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So I have only three options I can see One--I have to find your Annamaria real quick, before she squawks, and kill you both
I consultedreport tient You won’t be able to pull that off
That’s what I figured Option two--I kill you here, now When you don’t report to Anna into town I play duh it out Never saw you, don’t knohat happened to you
I said, I’m sorry to hear…this must mean Reverend Moran is in this with you
He’s not He found you in his church, you said your life had taken a wrong turn Then you started talking Areddon, the end of the world, you made him nervous You told him the retriever’s na, and its na s, has a dog isn’t his…I’d think a preacher would try some about small stuff, and don’t pretend you don’t knohy
Are you a uessed
You know I am
I hesitated, then nodded We know I ht thousand bureaucrats in a block-square building near the CIA And don’t forget--the reverend knows you arrested me
He smiled and dismissed my concern with a wave of his hand That doesn’tthe reverend kills his wife and co member of the parish
Do I sound like a Christian to you? he asked, and laughed softly, not as if he were re on his ruthless criminality but as if Christian were a synonylodyte
I said, Back to your second option You remember that?
I kill you now, play dumb, say I never ht now
They who?
My handlers in…the agency
He looked dubious They can’t know
Satellite tracking
You aren’t carrying a transponder We searched you at the church
Surgically i Irish eyes Where?
Very tiny, efficient device Could be ht buttocks Could be my left buttocks Could be in an armpit Even if you found it, cut it out, and crushed it, they already know I’radually repaired the politician deun to break down He took an Alan to unwrap it You like half?
No
You don’t like Al to kill , I said
You don’t take sweets froht
Well…more for me After he had enjoyed a bite of the Almond Joy, he said, So there’s only option three This is where I figured ould wind up Which is why I had to trust you and tell you my situation I can make you very rich
What happened to ‘Every man for himself’?
Son, I like you, I do, and I seeyou, but I wouldn’t in a ive you a piece of my cut I’m surprised I offered you half of the candy bar
I appreciate your honesty
If I’ood reason to trust me So from now on, only truth between us
Because he smiled at me so sincerely and because it would have been rude not to reciprocate, I returned his sed, I felt it necessary to say, In all honesty, I don’t believe that Utgard Rolf is the kind of generous felloould share his cut with ard would kill his own mother for a thousand dollars Or ested the proposition that he had h ti I have a price--
Everyone has a price
Who wouldthis operation have soency fund At this late hour, with so ency knows or suspects, tell us the reason you were sent here, and if you feed the in a wonderful climate under a name no one will ever discover
How rich?
I don’t know the size of the contingency fund And I would have to speak with a representative of our financiers, but I suspect they would consider you so valuable to this enterprise that they would find twenty-five million for you
What aboutfor her?
No We just work together
Then you tell us where she is, we kill her tonight We put the body through a one forever
Let’s do it
That was quick
Well, I said, I don’t see an alternative, because I’ her a piece of ht part of the world, I said, twenty-five , the chief agreed, finishing his candy So, my new rich friend, what’s your name?
Harry Lime, I said
He held out his hand I reached across the table and shook it
I was not thrown back into the dream Evidently, it happened only on first contact with one of these conspirators
The chief said, I’ve got to go talk to the moneyhe’ll want to know
Whatever We’re partners
How the hell did you do that?
Do what?
How did you pass the dreaard and me? The dream, the vision, whatever you want to call it