“Thank you. And if you talk to Tom, see if he can get ahold of another of those private jets he flew you and Delilah out here on. When we’re done with Schrader, Larison and I are going to need to vamoose, and I think we’re a little hot right now for commercial travel.”
“Anything else? You want me to order you a pizza? You need a back rub?”
Dox laughed. “I told you you’ve gotten funnier. I’ll let Larison know. I think it’s his influence as much as mine.”
“You be careful, all right?”
“You bet. And you know I love you, too.”
Dox clicked off, saving Rain the trouble of trying and failing to come up with a snappy reply.
Dox had a way of keeping things light, but Rain hadn’t been joking about the shortcomings of the plan. Or, given the level of the players threatened by those videos, the stakes. He understood the logic. But at the same time, the whole thing felt like an attempt to snuff out an oil-well fire by dumping high explosives on it. If it worked, great. If it didn’t, you just bought yourself an even bigger fire.
chapter
sixty
LIVIA
Thirty minutes out from the compound, Livia said to Schrader, “All right, Andrew, time for your cocktail.” She wanted to make sure it had fully taken effect by the time they arrived.
Schrader looked doubtful. “What’s in it?”
“I’d like to say Bombay Sapphire,” Carl said, handing him the plastic bottle. “And a dash of vermouth. But as it happens, it’s mostly just beta blockers. You know what that is?”
Schrader nodded. “I know people who use them. For anxiety. And high blood pressure.”
“Exactly,” Carl said. “Now maybe you’ve gotten to know us well enough to understand we’re not like those people who were holding you before. On the other hand, you’ve had a rough time of it, and we’re not old friends who you’re maximally comfortable with, either. So we need to make sure your voice is stress-free when you go to reset your system. You get it?”
Schrader didn’t look mollified. He glanced at the bottle. “How do I know this is what you say it is?”
Livia wanted to say, You don’t. Now fucking drink it. But Carl had a different style, and he was doing fine on his own.
“Why would I lie?” Carl said. “You think we’re trying to poison you? Or knock you out? What would be the point?”
“I guess,” Schrader said. “Could you at least untie me? How am I going to drink it?”
“I’m going to hold it for you,” Carl said. “Now drink up and we’ll have you back at that jail in no time.”
“Couldn’t you just let me go?”
“Andrew,” Diaz said from up front, “where would you go? The marshals would pick you up in a day. It’s much better if you cooperate.”
“I guess,” Schrader said again.
Livia sensed that Diaz meant it. But probably only because she hadn’t thought it through. Schrader knew who Diaz was, and he could describe the rest of them. He could put them at the Lake Tapps house, where five people had been shot to death. He had no reason to keep quiet, and every reason to tell the whole story. Even to embellish it.
She didn’t know what Carl was thinking. But it didn’t matter. Larison was never going to let Schrader walk away.
And the truth was, neither was she.
Dox held the bottle and Schrader drank the contents. “Good job,” Carl said. “How was it?”
Schrader smacked his lips. “Okay. A little menthol taste.”