Black Diamond by John F. Dobbyn Read Free Book Online Page A

dollars.”
    â€œLet’s think about it, Michael. Assuming it’s not for the money, why make the demand?”
    â€œI still think it’s tied to that race that killed Danny. I’m sure they didn’t plan on a murder charge. They may have a tiger by the tail. They’ve got Erin and don’t know how to end it. If they hurt her, they’ll be tracked down if it takes forever. If they can make it look like a kidnapping for money, it doesn’t tie it to anyone involved in the race. They can return her alive, and it all blows over.”
    â€œThat was my thought. They picked an amount low enough so they’d be sure Colleen could raise it.”
    â€œDid they say anything else?”
    â€œThey repeated the warning about going to the police.”
    â€œThat means they still don’t know we’re in the game with her.”
    â€œProbably not. Colleen called on the prepaid phone you gave her.”
    â€œThat could give us a free hand for the time being.”
    â€œStay calm, Michael. Right now there are no safe moves.”
    â€œI’m trying. All I know now is that I’ll be at Colleen’s house tomorrow morning. She may need help with the ten thousand.”
    I dropped the phone onto the seat beside me and tried to separate panic from rationality. At some point, my mind leapt ahead to a conclusion. I knew to a certainty what I was going to do, but I had to backfill with logical justification, or I knew I’d carry the boulder of guilt for Erin’s harm for the rest of my days.
    I built from the ground up. First, this was no gang of loose canons looking for a ten thousand dollar score. The price was notworth the risk. That meant there was more to it. Second, the coincidence of that fixed race on the same day Erin was taken was too much to ignore. Third, If Binney O’Toole was to be believed, the tie-in to Vince Scully and Sean Flannery as stakeouts laid the whole rotten business at the door of Paddy Boyle. Fourth, every minute that little girl spent in their grip could be both dangerous and damaging. They were concerned about Colleen’s talking to the police. If I could convince them that my involvement would not lead to the police, maybe I could broker a deal that would cut the time in getting Erin back to her mother.
    It was that last part that drove the decision. I took another minute of chilling in the car just to quell the flashes of emotion that electrified my entire nervous system when I thought of Erin crying. When I finally felt stone cold, I laid the sweater and cap on the seat, put on the suit coat and tie, and walked back into the Failte Pub.
    I took as deliberate and unhurried a pace as I could manage to the middle of the bar. I stood at the bar immediately to the right of Vince Scully. He gave me a bored glance and turned back to his beer.
    I summoned the bartender over close before speaking.
    â€œI want to see Mr. Boyle.”
    The bartender and Scully both looked more closely at the only one in the pub in a suit and tie before the bartender spoke.
    â€œI don’t remember Mr. Boyle sayin’ he wanted to see you. Who are ya?”
    I took a Devlin & Knight business card out of my pocket. I wrote two words on the back of it and handed it to him. I looked him dead in the eye and lowered my voice.
    â€œTell him it’s about ten thousand dollars that’s going to walk out that door in two minutes flat.”
    The sardonic look on the bartender’s face faded. He picked up the phone. He said a few words and looked toward the back of the pub. I could feel the cold eyes of Vince Scully taking a new interest.
    The door that Binney said led to Boyle’s office swung open. A fat, fiftyish, splay-footed form filled the opening. A halo of frizzy, salt-and-pepper hair framed his otherwise bald head. He was tieless in an open suit coat that probably looked better on the mannequin.
    He scanned the five or six men at the bar, and