Going Dark(82)
“And after it’s finished?” Thorn said.
“Enter by car, leave by water, like I said. Weren’t you listening, Thorn?”
“I heard you. Take the airboat down the cooling canals. It’s dark, but you know your way. Get as close to the bay as possible, exit the airboat, cover twenty yards of open ground, cross the steel barriers, get in your skiff.”
“Exactly,” she said.
“And where then?” Thorn said.
“Back here.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
“Only long enough to sort things out, then we part ways.”
“They’ll track us. There’ll be cops everywhere, something this big. Coast Guard cutters, choppers in the air.”
“You’re underestimating the chaos. Even on an average day, Miami is teetering on the edge. And timing’s on our side. We’ll be gone before they know what happened. An hour max, we’re in and out. Miami’s dark, Fort Lauderdale, all the way to Boca, maybe beyond. Happens in a blink, we’re already on our way back here.”
“Where does the escape skiff come from?” Flynn said.
“You’ll bring it.”
“Me? How?”
“You stay here until it’s time to take the boat to the escape point.”
“I’m not coming along? Why? You don’t trust me?”
“Nobody trusts you, ass-breath,” Wally said.
“It’s just the four of us going to the plant,” Leslie said. “Thorn, Cameron, and Pauly and me. You and Wally have other roles. This is your landing spot.”
She touched the ballpoint tip to a location along the coast, the closest point to the southernmost cooling canal.
“This is bullshit,” Flynn said. “I want to go to the plant.”
Leslie seemed not to hear. Her gaze wandered around Thorn’s kitchen and the living area beyond as though her eyes were refocusing on some distant time. Perhaps it had just hit her. The house where she’d first felt safe so many years back. This place of refuge. Something else now.
“Leslie,” Flynn said. “You can’t leave me out of this.”
The long-ago look in her eyes faded and she returned. Her expression had softened from the journey.
“Somebody always drives the getaway car. It’s as essential as any other piece of this.”
“You’re trying to protect me. Giving me this bullshit role.”
“I’m not going to argue. The decision’s made.”
He heaved a disgusted sigh and stalked to a chair across the room.
“Using my house,” said Thorn. “That was always the plan, wasn’t it? That day Cameron came, he was checking the place out. You were already familiar with it, but Cameron had to have a look, a scouting mission. Checking out its strategic value.”
“I didn’t think you’d mind,” she said.
“You were just going to show up here, the bunch of you, no warning, middle of the night, walk in, and you thought we’d have a big happy sleepover?”
Leslie traced a fingertip along the grout between the countertop tiles. She looked at him and gave a so what? shrug. “We’re here. And so far it seems to be working out.”
“And separating Flynn and me, that’s insurance, to keep me in line.”
She held his gaze. “Why should we keep you in line if you’re as committed as you say?”
“Hey, ass-wipe.” Wally’s hands were on the keyboard, head turned toward Thorn. “What mile marker are we at?”
“Why?”
“What’re you doing, Wally?” Leslie asked.
“I’m writing code, boss. Doing my job. So what mile marker is this?”
A remnant from the days of the Overseas Railroad, the small, green markers ran the length of the Keys, counting down each mile to Key West.
Thorn gave Leslie a questioning look and she shrugged. So tell him.
He gave Wally the number of the closest mile marker, and Wally turned back to the computer and resumed typing. “Okay. So where’s the pipeline run around here?”
“What’re you talking about?”
“The water line. Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. Pumped from a well field near Florida City down here to the Keys.”
Leslie went over to the desk where Wally had set up his laptop and looked over his shoulder. “Why’re you playing around with that?”
“I finished all the jobs you gave me. Everything’s set. Ready to pull the trigger. So I’m goofing on something else.”
“Pipeline is about a hundred yards west of here,” Thorn said. “Runs along the side of the Overseas Highway.”
“Good,” Wally said. “So we can see it.”