24 Hours

Nervous compulsion made him check the other contents of the sample case: a video-adapter unit, which would allow his computer to interface with the hotel convention room’s projection TV, several drug vials, some of which contained prototype Restorase; and some high-tech syringes. Will counted the vials, then closed the case and hurried into the steamy bathroom, pulling off his underwear as he went.

Hickey and Karen sat facing each other across the kitchen table. A few moments before, Karen had picked up the. 38, and he had made no move to stop her. She pointed it at his chest as they talked.

“That gun makes you feel better?” Hickey said.

“If you tell me we’re not taking the insulin to Abby, it’s going to make me feel a lot better. And you a lot worse.”

He smiled. “The Junior League princess has guts, huh?”

“If you hurt my baby, you’ll see some guts. Yours.”

Hickey laughed outright.

“I don’t understand why we have to wait until tomorrow,” she said. “Why don’t you just let me empty our accounts and give you the money?”

“For one thing, the banks have closed. You can’t come close to the ransom with automated withdrawals. Even if the banks were open, just pulling out the money would cause a lot of suspicion.”

“What will be different tomorrow morning? How do you plan to get the ransom money?”

“Your husband is going to call his financial advisor here-Gray Davidson-and tell him a great little story. He’s just discovered the missing centerpiece of Walter Anderson’s largest sculpture. It’s a male figure with antlers called ‘Father Mississippi.’ Only one photograph of it exists, and many people believe it was stolen from Anderson’s house. The value is-”

“Higher than any painting he ever did,” Karen finished. “Because he didn’t do much sculpture.”

Hickey grinned. “Pretty good, huh? I do my home-work. These goddamn doctors, I tell you. Every one of ’em collects something. Cars, boats, books, whatever. Look at this kitchen. Every gadget known to man. I bet you got eighty pairs of shoes upstairs, like that Filipino hog, Imelda Marcos. You can’t believe the money these guys piss away. I mean, how many freakin’ gallbladders can you take out in a month?”

“Will’s not like that.”

“Oh, no, he doesn’t spend more money on paintings every year than he pays all his employees put together. These guys… a slip of the knife, somebody dies, and it’s ‘Gee, sorry, couldn’t be helped. Wish I could stick around, but I’ve got a two o’clock tee time.’”

Karen started to argue, but she sensed that it wouldn’t help her situation. Hickey knew a lot about their lives, yet there were huge gaps. Abby’s diabetes. Will’s work. Will didn’t even use a scalpel. He was an anesthesiologist. He used gases and needles. She watched Hickey closely, trying to get a handle on the man beneath the bluster. One thing she knew already: he carried a chip on his shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar.

“Anyway,” Hickey said, “tomorrow morning, Will’s gonna call Davidson and tell him he needs two hundred grand wired to him in Biloxi. He’s got a one-time opportunity to buy this statue, and the owner wants cash. And just in case Mr. Tight-Ass Gray Davidson is suspicious, Will’s lovely wife, Karen, is coming down to the office to authorize the wire. It isn’t strictly required, but it’s a nice touch. Then you and I are going to drive down to Davidson’s office. I’ll wait outside while you go in and bitch a little. ‘That Will, he goes absolutely off his head when he makes a discovery, but what can you do? Boys will be boys.’ Then you sign off on the money, and the two hundred grand is off to Biloxi at the speed of light. My partner drives Will to the bank in Biloxi, Will goes in, comes out with the cash, and hands it to my partner. And that’s all she wrote.”

“You’re doing all this for two hundred thousand dollars?”

Hickey laughed and shook his head. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. To you, two hundred grand is nothing. A down payment on a house. You won’t even feel two hundred. And that’s the point. The money’s liquid. You can get it easy, and you don’t feel any pain when it’s gone. You’re happy, I’m happy, and your kid’s back safe at home. What more could you ask for?”

“Abby here now! Why can’t she stay with us? Or us with her? That won’t hurt your plan a bit.”

Hickey’s smile vanished. “This whole little machine runs on fear, Karen. Your fear for Abby. Will’s fear for you, and for Abby. Fear is the only thing keeping you from pulling that trigger right now. Right?”

She didn’t answer.