CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Friday, January 14

10:35 p.m.

Palm Beach, Florida

Otto had downloaded the new files and divided them three ways. She gave them a sanitized version of the highlights from the Boss.

For the next three hours, they each worked alone to wade through the files.

Otto had spread her laptop and notes on the kitchen table. Gaspar worked on the couch. Pauling took the small desk in the vault office.

Gaspar put his laptop aside and limped onto the patio to call home. He talked to his kids before they went to bed, and spent a few extra minutes with Maria, his wife. Otto knew because he’d done the same thing every night they’d worked together.

She felt a little stab of jealousy that she didn’t have someone to call. Or even better, someone who cared enough about her to call first. Briefly, John Lawton, the hot treasury agent, flashed into her head. “Oh, good grief.”

She noticed the tension in the sides of her neck. She’d been sitting on one calf, leg bent at the knee. The pins and needles sensation in her foot prompted her to walk around a bit.

When Gaspar came back, he said, “Any chance we could order a pizza? Do they even order pizza in ritzy places like this?”

Otto would have teased him about eating all the time, but the truth was that her stomach had stopped growling a while back, having given up the hope of dinner.

Pauling must have heard them because she walked into the kitchen with a phone in her hand and the pizza place on the other end of the line. “My favorite is pepperoni and cheese. New York style. What do you both like?”

While Pauling placed the order, Otto attempted to relieve the prickly pain in her foot on her way to the guest bathroom. She washed her hands and splashed water on her face. The new clothes she’d bought earlier at the New York outlet mall already looked like she’d been wearing them for a month. Nothing she could do about that for the moment.

Gaspar took his turn in the guest bathroom. Pauling had freshened up in the master. No sooner had they gathered in the main room again when the buzzer at the front door sounded.

For a second, Otto thought it could be Parnell, and touched her gun. Her reaction proved how jumpy she was.

One quick look at the security video feed showed only the pizza girl, laden with three big, flat pizza boxes and a twelve pack of beer, which let Otto relax a couple of levels on her internal threat meter.

Pauling grinned. “I know this place. I order from there frequently. It’ll be okay. Come downstairs with me. I could use another pair of hands.”

The exchange of cash for pizza and beer went smoothly. No explosive generals busted through the door wielding knives or guns. So far, so good.

They carried the pizza, paper plates, napkins, and beer outside to the patio table. Gaspar, of course, began gobbling like a hungry wolf immediately.

Pauling gaped at him, astonished.

“It’s amazing, right?” Otto grinned. “And I can tell you for sure, he does absolutely nothing to burn off all those calories.”

Pauling laughed. A genuine laugh. Which turned to uncontrolled laughter, complete with tears streaming from her eyes. The whole thing went on and on. Too long for the situation.

Otto cocked her head. Gaspar’s eating habits were amusing, sure, but not that hilarious.

Was she hysterical? She’d learned that three of her friends were viciously murdered within the past forty-eight hours. She must have felt some responsibility. She seemed to be the centerpiece of Parnell’s crime spree, after all.

Otto could understand if she’d gone a little off the rails. But they needed a reliably cool head and steady nerves from her. She’d been out of the bureau for a long time. Were her once remarkable skills too rusty now?

When Pauling finally got control of herself, she could barely breathe. Her eyes and nose were as red as if she’d been crying for days. She blew her nose on a napkin and sat back in the chair, exhausted.

Gaspar was the one who asked, “Are you okay? I mean, I’m glad to provide comic relief, but really, I’m just not that funny.”

“Once I started, I simply couldn’t stop.” She patted Gaspar’s arm. “I’m fine, Carlos. Thanks for asking. Kim, don’t look so worried. I promise not to crack up when things are critical.”

“Are you sure, Lauren?” Otto asked the question as gently as possible. “Because if you’re not up to dealing with Parnell when he gets here, it’s no problem. We’re not alone in this. Cooper is marshaling backup.”

Gaspar said, “With luck, they’ll intercept him. We might never see the guy until he’s arrested.”

Otto didn’t believe that for a moment, and she doubted Gaspar believed his own baloney. But the words sounded reassuring. Pauling seemed calmer.

“I’ll be right back.” Pauling pushed away from the table.

Otto’s gaze followed her until she disappeared down the corridor to her bedroom. “What do you think?”

“Your call, Suzy Wong. I’m number two, remember?” He’d already returned to eating the pizza. Which, in some crazy way, was also reassuring.

She shrugged. Nothing they could do anyway. They couldn’t leave Pauling on her own, and they were better off together until Parnell was apprehended. They had one job. Stay alive and keep Pauling alive. Even if she was a thief.