Page 42 of No Reason to Trust

“No,” Alexei said quickly. “We will make that work. We’ll see you at that restaurant at ten.”

“That’s fine. I repeat: How many people will be there? So I can set aside enough tables and chairs.”

There was a long pause. Alexei must have put his hand over the receiver, because Jake could only hear muffled, indistinct voices. Finally Alexei said, “There will be twelve of us.”

“Fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”

He ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket, then turned to Livvy. “You hear all that?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Alexei is pissed off.”

“Good,” Jake said. “Why would he be unhappy that we’re meeting in a public space?” Jake put his finger on his chin. “Hmmm. Maybe because he can’t shoot me when I walk in the door?”

“Unless he wants to make a mess at McDonald’s,” Livvy said, raising one eyebrow.

“Which he most emphatically doesn’t want to do.” He drew in a deep breath. “They’re still gonna want to take me to the canal so they can shoot me and drop me in the sludge. But it’ll be a lot easier to turn them down.” He touched his coat to reassure himself that his gun was in his holster. Then he strapped his back-up piece to his ankle. After Livvy had done the same, he said, “Let’s get going. I want to be all set up before any of them arrive.”

“Yeah, me too,” Livvy said. “I’ll need to find a good vantage point to watch the show.” She tapped her jacket to make sure she had earbuds and an amplifier. “You have your microphone?”

“Yeah, I’m all set.” He grabbed Livvy’s hand and gripped it tightly. “Let’s go.”

The walk to McDonald’s took only ten minutes. As soon as they entered the restaurant, they scoped out the space. There was a spot near one corner where they could pull a few tables together, and a table against the wall where Livvy could sit and get a good view of everything going on. On the way into the restaurant, Livvy had bought a newspaper. Her cover.

They pulled three tables together and found enough chairs for fourteen people. A man who looked like a manager came bustling over. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Jake turned to him and smiled. “Thanks, but I think I’ve got it. I’m having a meeting here with a group of friends. Should be thirteen or fourteen people coming.”

“We appreciate the business,” the manager said. He handed Jake a stack of coupons. “Coffee for everyone,” he said. “We want to encourage community groups to meet here.”

Jake saw Livvy trying to hide her grin as he accepted the coupons. “Thank you. My colleagues will appreciate that gesture. They might want to have more meetings here.”

The manager beamed. “I hope so. Have a good meeting.”

“Thanks. I’m sure we will.”

As the manager walked away, Jake handed Livvy one of the coupons. “Might as well get a free coffee.”

She snatched another from the stack and smiled. “I’ll get one for you, too.”

She hurried away, and Jake slid into a chair in the middle of the table. Livvy already had her newspaper spread out, so with the cup of coffee, she’d look like a woman enjoying her newspaper and morning coffee.

After Jake sat down, he looked over his shoulder. His position would give Livvy a good view of what was going on beneath the table. He popped in one earbud so he could hear Livvy’s voice, then opened a new notebook so he could take notes. If this were a normal meeting, Alexei’s group would expect him to take notes, and he wouldn’t disappoint them.

At five minutes until ten, men began walking into the restaurant. They studied Jake, and he assumed Nelson had sent Alexei a picture of him. As they stood around the table, Jake stood up. “Which of you is Alexei?”

“He’s not here yet,” a youngish man said. Jake recognized him from the tape he and Livvy had watched. Young guy hadn’t been one of the big talkers the other day.

An older, bulky guy with belly hair pushing through the buttonholes of his shirt walked up to Jake. “May I pat you down?”

“Why would you want to do that?” Jake asked.

“To see if you’re armed,” the man said, as if Jake were an idiot.

“Of course I’m armed,” Jake said. “I’m assuming you’re all armed, as well. I don’t meet with people I don’t know without protection.”

“But our contact sent you to us,” the man said. “You can trust us.”

Jake wanted to laugh, but instead he shook his head. “I trust, but I’m still armed. If that’s not acceptable? We’ll cancel the meeting right now.”

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