Outlaws by Matt Rogers

Author:Matt Rogers [Rogers, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

46

Slater handed over a fifty-dollar note, and Manuel palmed it.

The chef ushered him through the kitchen of the ground floor restaurant.

Slater strode past smoking grills laden with prime rib-eyes and bubbling vats of oil filled with fries, then dipped into the storage room out back and exited his building discreetly. He came out in a quiet narrow alleyway with minimal vantage points — just what he needed to avoid the snipers he knew would be trained on the lobby’s entrance. Dawn had broken, crisp and cool and grey. He had no bag, no possessions besides the passport, credit card, and gun. Despite all that, he was oddly free.

He’d stepped out of his tower for the last time — now, technically homeless — and he didn’t care in the slightest.

He took a deep breath.

Disregard the past.

Focus only on what’s ahead.

Advice he’d do well to keep in mind for the next few days, if not weeks and months.

He gazed down the length of the alley, and waited for an opportunity. Exactly eight minutes later, a plain white van with Gutiérrez Kitchen Supplies turned into the mouth. Slater had always known it would happen eventually. His tower was comprised of eighty floors and multiple restaurants and bars, all of which needed regular servicing.

Slater put on his game face, projected an air of authority, and strode to intercept the van.

It slowed, and the Latino driver wound down the window. ‘Where do you need it?’

Referencing the cargo.

Slater mumbled something.

The guy leant further out the window, squinting.

Slater circled around the hood and get in the passenger seat. The driver looked across, perplexed.

Slater took the Glock out of its holster and angled it up at the man’s face.

The blood drained from the driver’s cheeks.

Slater said, ‘We’re going to wait here for ten minutes, then you’re going to drive me to the Bowery.’

‘Okay. Anything you need.’

They sat in silence, and Slater kept his gaze transfixed out the windshield. The seconds ticked by, each one slow with tension.

As soon as a respectable amount of time had passed to avoid suspicion, Slater nodded to the driver and he threw the van into reverse.

They took FDR Drive without incident. Traffic was congested, which aided Slater’s need for invisibility. It would be impossible to monitor the entire Upper East Side for sightings. They’d need to stick to a certain radius. Besides, they’d still be watching the lobby. The bumper-to-bumper traffic created a hundred thousand potential targets. Safety in numbers. Manhattan was a nightmare for surveillance.

They inched through the morning rush as the sun trickled above the horizon, intermittent shafts of light breaking free from the thick cloud cover. He hoped Alexis had rehearsed his instructions a thousand times in her head, so that when she executed them it would be as comfortable as breathing.

He’d certainly rehearsed his own movements.

Over and over and over again in his head.

He withdrew his burner phone, opened his messages, and texted: Now.

Drawing on schematics of the building he’d fished from public record the night before, he waited

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