The Second Mouse - Archer Mayor [93]
Ellis nodded, the familiar shrinking sensation he always felt around Mel setting in. He decided, as always, merely to listen instead of question. For all that Mel could sometimes seem foolhardy to the point of craziness, he hadn’t gotten them killed yet.
“See how those two buildings come together, sort of?” Mel was saying now, pointing again. “They’ll stop the plane there, where there’s some cover. That’ll allow the pilot to finish the loop and end up back on the strip, so he can take off.”
“How do you know that?” Nancy asked, having moved up beside them.
Mel laughed. “I have my sources, babe, and believe me, I trust ’em. Not to worry.”
He turned back to their surveillance. “They’ll be expecting an attack from either corner, maybe even from across the open, so that’s where they’ll be looking. What they won’t be watching is that hangar—right there. See it?”
They followed the line of his extended finger, nodding silently. Ellis resisted mentioning the unlikeliness of people expecting an attack also being unarmed.
Mel resumed, “That’s where we’ll be—inside, waiting. There are two doors about twenty yards apart. You and me’ll come out at the same time. We’ll box ’em in.”
“How many are there?” Nancy asked.
“Four, not counting the pilot,” her husband answered. “Pussies, every one of ’em.” He turned back to Ellis, as if reading his mind. “Which is why, genius, you don’t need to worry about firepower, ’cause even if they’re packin’, they won’t have the balls to use it. And the same’s true if the plane parks somewhere different. Everything stays the same—we box ’em in; we drive ’em to the ground. Total power.”
Ellis saw an opportunity perhaps to learn a bit more about what they were getting into. “These the cousins that guy told us about down near the river?” he asked, keeping his wording vague.
“Yeah,” Mel conceded. “The Niemiec boys. They think they got easy pickin’s here among the local yokels. Won’t they be surprised?”
He suddenly faced them both, the distant light making his widened eyes gleam pale with enthusiasm. “No screwing around, either, boys and girls. This’ll be the big one for us. We get this done, and there’ll be no more trailer parks or ripping off bingo games or any of that bullshit. We’re talking serious money here.”
Nancy and Ellis exchanged glances.
“What d’you mean, hon?” Nancy asked.
Mel laughed. “I thought that might twist your panties. I mean those crazy bastards have a deal goin’ where they’re taking in pounds of coke and heroin both. Pounds. You sell what they’re talkin’ about and it means a million bucks, probably more.”
“So we have to sell it,” Ellis said softly.
Mel made a face. “Oh, for Chrissake. You are such a fucking drag. What the hell happened to you, El? You used to eat this shit up. Now, it’s all ‘Golly-gee, it sounds a little hairy.’ Yeah, we’ll have to sell it, and we’ll be able to do that anywhere we want—keep on the move, cut down the chances of getting caught. That ought to satisfy you, right?”
He punched Ellis in the arm. “Think of it. It’s a fortune—more than we’ve ever seen. We’ll be able to go anywhere, do anything. When I caught wind of this deal, I thought we’d maybe grab a few thou. But this is a home run.”
Along with the wash of Mel’s mounting excitement, Ellis felt the trembling light touch of his lover’s fingers against the small of his back, and understood what she was thinking: What was good news for three people would be even better for two in need of a fresh start.
“Sorry, Mel,” he said with a laugh. “You just caught me by surprise.”
Mel smiled broadly. “Now you got it, Buckwheat—surprise is the name of the game. Let me show you the rest of the setup.”
The next morning, as was his habit, Ellis phoned his mother at the hospital to find out how she was doing. He was alone—after their midnight field trip with Mel, they’d gone their separate ways,