Chapter 46
“It’s been almost twenty-four hours now,” Raina said. “Do you think the plan will work?”
They were in Luther’s office at the Paradise. The room was paneled in dark wood. Several of Luther’s dark paintings hung on the wall.
He did not respond immediately. Instead, he got up from behind his desk. She watched him cross the room to stand in front of the French doors that opened onto the shaded balcony. They had been acquainted for only a short time but she could read the edgy tension in the set of his broad shoulders as easily as if they had been intimate for years.
“What I think,” Luther said, “is that it’s our only chance to grab Smith. If the plan fails, odds are very, very good that he’ll disappear again, maybe permanently this time.”
She rose from the chair and walked across the plush carpet to join him. She could not think of anything helpful to say so she took his hand. His fingers closed very tightly around hers.
Two hours later the phone in Luther’s office rang. Jolted, Raina looked up quickly from the magazine she had been trying to read. Luther closed the ledger he had been perusing and picked up the phone.
“This is Pell,” he said.
He did not say anything else for a time but his eyes narrowed a little and his fingers tightened on the phone. Raina realized she was holding her breath. Part of her hoped that the deal was off, because that would mean that Luther would not have to take the risk of implementing the rest of the dangerous plan.
“Consider the favor repaid,” Luther said. He hung up the phone and looked at Raina. “Smith took the bait.”
The fierceness in his eyes and the grim satisfaction in his words said it all, Raina thought. Whatever the outcome, Luther needed to take this risk.
“How do a couple of mob guys handle a business transaction with a ruthless gunrunner?” she asked.
“Very carefully,” Luther said.
He picked up the phone again and dialed a number.
“Hello, Miss Vaughn,” he said. “This is Luther Pell. I’m calling for Matthias. I’m hoping he is free to join me for a game of poker tonight.”
Raina reflected on Luther’s earlier comment about Matthias Jones. Nobody who knows him well will risk playing poker with him.
Anyone who knew Luther well would know that he was not calling Matthias to discuss a possible poker game.