Finally, it was all coming together. There was going to be money, lots of it. And women, lots of them.

Everybody's gonna want a piece of me, he thought and leaned forward, triumphant.

Wilder shut off Lucy's phone and looked over at her, trying to look calm instead of insane with fury. "Pepper's all right." He turned to LaFavre, who had the chopper in a hover about fifty feet above the river and to the ease of the Talmadge while he checked the glowing screen of the GPS.

"Got the bridge as a waypoint, naturally," LaFavre said. "Also got a spot uprivcr. Near the old bridge."

Wilder nodded, putting Peppers misery out of his mind. This was why they had done the hill-out-of-the-helicopter stunt there and why Karen had been punching in the waypoint. It had been a rehearsal for their linkup after the heist. A boat could pull up right to that berm at the spot where the chopper would land. "That's the rendezvous point. Let's go." He glanced at Lucy and gave her a smile, trying not to think about Pepper's sobs.

"Roger that," LaFavre said. He banked the chopper and they flew under the bridge, heading upstream.

"Okay," Wilder said. "Here's the plan."

Chapter 21

Five minutes later, Lucy stepped out onto the helicopter's right skid, and thought, This isn't good, and mentally apologized to Bryce for ever thinking he was a wimp.

"On our next date," she yelled across to J.T. on the opposite skid, "we are not going anyplace that has a swamp or guns."

He yelled back, "I'm partial to room service now."

LaFavre laughed. "I find this strangely romantic."

"You would," Lucy yelled. Don't look down, she thought. Ground very far below, moving very fast, do not look down.

"Ten seconds!" LaFavre said.

J.T. looked down into the swamp. "Ready?"

Lucy swallowed. There was a low bridge ahead, and she blinked as she realized it was the one where Stephanie had had her accident. The chopper banked slightly right. She took a deep breath and looked down and tried not to throw up. Directly below them, moving fast, was a gravel road-the same road on which Bryce had almost splatted just two days earlier. Oh, God.

"Five!" LaFavre called.

I hate this.

"Four!"

"You can do this," J.T. called.

"Three!"

They were less than ten feet above the road, still descending way too fast in her opinion. The helicopter shuddered and the nose began to lift.

"Two!"

"Follow me," J.T. yelled and disappeared from the other side.

"Now!"

"Oh, just hell," Lucy said and stepped off the skid.

She dropped less than six inches from skid to gravel, stumbling into a crouch as the rotors whipped overhead, then the engine whined in protest as LaFavre powered it to max and the chopper roared back into the night sky. J.T. grabbed her and pulled her down in the grass on the side of the berm so they were hidden, and she huddled against him gratefully.

"I miss my night-vision goggles," he whispered.

"I miss the dogs," Lucy whispered back.

"I didn't think we'd be in the swamp," he went on. "Bridge with lights, yes. Ship with lights, yes. Swamp, no."

"Okay," Lucy whispered. "Next time, I'll pack the night goggles."

"Next time," he said and laughed quietly. "God, I love you."

"What?" Lucy said.

He was quiet for a minute, and then he said, "I love you," and kissed the bridge of her nose. Then he pointed right, while Lucy was still breathless. "The speedboat is that way. I saw it coming in. Less than-"

"Wait a minute," Lucy said. "Do you mean-"

"Fuck you!" Nash's voice echoed through the air, and Lucy forgot everything else as J.T. froze and then pointed toward the other side of the berm and down about ten yards.

"The happy people are over there," he whispered. But then he nod-ded the other way, left along the road, back toward the Talmadge. "The crazy person and Pepper are probably coming from that way if they're not already here." He reached in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, but before he could punch in the ghost's number, Lucy saw something move in the darkness and hissed a warning. J.T. looked right and nodded as he saw what she did: a figure staggering up onto the road, dropping one of the heavy plastic cases onto the gravel.

The figure straightened, and Lucy recognized Bryce. The actor turned and disappeared back down the other side of the berm. "Bryce?" she whispered, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too," J.T. whispered back and finished punching the quick dial.

"Yep?" the ghost said, loud enough that Lucy could hear just from being close to the phone.

"We're at the RV," J.T. said, talking low. "Where's the girl?"

"Where's the chopper? You were supposed to land it, not do a touch-and-go."

"It's nearby. I'll tell you where it is when we have the girl."

Pepper, Lucy thought. When we have Pepper. She shivered. So close. So many things to go wrong.

"The girl's nearby. I tell you where when I get the chopper. And I don't see you at the RV. I saw three people at the boat. But not you and your lady friend. So let me see you." The phone went dead.

J.T. took the black case off the side of his pack and opened it, revealing the pieces of a sniper rifle set into the foam. He pulled out the stock.

"Where's Pepper?" Lucy asked.

"Close."

"Close, which way?"

"Since he's probably got this under cover with a long rifle, that way." J.T. nodded to the left. "I think we need to split up. I go after the ghost and Pepper, you stay here and watch if anything happens with our friends in the boat."

"No," Lucy said. "We're a team. We're not splitting up."

Wilder was silent for several moments. There was a distinct click as he slid the barrel into the receiver and locked it down. "All right. Got your gun?"

She fumbled with the holster and pulled out the Beretta, feeling about as stupid as she had the last time she'd held it. "Yes."

"Round in the chamber?"

"How can I tell? It's dark." Jesus. It's not like she did this every day. Only when she needed Pepper back. Hold on, honey, she thought.

"Here." J.T. took the gun, did something, and then handed it back. "You got a round in the chamber and the safety is off. So it's hot."

"Right."

"Put it back in the holster, carefully, and take this." J.T. held out his little machine gun. "It's also got a round in the chamber, safety off, set on automatic. You're going to spray a lot of bullets if you pull the trigger, so make sure there's a lot of people you want to shoot in the direction you aim."

"Thank you," Lucy whispered, thinking, I'm gonna trip and take out half the swamp. "But won't you need-"

"I've got this." J.T. held up the long rifle he'd just bolted together.

"Oh, good, yours is bigger." Lucy hefted the submachine gun. "You know, it's damn dark out here." She could hear the voices of Nash and Bryce and Althea, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, except that Nash was furious and Althea was bitching. They must have taken her hostage. Should have thought that one through, boys. She was pretty sure the swamp was not up to Althea's standards.

And the ghost, the fucking ghost had Pepper in this hellhole, all alone in the dark. "Pepper-"

"Ghost wants us over at the boat."

"With Nash?"

"Yep." J.T. got slowly to his feet, the long rifle in his hands. Lucy stood, too, trying desperately not to jar either gun and kill him. The submachine gun, in particular, felt wrong in her hands. Hell, nothing felt right at the moment, except for J.T. at her side.

"Let's go get our girl," J.T. said to her, and Lucy bit back tears.