Free Money for Nothing by Donald E. Westlake Page B

He
knows
if he leaves Kamastan he risks death. Has he stopped believing in gypsy curses?"
    "In my apartment," Josh said, "are four uniforms of the Kamastan army. And four AK-47s."
    "Tell me his itinerary," Mr. Nimrin said, "and routes."
    "I don't know the routes," Josh said. "He's flying in on Friday, with a second plane full of bodyguards—"
    "Sensible. And probably no one will know which of the two planes he's on."
    "I don't know about that. Anyway, he's staying Friday night at the country's United Nations Mission—"
    "On York Avenue. Yes, yes. And?"
    "Saturday, the autocade takes him up to Yankee Stadium, then back to York Avenue, then Sunday he flies back to Kamastan."
    "If still alive."
    "Yes."
    "Well," Mr. Nimrin corrected himself, "in either case. If we succeed in dispatching him, they'll ship the body home for the state funeral."
    "We!"
    Mr. Nimrin gave him another lightning disgusted glance, then told Lincoln Center, "Where do you think the staging area is? Who do you think is hosting the assassination team?"
    "Oh, goddam it!" Josh cried. "I can't tell you how much I'd like to just give the money
back
."
    "We're beyond that." Mr. Nimrin pondered. "There are two possible venues. Not the autocades, to and fro, they'll have doubles in dummy cars, New York Police Department protection, far too much. So either in the building on York Avenue before or after the ceremony, or at Yankee Stadium during the event. If it were my operation, of course, I would choose the stadium."
    "The stadium!" Josh was horrified, his imagination filling with sprawled and bloodied sports enthusiasts. "
Why
?"
    "Easier to get close to your target in a crowd, easier to make your escape in mass confusion. Four uniforms, you say." Mr. Nimrin nodded, considering the options. "How
I
would do it," he said, "is insert those four substitutes into the honor guard that will fire off the salute. Everyone else in single-shot mode, armed with blanks, aimed at the sky. My four, in full automatic mode, armed with live ammunition, aimed at the last second at the target. Spray him and the entire reviewing stand, or wherever Freddy might be. Then spray the nearby honor guard members, release the blood packets within your own uniforms, and fall to the ground as though a victim rather than a perpetrator. Later, kill the ambulance attendants and make your getaway." He nodded, satisfied with himself. "Yes, that's how I'd do it."
     
15
     
    "THEY'D NEVER GET AWAY with it," Josh said. "Oh, come now." Mr. Nimrin was insulted. Glowering at Lincoln Center, he said, "Of course they'll get away with it. These are not some religious fanatics, determined to kill themselves and sail off to some matinee heaven. These are professionals. Do you think this is the
first
assassination I've been connected with, in thirty years of service?"
    "It's my first," Josh said, "and I don't want it."
    "Though it
isn't
mine, is it?" Mr. Nimrin said. 'They're keeping me out of the loop on this, aren't they?" Then he offered a bitter laugh and said, "Oh, yes, we say 'out of the loop,' too. Everyone does now, though many have no idea what it means. Part of the Americanization we all so bravely struggle against is the Americanization of slang. It started many years ago with OK, which seemed to be all right, since OK didn't mean anything in English, either. But it was the thin end of the wedge. See? There's another."
    "Mr. Nimrin," Josh said, "I don't want to talk about
slang
with you. I want to talk about how I get
out
of this mess."
    "Well, you don't," Mr. Nimrin told him, "and we'll both be much safer if you simply accept the fact. You are in this now, through my bad luck and your own cupidity, and it would be—"
    "My what?"
    "Cupidity," Mr. Nimrin repeated. "It's a word in your language. It means greed."
    "I didn't know it," Josh said, apologetic, but then bridled a bit: "A thousand dollars a month doesn't seem like an awful lot of greed."
    "Enough greed to land you where you are now," Mr.