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FIFTEEN

After Ji van, I told hi so our shadows could keep an eye on hi lot I sat with him for a minute

"What if they&039;re Feds?" asked Jiht of that, but it seear&039;s boys trying to track down those ledgers I&039;d been thinking a lot about Alan Jeffers He knew I had the books I was supposed to bring the to hand over the books to the FBI But if that were the case, why hadn&039;t Agent Dunn put the squeeze onthat question over insense

Jeffers was playing both sides He told the FBI he was trying to get the books for the for hi coke up his nose and wondering hoas going to pull his ass out of the rinder

So I didn&039;t think they were Feds following me, because Alan Jeffers hadn&039;t told them they should I didn&039;t take the time to explain all this to Jimmy I just told him to trust me

"I&039;ll be back Stay in the here they can see you"

"What for?"

"Because you&039;re decoy-boy"

"What&039;re you going to do?"

"Just wait"

Jih-stepped it out the other side of the restaurant and circled behind Frooons in the Teh the atched for aI continuedan eye on the Teas station

Inside, I bought a cheap pocketknife, a thick, souvenir Florida State Seminoles throw pillow, and a roll of duct tape You can do abso-fucking-lutely anything with duct tape Astronauts should take a dozen rolls on every shuttle ister raised an eyebrow

"Don&039;t ask"

I locked as station A quick glance on the way in toldwatch on the Burger King I cut a slit down the side of the Seminole throw pillow I fished one of the automatics out of my shoulder holster and jahtly in the heart of the stuffing I wrapped the pillow in duct tape and kept wrapping until I&039;d used half the roll The whole thing was now a tight wad of stuffing armored with several layers of tape I dropped the knife into my pants pocket and threay the rest of the tape

The pillow looked like a misshapen, armadillo-skinned football I tucked it under my arm and headed for the Teet too coh the BKIn any case, I caer side without any resistance I slid into the backseat and sla at the surprise of me

"What in the hell-"

"Shaddup" I pulled the automatic out of the pillow and showed it to them "Keep still, and do like I tell you Get your hands up where I can see the wheel and dashboard "I don&039;t knoho you think you are, but-"

"You&039;re even dumber than you look" I let him feel the automatic&039;s cool er side Clearly another low-forehead type in a cheap suit and three-dollar haircut The guy behind the wheel was a stick figure with one of those Don Juan skinny ave him a rat look "You just talk when I tell you, and we can all be chuht the auto a loose finger on the trigger Both of the for me to speak They didn&039;t look particularly worried, so I knew this wasn&039;t their first picnic I&039;d need to get tough

The one with the cheap haircut tsked atthe hard line "Pal, I think you need to reconsider your position If you knee-"

I pulled the pistol out of the pillow again and srunted, bent forward and stayed there,his new lump

"You dipshit," said the other, "you just assaulted a federal officer That&039;s five years hard time You want to try forabout?"

"Okay, now listen" He said the words slowly, like he was talking to a dog or a retard "I&039;e No funny stuff I proun at him "Slow"

He came out with the standard-issue billfold, flipped it open A badge An ID that said he was FBI Agent Nicholas Styles He nodded at his buddy in the passenger seat "He&039;s Agent Novak He&039;d show you his ID too, but he&039;s not feeling so well"

God daun, Swift? It&039;s really your only option"

"Just hold on a second" I&039;d really stepped in it this tiets for you, Swift," said Styles "Just hand roaned The knot on the back of his head elling good and quick

"He ht have a concussion"

"So what?"

"So if he sustains soetting hiuess you can tack on a h for that, but I was getting flustered I had to get control of the situation again People were going in and out of the gas station, and I re a pistol around I stuck it back in the pillow

"What&039;s it going to be, Swift?"

I decided I should be the one asking questions "What are you tailing me for?"

"Orders"

"You can do better than that"

"How many times do I have to say it?" asked Styles "We&039;re the FBI We don&039;t answer to cheap hoods"

"I don&039;t care if you&039;re J Edgar Hoover in a ball gown," I said "Did Agent Dunn put you on my tail?" Dunn had warned me to skip town Maybe he&039;d set these two jerks the task ofsure I left

At the mention of Dunn&039;s name Novak lifted his head, and he and Styles looked at each other a h to tellon

"Of course," said Styles "Orders from Dunn Who else?"

Who else? Good question

I said, "Okay Call Dunn We&039;ll wait for him I&039;ll surrender to him Nice and quiet" It wasn&039;t much of a bluff, but I&039;d sensed some kind of chink in the armor at the mention of Dunn&039;s name I had to see how they&039;d react

Novak spoke first, but not to me To Styles "Nick, we can&039;t call Dunn He&039;ll-"

"Quiet!" Styles shifted his eyes froh of your double-talk, Swift Stalling for time won&039;t help you"

I nodded to ht&039;ve been big-shot FBI agents, but they were basically still cops, and like all cops they&039;d co into line whenever they flashed their badges I&039;d seen past the badge, and I saw only a couple of jokers trying to pull a bluff

"You don&039;t have orders to taila little overtime work, eh boys?" I smiled openly now "What did you think? That I&039;d lead you to those ledgers?

Novak groaned louder

"Can&039;t you see he&039;s hurt?" said Styles

"Too bad"

Novak really groaned this time, and I leaned forward to tell him to put a sock in it He twisted suddenly in his seat and reached over at un-pilloith the other What happened next was strictly reflex