Ripple Effects by Laura J. Mixon

Author:Laura J. Mixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

* * *

John spotted Rip standing at a corner in Battery Park, just east of the Staten Island Ferry terminal. A sign on a building across the street had a time-and-temperature display, and the time changed to 11:52 a.m. as he walked up.

“Right on time. Good.” Rip looked John over. His hands went to his waist. “Wow, you must not have slept a wink. Something eating at you? Your conscience, perhaps?”

“In your dreams, Titus.”

John had slept, but not nearly enough. He’d had to get up early to deal with the cleanup of the cabin he’d damaged the night before, and then he’d run through his company’s various investigative databases to dig up whatever he could about Titus Maguire.

“The name is Rip,” the other man said.

“And my name is John. John Julius Montaño.”

“Have it your way, ‘John.’” Rip made air quotes. “Down to business.” The walk light at the intersection turned green and he stepped into the street. John followed. “I asked you out here so we could talk in private. What with your security team crawling all over the Queen and your surveillance equipment on board …” They’d reached the other side; he stepped up onto the curb. “Easier to arrange for a tête-à-tête outside the ring of security.” He broke off and looked to the south, across the bay. John looked, too, and saw the dirigible rising into the air across the river in Jersey, beyond the Golden Lady and the wharfs of Jersey City.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Rip said. “They’re pulling out all the stops. Tonight should be quite a show.”

John made an impatient circling motion with his hand. “Get to the point, Titus. I haven’t got all day.”

“As you wish. I’m going to steal Armstrong’s fancy gold trumpet tonight, and you are going to help me do it.”

“I figured as much. And if I refuse, you’ll reveal your ‘evidence’ of my criminal youth. Mustache-twirl, evil laugh, yada yada.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, tough break. I’m not about to lift a pinkie to help you. See, I’ve been doing some checking on you. You’ve amassed quite a fortune over the years. There is no way in hell you did that legally.”

Rip smiled widely. “All too true. But proving it … there’s the rub.”

“I don’t need to prove it. All I need to do is plant seeds of doubt in the right places. I know a lot of people in law enforcement. If word gets out of my youthful indiscretions, what’s to stop me from revealing yours? Maybe the IRS or the SEC would like to have me as a cooperating witness about where you got your start. Maybe they’ll take a closer look at your activities. You’re on the board of directors for three Fortune 100 companies, I noticed. I imagine they wouldn’t be thrilled if you ended up under investigation.”

“I’d sue your ass for defamation. And my pockets are a hell of a lot deeper than yours, Juanma. I guarantee it.”

The light changed and a truck honked. Diesel fumes cloaked them both as the truck splashed through a water-filled pothole nearby.

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