F Paul Wilson - Novel 04 by Deep as the Marrow (v2.1) Page B

when
Mac handed it over.
    “Here are some papers
you’ll need,” Mac said. “Just in case.” Paulie lifted
the flap, looking for green paper. The first thing he found was a supply of
business cards. He held one up.
    “ ‘Reliance Limousine
Service.’ Is that who I am?”
    “For the next hour or so,
yes. You’ll find a Reliance Limo ID and Maryland driver’s license with matching names. Plus directions to your pickup
neatly typed on Reliance Limo stationery.” Paulie emptied the envelope.
No green, but boy, Mac was thorough. The bogus license and ID were beauties.
    “Where’d you get
these?”
    “I made them.”
    “No kidding?”
    “All it takes is a color
scanner, some DTP software, and a little time.”
    “Amazing. I—” And
then a couple of words on the itinerary caught his eye and he straightened in
the seat.
    “Hey, Mac. Does this say Holy Family Elementary School ?
Elementary School?”
    Mac was still looking straight
ahead. “You got it.”
    “You mean I’m snatching
a kid?”
    “You are.”
    “Oh, shit! Oh, fuck! Not a
kid!” And now Mac turned to him, letting those stone-flat dirt-brown eyes
bore into him.
    “You got something against
kids, Paulie?” he said in a voice smooth as satin… and just as
cold.
    “No. I got nothing against
kids. That’s why I don’t want to snatch one.”
    “You don’t look at it
as a kid. You look at it as a package. Just another package.”
    “Yeah, but a young package.
People get upset about an old geezer getting snatched, but, man, they go off
the fucking wall about a kid.”
    “It’s not like
we’re going to molest her or anything.”
    “Her? Oh, shit! A little
girl? Just great. Poppy don’t like kids.”
    “She’d better like this
one.”
    “She’s gonna go
ballistic.”
    “Poppy will do what
she’s told.” Paulie wished there’d been more heat behind
those words. But Mac said them with the same soft flat tones he’d use
ordering a cup of coffee… black, two lumps.
    Truth was. Poppy would do what she
was told… up to a point…
    “You’re the one who
brought her in,” Mac said. “I went along. Poppy’s had a free ride
so far. Now it’s time for her to earn her keep. She can be a nanny for a
week or so.” He smiled… a cold flash of teeth. “We’ve
called it baby-sitting all along. Now it really is.”
    “Yeah,” Paulie said,
slumping back in the seat. He didn’t like this… didn’t like
it at all. “How old is this baby?”
    “Six. Don’t let her age
spook you. This is going to be a walk. I’ve called the school.
They’re expecting you. You drive up, belt her into the back seat like a
good, safety-conscious driver, then you cruise away and bring her back here.
What could be simpler?”
    “How about you doing it? That
would be a whole lot simpler.”
    “I would, but I’ve got
to cover this end.”
    When Paulie said nothing, Mac
reached out and poked his upper arm with a finger. Paulie stiffened. He didn’t
feature being poked. But when he looked at Mac he saw what he hadn’t
thought possible: The guy’s eyes were even flatter and colder than before.
    “You’re not backing out
on me, are you, Paulie?”
    “Nah,” Paulie said
through a sigh. “I ain’t backing out.” He had to admit it: He
was afraid to back out now.
    “Good. Because a deal is a
deal.”
    “Yeah. A deal is a
deal.” But how the hell was he going to explain this to Poppy?
     
11
     
    Snake strolled into the lobby of
the Marriott in Bethesda and went
straight to the bank of pay phones.
    He’d already scouted most of
the larger hotels inside the Beltway—this Marriott was just inside the
Beltway—and knew which ones had the kind of phone he needed.
    Of course he could have called from
his house or his car or a playground using the mobile PCMCIA modem card on his
laptop, but that would have involved a cellular call, and cell calls were about
as secure as a loudspeaker.
    He found an AT&T Dataphone 2000
and slipped into the seat before it.