He decided to wait for the little girl to stop crying. Tucked away on the wooden porch of the Pecos Bill Café, there was no point in attracting attention to him. And as long as the little girl continued to scream across the street—and as long as she and her mother continued to block the revolving door behind which Gallo and DeSanctis had just crouched—she wasn't going anywhere. Naturally there was a very strong reason for taking it easy. From now on he had no point in rushing. Oliver and Charlie... Gallo and DeSanctis... he'd found them before, he could do it again. Last time all he had to do was wait around the corner from DACS. He knew that they would appear running through that place. Exactly as Gillian had told him.
He smiled thinking about it. Gillian. Where would he have gotten that name from? He shrugged, dismissing the answer. As long as they got the money, he could call himself whatever he wanted.
With his eyes fixed on the slowly moving crowd, he carefully watched each blank stare and strange expression. He didn't like being alone at Disney World. If he were younger, perhaps, but at this age—without children to accompany him—it was a surefire way to stand out from the crowd. Finally, he turned away from the porch, put a hand in his pocket, and began calmly crossing the street like a father returning to join his family. In front of the fence, the girl had already stopped crying. And the crowd had stopped watching.
"I'm sorry... are we cutting you off?" —Asked the little girl's mother, kneeling down and wiping her daughter's nose.
"Not at all," the man said with a friendly nod. He walked past them, opened the fence, and went inside. When it closed, he didn't look back.
I throw myself under the Cinderella carriage and the closet door slams shut. In the distance I can hear Gallo's movements. His shoes sound like he's crushing glass on the pavement, then they slap like a dinosaur against the floor of the huge warehouse. Move forward and examine the place slowly. He only expects a faint hint of my reaction.
But I don't give him that chance. "I know you're here," Gallo yells and
his voice reverberates through the corridors. Thanks to the extraordinary height of the ceiling, it's like screaming into a canyon. Who do I have for company? he asks, still looking my way. Oliver... or Charlie?
Through the warehouse, three or four aisles away between the floats, there is another click and footsteps. Gillian is moving.
"So there are two of you here?" Rooster asks. Am I really that lucky guy?
Obviously, neither of them answers.
"Okay, I'll play along," she says, moving in my direction. If it's two of you... and another one is alone in the other room, well... I know I don't have Oliver and Charlie. She would never let that happen. And to top it off, I saw who the guy was in Duckworth's backyard...
I take a small step back. I swear I hear Gallo smile.
"What do you say, Oliver?" Have you and Gillian had a good time yet?
The warehouse is plunged into a deep silence. Rooster takes another step toward me.
That's the problem with threesomes.
Rooster warns. It's always two against one. Isn't that right, Gillian?
Crouching behind the Cinderella carriage I crab back through the line of carriages. I hear Gillian move up ahead. Rooster jumps into my hallway. But all he can see are two empty rows of abandoned parade floats.
Hidden behind a pirate ship-shaped float, I manage to sneak into the next hallway. I am leaning so close to the ship that the barrel of my gun brushes against the tips of the Christmas bulbs. I poke my head above the helmet and look at through the bow. Gallo is still in the hallway I just left.
"Come on, Oliver, don't be stubborn," he warns me. Even I have to admit that it's past time to go to bed. For Orlando cops it may be an excursion to inspect Disney property, but even here, even on the back lot of the park, it won't take them that long. The clock is ticking, son...they'll find us soon.
As he slowly makes his way down the aisle between the rows of floats, a noticeable change occurs in Gallo's voice. More low. almost anxious.
"I know you're the smart one, Oliver. If you weren't, you would never have gotten this far. He pauses, hoping his compliments will soften me up. Don't forget: it took Brutus to kill Caesar. You may have been a few steps ahead of us, but we were always close. Very close. As if we were in the same room. Do you understand what I'm saying, son? It's time to make some tough decisions, and if you're smart enough, the first one will be to ask yourself: How much do you trust Gillian?
"Don't listen to him, Oliver! -the voice.
Gillian's voice echoes through the massive nave. She's just trying to confuse you. I look to my left, hoping to track the sound, but the acoustics make it impossible for me to locate it.
"I told you it would be very hard," Gallo adds, sounding like he's walking off to the end of the hall. But you just have to use your brain. You were in the tunnels under Disney World. How do you think we found you?
His footsteps are close but he is heading in the wrong direction. I crouch below the bow of the pirate ship and fall silent.
"Have you ever wondered why you couldn't find any of Martin Duckworth's relatives when you worked at the bank?" Rooster asks. Because I didn't have any, Oliver. Duckworth never married. He had no children. Nothing. If he had, we would never have used his name. That was the fundamental reason for creating and maintaining his name on the account. If something went wrong no one would complain.
- he's lying! Gillian yells.
"I think he's getting angry, right?" Rooster asks. I don't blame her either. I saw what he did at the old Duckworth house, from the
Pictures right down to the sheets....Deserves full marks for the work that went into it...They got it fixed pretty quickly.
"They?"
—Personally, I think the paintings were the most beautiful detail. I bet they were meant to win over Charlie's friendship. Am I right, Gillian, or was it just staged?
For the first time, Gillian doesn't answer. I try to convince myself that it's because she doesn't want to reveal his position, but as I begin to understand, every lie has its price. Especially the ones we tell ourselves. "It's time to make a decision," Gallo says, and his voice seems to come from everywhere at once. You can't do it alone anymore, Oliver. —As before, Gallo lets the silence of the huge warehouse drill into my brain.
—. It's time to get the hell out of here, son. Now, which of the two do you want to trust?