Page 74 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
Dowd stared at her. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?
CHAPTER 82
OKAY, TIME TO pull over, hijack this Beemer, and hit the road again. For Dowd, stealing the BMW was stupid-easy. His time with TRAP had given him access to an assortment of override microchips that worked on any vehicle with a computerized ignition system. Which was pretty much all of them. This was how he had been able to quickly change cars yesterday.
Good thing Boo hadn’t suggested they boost a ’72 Dodge Challenger because Dowd would have been screwed.
Dowd opened the passenger door of the BMW for Boo as if they were on a date. And who knew? Maybe they were now. She touched his hand as she lowered herself into the seat, nodded thanks, then gracefully pulled her legs into the car. As he walked around to the driver’s side, the cell phone in his pocket buzzed.
There was only one person in the world who could be calling. And it was pretty much the last person Dowd wanted to hear from right now.
But Dowd reminded himself he was still very much Two, at least for the moment. He answered the phone with “This is Two.”
Boo smirked at him. She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue as if they were on a playground instead of committing grand theft auto.
“I understand you and your hostage are in the wind,” One said.
“Yes, thanks to your warning,” Dowd replied. “We were on the road before SWAT was on the scene.”
“Justtwo minutesbefore the police arrived,” One said in the tone of a chiding schoolteacher. “You received your warningfive minutesbefore that.”
Dowd glanced over at Boo, who was running a finger along the leather dashboard, tracing a slow, lazy line toward the glove box. She was either bored or flirting. Perhaps both.
“Five minutes isn’t very long,” Dowd said, trying to keep his annoyance in check. “There were certain… logistics to consider.”
“You cut it way too close.”
“I understand.”
“Do you have your hostage under control? We’re at the endgame now. There can be no slipups.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I know I don’t.”
CHAPTER 83
“THAT SOUNDED TENSE,” Boo said after a moment of silence, possibly out of respect for Dowd’s bruised ego. She hadn’t had to hear both sides of the conversation to know he’d just had his ass handed to him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Dowd replied.
They were back on Valley Drive. The immediate plan was to navigate to the 405 and then head south toward San Diego. From there, they’d have to have a serious conversation. How had he put it to One?There were certain… logistics to consider.
Was this beautiful woman serious about ditching their lives and driving across the country together? A true fresh start? Dowd had next to nothing in his bank accounts, even if he could access them without being immediately tracked. But maybe Boo had some mad money socked away, maybe in some account in the Caymans. Smart women married to billionaires would think of something like that.
“Wait,” Boo said. “One last request before we leave the beach.”
“Nothing’s open this time of night,” Dowd replied. “It’ll be dawn in a few hours. We can grab breakfast then.”
“No, I’m not hungry,” she said. “I just want to wave goodbye to the Pacific. We’re probably not going to see it again for a while.”
Holy shit. Shewasserious about running away together.
“The Manhattan Beach Pier is right down the hill.”
“Perfect.”
Dowd steered their stolen BMW down Manhattan Beach Boulevard, then turned left toward an empty municipal parking lot. The gates were chained shut, but he figured idling here for a minute or two wouldn’t hurt.
