Sergio De La Pava - A Naked Singularity

“I suppose it could change but it’s unlikely.”

“Why? They have the house for the whole week. It could be anytime that week.”

“No, you’ll see, when you read the transcript, that I covered this exact thing with DeLeon. I wondered how he could be so sure of the exact time and that it wouldn’t be changed. I masked this by saying I was concerned that the deal had already gone off depriving him of a legal benefit. He said it would never be changed because Escalera is a very superstitious man who loves the middle.”

“Middle?”

“Yeah, all middles.”

“Middles of what?”

“Middle of anything.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, for example, that if you gave him the choice between the numbers one, two, and three he will always choose two because it is the middle number. In high school he played nose tackle in a 3–4 and in college, when he was no longer comparatively big enough to play the line, he switched to middle linebacker in a 4–3. If he’s in a car’s back seat he sits on the middle hump. If he’s playing checkers—”

“I get the picture but shouldn’t this then be on a Thursday?”

“No because the couple flies on a Sunday and returns on a Saturday. That means that the house will be completely empty for five days, Monday through Friday with Wednesday being the middle day. Escalera would never change the day.”

“Why three then?”

“His lucky number. I told you, superstitious.”

“Of course it could still be changed due to circumstances beyond Escalera’s control.”

“I suppose but so what? It should be pretty easy to tell on that date if something is going down or not. Remember we know about the plane tickets. The house should be empty. If we detect any activity whatsoever, especially a car driving into the garage at three a.m., then we know it’s on. If nothing happens, then we turn around and go home with nothing lost.”

“True. Now let’s say it happens precisely as DeLeon said it would. What has already happened and what will happen?”

“Can we get some more bread with that too pal? Thanks.”

My main course was in front of me now, steaming and calling. Beautiful breasts of free-range-on-weekends chicken pounded out then stuffed with fresh spinach and a touch of prosciutto in a sweet Marsala wine and mushroom sauce with caramelized onions.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

“Our food’s here,” he said his upturned palms cradling his dish in visual support.

“Yeah?”

“I certainly can’t eat and talk at the same time.”

“Try.”

“How can you eat and listen at the same time?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Fine, it’s all in the packet. DeLeon got out the same day I talked to him. I’m not sure if it was a necessary prerequisite or not, but about thirty-six hours later Freddy’s shipment arrived in the U.S. The shipment represents everything Freddy has and signals his exit from the drug trade. He used his brother’s old line to get the stuff in, with none of them knowing there’s anything particularly special about this shipment regarding size or anything else. Remember Freddy has dismantled his brother’s entire crew both in the D.R. and the little he had here. So what he did is have the stuff delivered to his nephew’s house in the U.S. The nephew’s not connected in any way and the extent of his involvement is just keeping the stuff in his house for a week or so. I know what you’re thinking but nobody, not DeLeon, not Escalera, not anyone, knows who this guy is or where he lives.”

“Well he’s Freddy’s nephew right?”

“Yeah but that’s a dead end, trust me. Anyway there the stuff will stay until the mule goes and gets it that day.”

“That day?”

“No, you’re right. Not necessarily that day since that would imply that the current stash location is within a day’s driving distance of 410 and although that is almost certainly the case, since nobody knows where the stuff currently is then no one can say that with complete confidence.”

“What’s your guess?”

“I think the stuff ’s nearby in the outskirts of the city but we won’t be able to determine where.”

“Who’s the mule?”

“No one knows except Freddy. The only thing Escalera and DeLeon know is that at 3:00 on the dot someone, acting alone, will drive a car into the garage at 410.”

“What car?”

“Her own car, connected to no one.”

“A Nova.”

“Right but it could be any woman who owns a Nova in the whole damn country and that’s assuming she’s the registered owner, and I can’t think of a way to narrow it down much more than that.”

“Me either, yet.”

“Anyway she takes all the risk. She picks up an antique Tansu trunk at the house of the nephew. A locked trunk to which she does not have the key. The key to the trunk was previously mailed to Escalera from Freddy. In return Escalera used a mailing service to mail Freddy a garage door opener that opens the garage to 410 and a key. Presumably, Freddy then turned around and mailed the opener to his mule here. Next Wednesday morning the mule will drive the Nova, with the locked Tansu in the trunk of the car, to 410. She will use the garage door opener to open the door and enter the garage at exactly 3:00 a.m. She cannot be late. If at 3:01 she’s still not there, Escalera and his minions will assume something is wrong, they will deactivate the garage door opener, and she will be denied entry. She cannot be early either for the same reason. In the garage will be two of Escalera’s guys. Everything I know about them, which isn’t much, is in the packet. They will pop the trunk to the car, take the chest and one of them will bring it into the house which connects to the garage from the kitchen. Using the key they will open the chest then weigh and test the stuff inside. The mule will stay in the garage with one of the guys. If everything is cool, a locked red duffel bag, which Freddy was previously given the key to, will be placed in the trunk of the car. If the third floor watchers give the go ahead in terms of police presence, the lady will get in her car and drive off, the transaction complete. Bottom line is about eight men in that house and the mule. The mule is required to come alone but we can’t unequivocally foreclose the possibility that others will be lingering in the vicinity when she leaves ready to take possession of the bag. And that’s the deal in a nutshell, though there are of course a lot of details that you need to learn.”

“So.”

“So I want that red bag. More specifically, I want the fifteen to twenty million dollars in untraceable cash that’s going to be in that bag. Cash that cannot be reported stolen. In my mind that bag already belongs to me, I just need to go and pick it up. I want that bag.”

“Me too, I guess, but how do we get it?”

“That is the question.”

“How are you leaning?”

“The money will be inside 410 some time before 3:00. The mule only complicates things. We can go in and get the bag before she even shows up.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“What happens to the woman when she shows up?”

“What concern is that of ours?”

“No.”

“We’ll talk about it, in your packet is a description of the kind of guns we’ll need.”

“No.”

“It’s in there, trust me, you just haven’t looked closely enough.”

“No, I mean no guns.”

“What do you mean no guns? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about neither of us having guns on that day.”

“You crazy? You know the eight people I was telling you about? I hate to break the news to you but they will have guns. And they will be jumpy and tense because they know security sucks.”