Page 74 of The Picasso Heist
“I know what I have, and I know what I can deliver. And if you want it, you’ll need to give me what I want and put it in writing.”
“That’s impossible. I can’t do that.”
“Of course you can,” I say. “You’re the boss.”
“And you’re in way over your head. I can force you to tell me everything you know. You understand that, right?”
“Yes, you can. But the one thing you can’t do is force me to collect evidence for you by wearing that wire.”
It’s not a checkmate. It’s more like a stalemate. I’m putting her in a tough spot. Like a used-car salesman, a US attorney doesn’t do written guarantees. Not for what I’m asking.
But did I mention howbadlyElise Joyce wants to bring down Dominick Lugieri?
She leans forward again, her elbows grinding into that desk blotter. “The evidence would need to be airtight.”
“I understand,” I say.
“The legal equivalent of a layup.”
“Better yet, a slam dunk.”
She cracks the slightest of smiles. It’s not what I said, it’s the confidence with which I said it.
My dad taught me that, told me time and time again:Be confident or be nothing.
“If you can deliver what I need, then you have my word… and I’ll put it in writing,” says Elise Joyce. “Your father will be a free man.”
CHAPTER64
“HI, DADDY.”
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“How do you feel?” I ask.
“Let’s not talk about me today,” says my father. His tired eyes stray for a moment to the one small glass-brick window in the visiting room. It lets sunlight in but you can’t see out. “Tell me about your week. What have you been up to?”
“Not too much,” I say.
“Whatever it is, it has to be more exciting than anything I’m doing.”
“Well, there is something. I don’t know how exciting it is, but I’m definitely a bit proud of myself. Remember how I mentioned that I wanted to readUlysses?”
“Yes, it was one of your New Year’s resolutions,” he says.
“That’s right. That and getting a cat.”
“I’m guessing you still haven’t gotten a cat.”
“No, but I did finally readUlysses.”
“The whole thing?”
“Every word,” I say. “You were absolutely right. That Joyce is one hell of a writer.”
“So you liked it?”
“It’s everything you told me it would be.”
