Page 58 of Being Lost

A small grin appears as he throws me a look of respect. He leans in closer and winks. “I kinda like the way you tick, Patsy.” Then, again, he moves back. His mouth flattens, then he stuns me, and he dives straight in. “Ink and Beth found shit in that safe deposit box—old info on floppy disk drives of all things. Cad, from Colorado, managed to extract it. Token should be looking at it now. Apparently, there were plans but what they were for wasn’t immediately obvious.” He pauses and looks at me. “We think this could be the insurance Phil hid from Alder.”

The air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. “He must have put that there when we were still married.” I think aloud. “Why didn’t he take it when he left me?”

“You don’t use the safe deposit box, there was nothing recent in it. I suspect he thought you’d never look for it, and that perhaps it was the safest place he could have put it. If you found them, why would you look for info on a floppy disc?”

“Phil knew I wouldn’t pry. I didn’t want to know anything about him or what he did. So yeah, if I had found it, I’d probably have contacted him and asked if it was his.” Well, it wouldn’t be anyone else’s. His previous words sink in. “You need to understand what was on those discs?” My mind whirrs. “Have I helped?”

“I’m not sure, Patsy. Maybe reaching too far here, but if Alder was thinking of building a tunnel, he wouldn’t want anyone to discover it. If Phil knew about it, that would certainly be insurance he could hold over Alder’s head. I need to talk to Token, but yeah, it’s possible.”

“So Alder just wants what’s in the box. Why not give it to him?”

Lost rolls his head as if his neck muscles are stiff. “First, we can’t offer it up, as then he’d know that you’d found it. Maybe had someone look and interpret it. That puts you in danger. Second, if we approach Alder, he’ll know we know he’s looking for you, and that you’ve got resources at your disposal and are protected. We need to have a plan to deal with him first.”

I smile, then hide it, thinking how right I’d been. Lost isn’t a man to jump into action without thinking carefully about what’s best to be done.

“So what do you suggest?”

Lost tilts his head and looks deep in thought. “Alder’s getting drugs into the country, we know that. Dan was responsible for cutting off some of his routes, but Alder would probably have been able to set up new ones. Even new markets. We know the demand is, unfortunately there.”

“But if he can’t sell where he used to, wouldn’t that have dealt his business a blow?”

Lost looks at me as if I’m being a bit dense. “Alder’s got a way of bringing kilos of heroin and fuck knows what else into the States. You reckon he can’t establish a new distribution network? I suspect Dan would have dented, but not significantly damaged his operation.”

“Spell it out for me, Lost. What are you thinking?”

“What if Alder did build his tunnel? What if that’s the way he’s getting the shit in?”

“But if you find it, what then? Shut it down? Alder will just find another way. It would make him angry to have to do that again, but it wouldn’t finish him.”

Lost shakes his head. “No, you’re right. But there are ways of using the info. If we know where the tunnel is, then we might be able to use that to find him or smoke him out. Even knowing how he’s getting his drugs in is a feather in our cap. I don’t know, we could threaten to blow it up unless he comes out of hiding and meets with us, then...”

Then they’d deal with Alder. But he wouldn’t come unprepared. I’m so scared of what might happen. I don’t want to lose Lost now. Surely, though, it’s unlikely. “But we don’t know where it could be. The border’s what, two thousand miles in length? The tunnel entrance could be anywhere and will be well hidden.” I bite my lip.

Lost looks thoughtful. “You’re right, of course. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. And we don’t even know if it exists.” He turns fully so he’s looking straight at me. “There’s another option for us. That’s to use you as bait. Draw him out and take him down. That’s your problem solved for good.” He raises a quizzical eyebrow as if he’s testing the waters out.

I go completely still.

I’m a seamstress, a housewife. I’ve never physically fought for anything in my life.

Lost sees my concern and rushes to reassure me. “Babe, we can dangle you in front of him, but you don’t actually need to be there. We can lure him somewhere, maybe the house you and Dan are living in. He’ll turn up expecting to find you, but it would be us waiting instead.”

“My house is in a residential area, Lost. You can’t have a firefight there. There’d be too many witnesses.”

Lost stares at me.

“What?”

He chuckles. “You don’t mind us killing him, babe, you just don’t want us to get caught. Maybe you’re more suited to this lifestyle than I first thought.”

His words make me smile. Maybe he’s right. But it’s the thought of my daughter and her pregnancy that’s driving me. You don’t come between a woman and her child, however old she might be.

“Have you any other thoughts, Lost?”

He reaches out his hand and his fingers toy with a strand of my hair. The air around us seems to crackle as if there’s static electricity. My insides clench as I catch the heat of desire in his eyes.

“Dangerous question to ask, if you don’t want to hear the answer.”

I take the hand stroking my hair in mine, tightening my fingers and pulling it away. “I’m talking about what we do about Alder.”

---