“Hold off,” Jeremiah said. “We’re all set.”

Chapter 40

Days 171-172

The locking mechanism on Jeremiah’s door had been taken offline. The door stood partially open now, out to the empty hallway. He could come and go as he pleased, but there was nowhere he wanted to go. For several hours, he had been getting the apartment ready for Parker’s arrival. He’d had the kitchen stocked with frozen pizzas, chips and soda, and had someone procure a new gaming console that was supposed to be impossible to get at the moment. He also made a point of ripping the camera out of Mel’s painting on the wall, smirking directly into it as he did. No one was going to be watching him anymore, he thought, and they certainly weren’t going to be watching Parker. He didn’t know why he was making all these preparations. Parker would only be here for one night. But keeping busy took his mind off the problem of what the hell he was going to tell him.

Brent was grinning ear to ear when he stuck his head around the door late that afternoon.

“I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon,” Jeremiah said.

“I wanted to collect my paycheck in person,” he said. “I wanted to feel it in my hands. I’m a goddamn millionaire! Besides, I have the package here. I wanted to put it in your hands. I’m glad to get rid of it, tell you the truth. It gives me the creeps.”

Jeremiah took the lunch box from Brent and looked around the apartment for a place to stash it. He supposed he ought to hide it somewhere, just in case Scott had any last-minute ideas to double-cross him. Finally, he settled on the freezer, scooping a gallon of Rocky Road into the sink and stuffing the whole thing inside the sticky container. He shoved it into the back, behind three pizzas and a frozen lasagna, and closed the door.

“You’re not worried they’ll find it in there?” Brent asked. “It’s kind of a lame hiding place for something like this.”

“Scott’s convinced I stashed it somewhere else. I showed him a photo of a storage place. He doesn’t need to know I got that photo off the web.”

“Smooth, Jeremiah.”

“Brent,” he said, “I’m going to need your phone. I need that evidence if we’re going to stop them.”

Brent hesitated for a moment and then handed it over. “Why can’t I just forward the photo to your phone?”

“Scott took my phone as collateral already.”

“I can save it to the cloud.”

“No,” Jeremiah told him. “I want control of this. I don’t want it out there. It’s risky.”

“Fine,” Brent said. “I’m glad to be rid of that, too. I’ve been sleeping with it under my pillow. What are you going to do with it?”

“I’ll get it to Walt Thompson. He’ll know what it means. He’ll figure it out.”

“A lot of people are going to burn for this.”