on ahead. We walked down the steps to the tarmac. Elizabeth was there with a limousine waiting for us. So were a customs and an immigration agent. They smiled at us, waved us along, then the second of the pair stepped up to me and said, “Please come with us, sir.”

At immigration you are a stateless person. You have no rights. This was immigration even if there was no building or section of a terminal to mark it. I said, “Go on,” to Allison and Kaylee. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll call you later.”

“I’ll send lawyers,” Elizabeth said.