Hostage

'We've been through that.'

Rooney seemed to be working himself up to something. He waved his arm in a flash of anger.

'Then what fuckin' good are you?'

'I'm trying to save your life.'

Dennis glanced back into the house. Talley watched him, thinking that Rooney showed the day's strain. Finally, Rooney faced him again and lowered his voice still more.

'Are you a rich man?'

Talley didn't answer. He didn't know where Rooney was taking this. He had learned to let them get wherever they were going on their own.

Rooney patted his pocket.

'Can I reach in here, show you something?'

Talley nodded.

Rooney stepped closer. Talley couldn't make out what Rooney took from his pocket at first, but then he saw that it was money. Rooney seemed to be trying to shield it so that only Talley could see.

'That's fifty one-hundred-dollar bills, Chief. Five thousand dollars. I got a whole suitcase of this stuff in the house.'

Rooney pushed the bills back into his pocket.

'How much would it be worth to you, getting me out of here? A hundred thousand dollars? You could drive me down to Mexico, just me and you, no one the wiser, just tell the others that was the deal we made without mentioning any money. I wouldn't tell. They got money in this house, Chief. More money than you've ever seen in your life. We could carve it up.'

Talley shook his head.

'You picked a bad house to hole up in, Dennis.'

'Two hundred thousand, cash, hundred-dollar bills, right in your pocket, no one needs to know.'

Talley didn't answer. He wondered about Smith, what he did here in the middle of nowhere, here in the safe, anonymous community of Bristo Camino, with so much cash and information in his house that this kid was willing to die for it and the men in the car were willing to kill for it. Do you ever really know your neighbors?

'Give up, Dennis.'

Rooney wet his lips. His eyes flicked past Talley again, then back.

'You tryin' to drive up the price? Okay, three hundred. Three hundred thousand dollars. Could you ever earn that much? You can have Mars and Kevin. Fuckin' bust them. Make that part of the deal.'

'You don't know what you're dealing with. You can't buy your way out of this.'

'Everybody wants money! Everybody! I'm not giving this up!'

Talley stared at him, wondering how far to go. If Rooney quit now, Amanda and Jane might pay for it. But if Rooney quit now, walked out right now, Talley would have the disks. Once the Watchman's people arrived, Talley might not have the chance.

'This house isn't what you think it is. You believe some guy has this kind of cash just laying around in his house?'

'There's a million bucks in there, maybe two million! I'll give you half!'

'The man you sent to the hospital, Walter Smith, he's a criminal. That money belongs to him.'

Rooney laughed.

'You're lying. What a crock of shit.'

'He has partners, Dennis. This is their house, and they want it. The way I'm offering is the only way out for you.'

Rooney stared at him, then rubbed at his face.

'Fuck you, Talley. Just fuck you. You think I'm an idiot.'

'I'm telling you the truth. Give up. Work with me here, and at least you'll have your life.'

Rooney sighed, and Talley could see the sadness settle over him like a cloak.

'And what's that worth?'

'Whatever you make of it.'

'I'll go back in now. I'll think about it and give you my answer tomorrow.'

Talley knew that Dennis was lying. Talley had a sense for when they would give up and when they wouldn't, and Rooney had hold of something he couldn't turn loose.

'Please, Dennis.'

'Fuck off.'

Rooney backed to the door, then stepped inside and pulled it closed. The darkness inside swallowed him like dirty water.

Talley turned back to the officers lining the wall and walked away, praying that Thomas had the disks and was safe. Rooney wasn't the only one holding onto something he couldn't turn loose.

CHAPTER 20

Saturday, 12:04 A.M.

THOMAS

Thomas dripped with sweat. His knees were cut from the rafters, and, where streaks of sweat washed the cuts, they burned. Thomas didn't care. He was excited and happy – dude, he was pumped!; this was the best sneak ever, better than any he'd made with Duane Fergus!

With the power off, Thomas didn't have to worry about being seen on the monitors. He pushed through the hatch into his closet, and crossed the room to his computer. He took the computer apart and lugged it to the floor at the foot of his bed so that he wouldn't be seen by the camera when the power returned. His hands were so sweaty that he almost dropped the screen and caught it on his knee.

The lights came on without warning. Thomas worried that the turds would probably come upstairs to check on him, so he hurried to load the first disk.