The Carrier Read Online Free Page A

to
understand is that we—you and me—can pick up some serious money,
just by being at the right place.”
    Danny tapped the table in front of
them. It had cigarette burns, like someone used the top as an
ashtray. Marcus had never seen Danny smoke; the furniture was
probably left over from the previous tenant. A lot of people just
took off in the night at this complex, and no one had nice
furniture. Marcus didn’t mind that much. Who needed nice things,
fancy things? He had hot water and a roof over his head. It was
only for the sake of Saida that he wanted more, because he really
was ashamed when he thought of what he had to give her.
    “ What do you say, dog?”
Danny asked.
    Could be some kind of setup. But what
would the setup be? Marcus was broke and Danny knew it, so there
couldn’t be any money con going on. The only possibility was that a
crime was going to be pinned on him in such a way that would
benefit Danny. That seemed very complicated. It seemed more likely
that Danny needed a big, cash-strapped guy to help him out with a
job.
    “ Is it going to be
dangerous?” Marcus asked.
    “ It’s not exactly getting
the dry cleaning, you know? But from what I understand, there’s one
guy picking up some money in a car, and he doesn’t travel with a
weapon. It’ll take a lot of driving and some boring scenery, but I
think it’s going to work.”
    “ Who’s the guy?”
    “ Just a guy they have who
mules their product ordinarily. This time he’s going out there to
pick up straight cash.”
    “ Out where?”
    “ Nebraska, Iowa—one of those
corn states.”
    “ I get cash?”
    “ Of course you get cash.
We’re not going to take vouchers or nothing like that. We get cash
money, legal tender USA. I want you in for this, man.”
    Marcus nodded slowly.
    “ Let me talk it over with
Saida,” he said.
    “ Okay, I respect that you
have a strong relationship and everything, but you cannot
talk-it-over with Saida. You understand me?”
    “ What do I tell
her?”
    “ Nothing until the job is
done. And then you lie about where the money came from.”
    “ What’s my
share?”
    “ You get fifteen percent. I
think it’s close to a million in the bag.”
    Marcus couldn’t do all the math in his
head, but he knew this was serious money.
    “ Half we give to Inez—that’s
for Luis—and thirty-five percent goes to me.” Danny rattled off the
figures quickly like he was giving an annual interest rate. “What
Inez is going to do is put a tracker on the car. All we have to do
is follow the car. And we don’t have to ride right up on it; we
just stay within a few miles. Then we wait for him to make the
pickup, and we find the right time to jump him. That might be the
tricky part, because he’s not going to make too many stops, but
he’s got to stop somewhere to sleep. That’s going to be when we
take him.”
    “ And we don’t know where the
driver is going to pick up the money?”
    “ I told you, out in the corn
somewhere. We just have to stay close enough, so we can jump him
when he stops at some motel on the way back.”
    “ When you say jump him, what
does that mean?”
    “ We might have to hit him
pretty hard, but we are not killing anyone. No one wants
that.”
    “ Why do you want me for this?” Marcus
asked.
    “ Come on, dog. Do I have to
get sentimental? I like you and everything, and you may dig that I
have a limited circle of friends. I know you need the money, and
you look like the kind of guy I want in case there’s
fisticuffs.”
    It made sense: Marcus as muscle for a
rough job. Hell, even Saida treated him that way. She wouldn’t go
for this, though. Maybe he could say there was a weeklong
construction job down in Virginia that his cousin got him on. Could
he get away with a lie to Saida?
    “ Fifteen percent of a
million dollars is fifteen thousand?” he asked.
    “ No, fifteen percent of a
million is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That’s what a
bone surgeon makes in one