squeeze in next to the wall, never quite making it; but after confirming that they could clasp hands below the tank, I had Natsumi click on the handcuffs.
As a final touch, I told her to cover their mouths with duct tape. It was only then they probably realized I really wasn’t going to shoot them, and anger began to take the place of fear in their eyes.
“You Americans think you own the world,” said Officer Brick, the one who’d been on the line with the inspector. I reached out and held Natsumi’s hand before she could finish sealing the tape across his mouth. “But this girl and people like her are gonna take it away from you. One day at a time. They never gonna give up.”
A T THE airport, we spent about twenty minutes wiping fingerprints off the Ford Expedition. I pressed my finger to my lips before leaving the vehicle and Natsumi nodded with understanding. Soon after that, we boarded the Cessna and the young lady pilot and her copilot shot the little jet into the sky. It wasn’t until we’d landed at Beef Island on Tortola, passed through customs and shut the door of another rental car, that it felt safe to speak openly.
“You saved my life again,” said Natsumi. “You keep doing that.”
“I keep putting your life in danger.”
“It’s a funny way to impress a girl.”
“It’s not on purpose.”
“All you have to do is tell me you love me,” she said.
“I love you.”
“See how much easier that is?”
Later on, she asked, “What happened?”
“The bank dropped a dime on us.”
“To whom?”
“That’s the hard part. I count two, maybe three possibilities. Did you learn anything from Officer Brick?” I asked her.
“He said the Americans were after me and my partner. Later on, he called you my boyfriend, but never said your name. They had mine after taking my prints and DNA. The casino prints us and takes a swab as part of their security clearance. Never knew they shared it with the Feds.”
“I imagine that DNA was dearly acquired.”
“They were trying to use me as leverage with people they simply called the Americans, so FBI, CIA, embassy people, who knows.”
“What did they want to trade you for?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Don’t know. But they really wanted me to tell them what was on the flash drive we took out of the safe-deposit box.”
She looked away and then added, “There’s not much else I can tell you. They mostly asked questions and I mostly told them to let me go. pretty tedious all in all.”
I gave my opinion that the SUV was separate from the cops, and she agreed. Neither of us wanted to believe the people in the SUV were our countrymen. Too sloppy and murderous. And we didn’t want to believe our own government would try to run us off the road, naïve as that might have been.
“So we have three lunatic groups after us,” she said. “The cops, American foreign agents, and who-knows-what in killer SUVs.”
“That’s my count.”
“Maybe that visit to the bank wasn’t such a great idea.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But at least it taught us something.”
“What?”
“Lots of people really care about what’s on this flash drive. They knew it was there and were waiting to pounce on whoever dropped by to pick it up. It’s important enough that these Caymanian bankers are willing to compromise their legendary confidentiality. Whether through bribery or coercion, that’s a really big thing.”
“So you’re happy about this,” she said.
“Very. Now that you’re sitting next to me and we’re safely out of harm’s way.”
“As far as you know.”
“As far as I know.”
W E CHECKED into a small resort hotel on Tortola just south of Road Town, capital of the British Virgin Islands. Our room faced Sir Francis Drake Channel, the blustery little sea around which most of the archipelago gathered. The night was clear, and even with a feathery palm tree in the way, we could see speckles of light from neighboring islands,
As a final touch, I told her to cover their mouths with duct tape. It was only then they probably realized I really wasn’t going to shoot them, and anger began to take the place of fear in their eyes.
“You Americans think you own the world,” said Officer Brick, the one who’d been on the line with the inspector. I reached out and held Natsumi’s hand before she could finish sealing the tape across his mouth. “But this girl and people like her are gonna take it away from you. One day at a time. They never gonna give up.”
A T THE airport, we spent about twenty minutes wiping fingerprints off the Ford Expedition. I pressed my finger to my lips before leaving the vehicle and Natsumi nodded with understanding. Soon after that, we boarded the Cessna and the young lady pilot and her copilot shot the little jet into the sky. It wasn’t until we’d landed at Beef Island on Tortola, passed through customs and shut the door of another rental car, that it felt safe to speak openly.
“You saved my life again,” said Natsumi. “You keep doing that.”
“I keep putting your life in danger.”
“It’s a funny way to impress a girl.”
“It’s not on purpose.”
“All you have to do is tell me you love me,” she said.
“I love you.”
“See how much easier that is?”
Later on, she asked, “What happened?”
“The bank dropped a dime on us.”
“To whom?”
“That’s the hard part. I count two, maybe three possibilities. Did you learn anything from Officer Brick?” I asked her.
“He said the Americans were after me and my partner. Later on, he called you my boyfriend, but never said your name. They had mine after taking my prints and DNA. The casino prints us and takes a swab as part of their security clearance. Never knew they shared it with the Feds.”
“I imagine that DNA was dearly acquired.”
“They were trying to use me as leverage with people they simply called the Americans, so FBI, CIA, embassy people, who knows.”
“What did they want to trade you for?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Don’t know. But they really wanted me to tell them what was on the flash drive we took out of the safe-deposit box.”
She looked away and then added, “There’s not much else I can tell you. They mostly asked questions and I mostly told them to let me go. pretty tedious all in all.”
I gave my opinion that the SUV was separate from the cops, and she agreed. Neither of us wanted to believe the people in the SUV were our countrymen. Too sloppy and murderous. And we didn’t want to believe our own government would try to run us off the road, naïve as that might have been.
“So we have three lunatic groups after us,” she said. “The cops, American foreign agents, and who-knows-what in killer SUVs.”
“That’s my count.”
“Maybe that visit to the bank wasn’t such a great idea.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But at least it taught us something.”
“What?”
“Lots of people really care about what’s on this flash drive. They knew it was there and were waiting to pounce on whoever dropped by to pick it up. It’s important enough that these Caymanian bankers are willing to compromise their legendary confidentiality. Whether through bribery or coercion, that’s a really big thing.”
“So you’re happy about this,” she said.
“Very. Now that you’re sitting next to me and we’re safely out of harm’s way.”
“As far as you know.”
“As far as I know.”
W E CHECKED into a small resort hotel on Tortola just south of Road Town, capital of the British Virgin Islands. Our room faced Sir Francis Drake Channel, the blustery little sea around which most of the archipelago gathered. The night was clear, and even with a feathery palm tree in the way, we could see speckles of light from neighboring islands,
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