The Clause by Brian Wiprud Page A

jotted the address onto a gum wrapper. They booked trips to the Bahamas.
    “BAHAMAS OFFSHORE BANK” also got me a lot of results. Apparently the banks in Nassau and Freeport aren’t as shifty as those in Panama, but shifty enough. The home page of Warranty Trust Bank claimed to be “highly specialized,” “respectable,” and catered to “discriminating individuals.” Anybody that feels the need to say they’re respectable isn’t. “Confidentiality is entirely protected by the Bahamas Banking Code.” Translated, that means they can figure out a way to accept large sums of cash without setting off any alarms. That’s what I wanted to hear. I didn’t bother to write the address down on a gum wrapper.
    I realized I was running late to meet Doc, so I plucked out the secure flash drive and turned off the CPU. Fred’s tracksuit came off and I changed back into my canvas shirt and cargo pants—my new CVS shirt and trilby hat would be for Monday, once the Sunday duds were completely sweated out.
    The Nice ’n Easy had to be rinsed from my hair, so I hosed off my head and toweled off. My wet hair was blond as straw, and I scrunched the Jets cap on top of it.
    The rinse and gloss steps would have to wait until I returned. Saddle bag over my shoulder, I locked the Garbers’ house and straddled my bike.

Nineteen

    DCSNet 6000 Warrant Database
    Transcript Cell Phone Track and Trace
    Peerless IP Network / Redhook Translation
    Target: Dragan Spikic
    Date: Sunday, August 8, 2010
    Time: 2304–2308 EDT
    SPIKIC: TALK TO ME.
    VUGOVIC: THE INFORMATION FROM THE CUBANS WAS BAD. WE ARE COMING BACK TO THE CITY. UNDERWOOD NEVER CAME DOWN TO HIS HOUSE, AND IT CONTAINS NOTHING OF VALUE. I THINK UNDERWOOD USED THE CORPORATION TO FEED US MISINFORMATION, TO BUY TIME.
    SPIKIC: SON OF A THOUSAND THREE-PUSSY WHORES! HE HAS PROBABLY ESCAPED, IDIOT!
    VUGOVIC: THERE IS GOOD NEWS. THE RUSSIANS TELL US UNDERWOOD HAS ARRANGED TO SELL OUR GEMS TO THE HONG KONG PEOPLE.
    SPIKIC: THIS IS GOOD NEWS? VUGO, MUST I COME OUT THERE MYSELF? YOU DISAPPOINT ME, HARD ROUND TURD.
    VUGOVIC: [UNINTELLIGIBLE]
    SPIKIC: WHAT WAS THAT?
    VUGOVIC: SIR, THIS MEANS THAT UNDERWOOD WILL BE AT A CERTAIN PLACE AT A CERTAIN TIME TO HAND OVER THE GEMS. WE HAVE TO BE THERE TO INTERCEPT HIM.
    SPIKIC: WHERE IS THE DROP?
    VUGOVIC: WE DO NOT KNOW YET.
    SPIKIC: FIND OUT.
    VUGOVIC: WE WILL, AND THEN WE WILL BE THERE. BUT HE IS STILL IN THE CITY. HE GAVE THE CHINKS THE SLIP IN QUEENS.
    SPIKIC: I SEE THE CHINESE CAN FIND HIM AND WE CANNOT. WHY IS THAT, VUGO?
    VUGOVIC: IT HELPS THAT UNDERWOOD HAS GONE TO THE CHINESE TO SELL WHAT HE HAS STOLEN FROM US. IF HE CAME TO US I CAN ASSURE YOU WE WOULD NOT HAVE LET HIM SLIP AWAY, AND HE WOULD BE DINING ON HIS OWN TESTICLES AT THIS VERY MOMENT.
    SPIKIC: I HOPE I DO NOT DETECT IN YOUR TONE THAT YOU TREAT ME AS YOU WOULD A GRANDMOTHER, OR YOU WILL FIND A MEAL OF YOUR OWN LOINS IN A POT OF ONIONS.
    VUGOVIC: I HAVE NOTHING BUT RESPECT FOR YOU, SIR. I WAS JUST EXPLAINING.
    SPIKIC: EXPLAIN ALL YOU WANT BUT FIND THOSE GEMS AND TEAR THE ENTRAILS FROM UNDERWOOD ACROSS THE ROAD. THE ISRAELIS ARE NERVOUS BECAUSE OF THE DELAY. THEY FEAR THE FBI IS LISTENING TO OUR EVERY WORD, THAT WE ARE SETTING THEM UP.
    VUGOVIC: I DON’T THINK ANY OF US COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED UNDERWOOD STUMBLING UPON THE GEMS AND TAKING THEM. IT WAS A CRAP IN THE PANTS, THAT’S ALL. NOW WE CHANGE PANTS.
    SPIKIC: WHAT OF THE CUBAN WE GRABBED? HAS HE BEEN USEFUL?
    VUGOVIC: THE COPS ARRESTED OUR INTERROGATOR AND TOOK THE CUBAN. BUT RAMÓN HAD NO BETTER INFORMATION EVEN WHEN CHIMPED. THE CUBANS WERE CONVINCED UNDERWOOD WENT TO THE BEACH.
    SPIKIC: WHICH SOLDIER DID THE COPS GRAB?
    VUGOVIC: THE STUPID ONE, DUSKO. HE DID NOT PROPERLY RESTRAIN THE CUBAN’S SCREAMS AND SO GOT CAUGHT. LET HIM EAT HIS MOTHER’S PUSSY, THE HOMOSEXUAL BOSNIAK. HE KNOWS NOTHING THAT COULD HURT US, AND IS SOLID ENOUGH TO NEVER TALK ANYWAY.
    SPIKIC: CUT HIM LOOSE. WHAT IS YOUR NEXT MOVE?
    VUGOVIC: UNDERWOOD MUST STAY