wired into my account immediately,â Clark said.
âWeâll pay you at his next court appearance, Mr. Shealy. Thatâs the way it works.â
âI need an advance.â
âWeâre a bonding company, not a bank.â
Clark demanded to talk with Mr. Russo, the owner of the company. Clark explained to Russo that he had blown out Chinâs kneecap. âIf I turn him over to the authorities, it could be trouble,â Clark explained. âLots of questions about reasonable force, how much Chin resistedâyou know the routine.
âIf I just let him go, it would take care of a big headache for me,â Clark continued, âthough you might stand to lose one and a half million if somebody else doesnât pick him up.â
By the end of the phone call, Russo Bonding Company had agreed to wire half the bountyâseventy-five thousandâas a refundable deposit for capturing Chin. Clark still wasnât close to a million, but he had quickly accumulated enough money to at least entice Hargrove into a meeting. Even if Harry the banker didnât come through with the three hundred thousand Clark had requested, Clark would have enough money to get his foot in the door. Brute force or a loaded Glock should do the rest.
In the passenger seat, Chinâs breathing had become more irregular and strained. He gagged a few times and fell silent. Clark immediately pulled over, checked for a pulse, and removed Chinâs gag. The hit man was alive and breathing, but he was out cold.
Clark pulled back onto the highway and drove like a madman, powering the Caddy through turns and around Vegas traffic. With one eye on the road, Clark reached over and programmed the GPS system for the nearest hospital.
He would dump his captive off at the emergency room exit, flash a badge, explain that Chin had violated his bond, and tell the hospital security guard to keep an eye on Chin until the feds arrived. Clark would immediately call Magdalena and tell her there had been a change in plans. She could pick Chin up at the hospital. But Clark wouldnât stick around to meet with herârescuing Jessica would be a one-man show once again. The feds would only mess things up, panic Huang Xu, and maybe get Jessica killed.
Clark couldnât afford to get bogged down in hours of questioning and mind-numbing federal procedures right now. He had turned to the feds as a last resort. But with the call from Hargrove, everything had changed. Kumari was in the backseat of Hargroveâs car less than forty-five minutes away.
When he called, Hargrove had demanded that Clark wire a million into Hargroveâs account before they met. But Clark had calmly refused. âYou donât get a penny until I confirm that itâs Kumari,â he said. âStandard operating procedure.â
Reluctantly, Hargrove agreed. He selected the turfâa paved parking lot across the street from the Green Valley Ranch Casino, an upscale resort in Henderson.
Time still ticked by unmercifully fast, but Clark suddenly felt energized. This wasnât the caffeine-laced fear he had been living on for the last twenty-four hours; it was something more substantial now. Adrenaline. And a twinge of hope. He wasnât in controlâfar from itâbut he had drawn a few aces.
Yet he still needed a few more. His stopwatch read 24:47:36. And the minutes continued to disappear, as if on fire.
17
Waiting was never Clarkâs strong suit. But now, with every second potentially meaning the difference between torture or release for Jessica, he was going insane. He sat in the driverâs seat of the Cadillac, engine running, his loaded gun next to him. His leg bounced with nervous energy.
He was parked in the lot across the street from the Green Valley Ranch Casino, just as Hargrove had instructed. From the northwest corner of the lot, he could still see the city of Las Vegas, its skyline barely visible on the hazy