The Big Finish by James W. Hall Read Free Book Online

switched to cop mode. Tough, no nonsense, Cruz’s professional equal.
    “Let’s drop the adversarial tone. It won’t be productive in the coming days. We need to foster a more cordial and trusting relationship.”
    “What coming days?” Sugar said.
    Thorn said, “And what the hell’re we doing with that artillery still in the trunk? Why didn’t your people seize the duffel back at the gas station? Where’s Tina?”
    “All right,” Cruz said, shifting in her seat, glancing back at Thorn, then settling her gaze on Sugarman. “These are decent questions. Good, let’s get started. The first thing you need to know is that the weapons in the trunk aren’t your ordinary street sweepers. What you’re carrying back there are AA-12s. Either of you familiar with that model?”
    Sugar said he wasn’t, and Thorn said, “Go on, you have our attention.”
    “They are Atchisson Assault Shotguns. Fully automatic and drum-fed. They fire five twelve-gauge shells per second with great reliability and so little recoil that a strong man can shoot it one-handed. The AA-12 was developed together with the FRAG-12, an extremely lethal variety of cartridge. Each round is essentially a small high-explosive or fragmentation grenade accurate up to a hundred and seventy-five meters. In short, these weapons are not legal for civilian use.”
    “What’s Tina Gathercole doing with a couple of elephant guns?” Thorn said. “Running them to Jacksonville?”
    “Tina wasn’t going to Jacksonville. That was only her cover story.”
    “I don’t get it,” Sugar said.
    “She was along for the whole trip. She hadn’t sprung that on you yet, but I’m sure she had a good story ready. She was going to sweet talk you like she’s been doing the last few weeks. She was headed to Carolina, all the way.”
    “That’s ridiculous. Tina didn’t know I was going on a trip till a few hours ago.”
    “Wrong. She’s known for at least a week.”
    “I’m not following you, Cruz.”
    “All right,” she said. “Here’s how it is. Last week someone contacted your friend Tina with a proposition. I know this because my team has been monitoring the communications of the person who made that contact. That person convinced Tina to take advantage of her relationship with Sugarman, to hitch a ride all the way to Pine Haven, North Carolina, where some very dangerous people are hiding out near the Neuse River. Same place you’re headed. You’re now part of a larger federal operation that’s being run under my command.”
    Sugar was silent for a moment, then said in chastened voice, “Which explains how Tina knew Flynn was involved. That wasn’t a guess.”
    “Why’d she need us? She could drive the guns there herself.”
    “She wasn’t delivering weapons. Her job was to deliver you, Thorn.”
    “Do that again.”
    “Let’s get something straight.” Cruz turned and faced Thorn, then cut a harsh look at Sugar. “The woman back at the gas station, your so-called friend, she was conning you. Unwittingly perhaps, she had gotten mixed up with some bad folks, and she was leading you into a trap.”
    Sugar looked over at her, shook his head as if he hadn’t heard correctly, then glanced at Thorn. A familiar expression. You bastard, this is your fault.
    “The postcard from Carolina. That was Tina’s doing?”
    Cruz nodded.
    “So Flynn, he’s not part of this? Gun smuggling? That cash.”
    “Flynn Moss is at the heart of it.”
    “Goddamn it, Cruz,” Thorn said. “Cut the double-talk. You want our help, you’re going to lay out the whole story.”
    She was silent for a moment, then reached into her jacket and came out with a clear plastic case, the kind his clients carried in their fishing vests.
    She opened it and held it out for Thorn to see. A half dozen bonefish flies, an assortment of his own creations.
    “You do nice work. Can’t say I’ve actually tried them out myself, but from what I see, your flies have a certain aesthetic