Free Fire - C. J. Box [120]
“You gave it to me,” Joe said. “Remember?”
“I remember nothing. It’s too early. Can’t this wait?”
“No, it can’t.”
“Jesus Christ. What?”
Joe could hear a woman’s voice ask, “Who is it, honey?”
Portenson said, “A fucking lunatic.”
“Quit cursing,” his wife said.
“Yes, quit cursing and listen,” Joe said. “I’ve got a conspiracyfor you that’s so big you’ll be famous for blowing it open. It’s so big, you’ll be able to name anywhere in the country you want to be transferred to.”
“Okay,” Portenson said. “I’m awake now.”
“Before I tell you anything more, you’ve got to agree to a deal.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then hang up and I’ll call someone else,” Joe said. He had no idea who else he would call.
“What?” Portenson said sarcastically. “I can’t agree with anything if I don’t know the terms.”
“Fair enough. Here’s the deal. I can deliver the biggest arrest you’ve ever made in your career by far. We’re talking national, international headlines. It’ll shake the foundation of both federaland state government, but don’t worry; it’s no one you like. It’ll affect national energy policy, and you’ll probably receive a medal from the president. Oh, and it will completely break the Clay McCann case.”
After a few beats, Portenson said, “Jesus. What do you want from me?”
“You’ve got to get a team together and get up here by tonight.It needs to be in complete secrecy. You can’t notify anyoneor you’ll blow the collar. And when the arrest is made, you have to look the other way when it comes to one individual involvedon our side.”
“One individual?” Portenson said.
“Yes.”
“Oh fuck, you mean Nate Romanowski, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I knew he was there.”
“He helped figure this thing out. He saved our lives in the Zone of Death. Besides,” Joe said, “he’s a friend of the family.”
“He killed two men!” Portenson yelled. “A sheriff and a federalagent!”
“Allegedly,” Joe said.
“Allegedly my ass.”
“Do we have a deal or don’t we?”
Portenson moaned and cursed.
“Well?”
“We have a deal.”
As joe walked back to his cabin in the snow at four in the morning, he thought, Another night without sleep.
In his stupor of sleeplessness and putting together the fledglingplan for the coming night, he didn’t pay any attention to the work crew and pickup parked next to the first cabin in the complex.But he smelled the strong rotten-egg smell of gas and could hear a powerful hissing sound from inside.
The front door flew open and a man staggered outside, ran a few feet, and crouched with his hands on his knees, breathing deeply. Another man in a hard hat appeared from around the side of the cabin, yelling, “Get me a wrench!”
Joe stopped, trying to figure out what was going on.
The first man finally stood after filling himself with several lungfuls of fresh air.
“Are you okay?” Joe asked.
“I’ll be fine in a minute,” the man said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “There’s a gas leak inside there, and I got a big breath of it.”
The second man snatched a toolbox from their pickup and carried it to the back of the cabin.
“I don’t know if I can fix this,” the second man shouted. “It’s like somebody broke the fucking valve off. We’ll need to turn the whole system off before somebody lights a match and blows us all to hell.”
The first man shook his head. “Good thing the park is nearly closed. There was enough gas in there to kill a herd of buffalo.”
Joe listened as the second man cranked on a shut-off valve. The hissing stopped.
It took a moment to realize the cabin they were fixing was the one he had moved his family from earlier in the day. Whoeverhad broken off the valve didn’t know that.
“EVERYBODY UP!” JOE shouted as he entered the cabin. Marybeth sat up in bed. Nate had curled up in some blankets on the floor.
“What’s going on?” Lucy asked.
“It’s snowing,” Joe said. “You’ve got to get out of the park before the roads close.”
“Snowing?” Marybeth said. “Since when are we scared of a little snow?”
“As of now,” Joe said, knowing he sounded like a maniac.