Countdown Read Online Free PDF Page A

me?” Dennis howled.
    “You, my friend, are going back to SE and make more friends. Convince Luther to get the other gang leaders to come into the fold. I want you to assure all those tenants that their lives are going to take on a whole new meaning starting right now. We need order, not chaos. Delegate but oversee. Talk to the pastor at the church where they worship. He’s going to be your best ally. I know this is going to sound frivolous, but I want you to arrange for a bang-up Christmas, with toys for the kids, Christmas trees for everyone, those red Christmas flowers, whatever they’re called, for the pastor’s church, the whole ball of wax. Spare no expense. If Abner is right, we need to put some of Sandford and Marks’s money to good use before we steal it. I’m sure the women will be more than happy to volunteer.”
    “Okay,” Dennis said agreeably.
    “Harry, you want to volunteer for anything, or do you need to get back to the dojo?”
    Harry laughed. “My midshipmen are due at noon, so no, I really don’t have any free time today. You need me tonight, I’m all yours. I stopped by the nursery just to throw Suliman for a loop, and guess who was there? Myra and Annie. We waved, but that was it.”
    “Is this your ‘pink day’ for the midshipmen?” Jack grinned.
    “Uh-huh. Call me if you need me.”
    “What are you going to do, Jack?” Abner asked.
    “Careful with your tails today, guys. Me, I’m going to Lionel Marks’s office and pretend to be a property owner who wants to rent out a whole block of investment condominiums. I need to take this guy’s measure.”
    Dennis looked at Jack, his eyes full of questions. “What about your tail? Do you want him to know where you’re going? What about Ted and Espinosa? I understand they can follow me because it’s already out there and in the paper. Do we want them to know what we’re doing and where we’re going? They might not figure it out, but when they report to Maggie, she will for sure.”
    “I’ll lose him, no problem.” Jack looked at Ted.
    “We’ll go back to the paper and sign out a vehicle from the motor pool. Dennis can take the van. It’s doable.”
    “Well, now that we have it settled, let’s hit the road,” Jack said, packing up his briefcase. “Abner, are you staying?”
    “I am. My tail must be bored out of his mind. I haven’t left this building in seventy-two hours. Can’t imagine what his report reads.”
    “Check in every couple of hours,” Jack reminded everyone. The guys nodded and left until it was just Jack, Abner, and Cyrus. Abner moved off, Jack calling over his shoulder to remind him to water the stupid banana tree. Cyrus barked long and loud to show what he thought of the stupid banana tree that needed watering.
     
     
    If Maggie had been anywhere else but behind her desk with the half glass wall that made her visible to the reporters seated at their desks and cubbies, she would have pitched a fit and stomped on the investigative reports she was reading. She might as well have been reading a child’s textbook. There was nothing in any of the reports. Zip. Nada. Zilch. How was it possible that six grown men hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary in three days? With the exception of the exposé in SE Washington. How?
    Maggie scanned the reports again, hoping she’d find something she’d missed the other three times she’d read through them line by line, word by word. Jack Emery got a haircut. Big deal. Showed no signs he was aware of being followed. Harry Wong beats to his own drummer, is in another world. Picks up daughter, goes home, stops by nursery to see wife, goes back to dojo. Dennis, Ted, and Espinosa were all linked into one report. It was a detailed one about the tenants and what had gone down in SE Washington. Well, she already knew that. What she didn’t know then but knew now was that Dennis had stopped at a Cole Haan store and bought a pricey pair of snow boots. She also now knew they