Free The Collectors by David Baldacci Page A

customers? Would you like to talk to me about who I sleep with?”
    “Ma’am, please, I—”
    “Forget it. I’m done with this place.” The woman turned and stalked out.
    Tony was already gone. Leo had steered him out a few seconds after the woman had appeared.
    Annabelle joined them in the back of the van a minute later.
    She called out to the driver, “Let’s roll, Freddy.” The van immediately pulled away from the curb.
    She wrenched off the blond wig and put the glasses in her pocket. Next she took off her coat and stripped away the padding around her middle. She tossed Tony’s ID to him. He caught it, shamefaced, and then exclaimed, “Omigod, they have the check—”
    He stopped talking as Annabelle held up the check, neatly folded.
    “I’m sorry, Annabelle, I’m really sorry.”
    She leaned close to him. “Little piece of advice, Tony. Don’t ever hit on the mark, especially when you’re pretending to be someone else.”
    Leo added, “It was a good thing we decided to back you up on that one.”
    “Why did you?” Tony asked glumly.
    Annabelle answered. “Because you walked out of the van way too cocky. Cocky kills cons. That’s another good rule to remember.”
    “I can go to another bank and pass it,” Tony said quickly.
    “No,” she said. “We have enough for the long con. And it’s not worth the risk.”
    Tony started to protest but then slumped back and said nothing.
    Leo and Annabelle exchanged glances, each of them letting out a sigh of relief.
    Two days later, at the rental condo, Leo knocked on Annabelle’s bedroom door.
    “Yeah?” she called out.
    “Got a minute?”
    He sat on her bed while she put some clothes in a carry-on bag.
    “Three mil,” he said reverently. “You know, you called ’em shorts, but to most cons those were longs. Things of beauty, Annabelle.”
    “Any con with decent skills could’ve done them. I just upped the ante a little.”
    “A little? Three million cut four ways isn’t
little.
”
    She glanced sharply at him.
    “I know, I know,” he said quickly. “You get a bigger share because it’s your game. But still, my share could last me a few years living high on the hog. Maybe even take a real vacation.”
    “Not yet. We have the long con, Leo. That was the deal.”
    “Right, but just think about it.”
    She dropped a stack of clothes in her bag. “I
have
thought about it. The long con is next.”
    Leo stood, fingering an unlit cigarette. “Okay, but what about the kid?”
    “What about him?”
    “You said we were going all-star on this. Now, I’ve got no problem with Freddy, his stuff is first-rate. But the kid almost cost us everything. If you hadn’t been there—”
    “If I hadn’t been there, he would’ve thought of something.”
    “Bullcrap. That teller had him made all the way. He gave her the wrong freaking ID. Talk about your bonehead moves.”
    “You’ve never made a mistake on a con, Leo? Let me think for a second. Oh, how about Phoenix? Or Jackson Hole?”
    “Yeah, but it wasn’t on a multimillion-dollar scam, Annabelle. I didn’t have that handed to me on a damn platter when I was still in diapers like Tony.”
    “Jealousy doesn’t score you any points, Leo. And Tony can hold his own.”
    “Maybe he can and maybe he can’t. The thing is I damn sure don’t want to be there to find out that he
can’t.
”
    “You let me worry about that.”
    Leo threw up his hands. “Great, you worry about that for all of us.”
    “Good, I’m glad we have that settled.”
    Leo prowled the room, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
    “Is there anything else?” she asked.
    “Yeah, what’s the long con?”
    “I’ll tell you when you need to know. And right now you don’t need to know.”
    Leo sat down on the bed. “I’m not the CIA. I’m a con. I don’t trust anybody.” He eyed her bag. “And if you don’t want to tell me, then I’m not going wherever the hell it is you’re going.”
    “You knew the deal going in,