Chapter Sixty-Two
Sixty-Two
‘That’s why the message said – “give me three to four months to solidify things and I’ll get back to you”, Denise. Everything is in motion, but it’s still very early days. It will be months until you’re able to meet him and start working your magic.’
Denise sat back on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. ‘Before we go into any details about the wheels in motion and all that, I just need to know – what changed?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘What I mean is that you said…’ Denise paused and corrected herself.
‘No, you swore that Nelson would be our last job, remember? No more “wedding” cons after Massachusetts because the more we do them, the more dangerous it gets for us afterwards. We’re not stealing lunch money here, sis.
We’re taking almost everything they’ve got and sending them to prison for something that they didn’t really do, and to be honest, I’m getting really tired of running and hiding away like a fugitive. ’
Mary nodded. ‘Me too, and that’s why we need to do this one last job – because this is THE job… this is life-changing. We do this and we’ll never have to do another con again… ever. I promise you.’
‘Umm… funny!’ Denise couldn’t sound any more sarcastic if she tried. ‘Where have I heard that before?’
‘OK.’ Mary tried a different approach. ‘Let me ask you this – how much do you still have left?’
‘What?’ Denise frowned at Mary.
‘We’ve done three jobs in fourteen years, Denise,’ Mary reminded her. ‘I married Phillip back in the UK.’ She lifted her hands at Denise. ‘Fine, that was our first job. We were both very green and didn’t really pick the best target. He got us what? About four hundred and fifty grand each?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Then we moved to the US and you married Erick,’ Mary continued. ‘Another mistake because although he looked like the real deal, he was hiding a lot of debts, remember? We barely managed to clear two hundred grand between us.’
‘Yeah, he was a real asshole,’ Denise commented. ‘He actually deserved what he got.’
‘No shit,’ Mary agreed before continuing. ‘And then I married Nelson. Finally, we got it right. After I liquidated everything back in Massachusetts, we came out with just a little over nine mil – about four point five million each, right?’
Denise nodded.
‘And how much of all that do you still have left?’
Denise lips stretched into a thin line before she gave Mary an unsteady nod. ‘A little.’
Mary’s eyes widened at her. ‘You’ve spent most of it already? Really?’
‘We’ve been running this “wedding con” for fourteen years now, sis,’ Denise said back, matter-of-factly, moving back onto a sitting position.
‘You said so yourself – Nelson was the first time that it really paid off big. I had quite a lot of ground to make back. And what’s the point in doing these long-ass cons, if we’re not going to spend the money once the con is over? ’
Mary couldn’t really argue with Denise’s logic, but it also gave her a chance to restate her own.
‘Exactly, and this is where this job comes in, Denise. If we get this one right, and I know we will, this will be the last job… ever. And I’m not only talking about cons…
we’ll never have to work another day in our lives because Quaddra is a billionaire.
No dodgy deals with shady individuals… no money tied up in businesses…
nothing like that. I’m talking about his bank accounts and his investments – untangled money that the judge can easily order to be moved from his accounts to mine. ’
‘Yeah, I’ve checked him out a little,’ Denise said in reply. ‘What sort of name is Quaddra, anyway?’
‘You’ve checked him out?’
‘I’ve been following you around for two weeks, remember? I saw you with him… found out who he was… and read a few articles on the net. That’s all.’
‘Please tell me that there was no contact,’ Mary’s tone was serious, almost angry, because she knew how Denise liked to operate. ‘You didn’t bump into him on the streets, or sit next to him in a restaurant or a bar, or anything like that, did you? Did you talk to him?’
‘No. Nothing like that. I’m not stupid. Absolutely no contact. I just checked him out – Quaddra Buckner, right? He was easy to find because who the hell is called Quaddra? Does it actually mean anything?’
In silence, Mary studied Denise for a few more seconds until she decided that she wasn’t lying. ‘Yeah, it means that he has a billion dollars attached to his name.’
Denise didn’t look too impressed.
‘You don’t really understand what that means, do you?’
‘Yeah,’ Denise nodded. ‘It means that he’s rich.’ She followed the nod with a shrug. ‘So were all the previous ones.’
‘He’s not rich, Denise. He’s a fucking billionaire.
’ Mary placed a hand on Denise’s thigh, her voice calm…
calculated. ‘Most people don’t really grasp the real difference between one billion and one million, so let me break this down to you in easy, more understandable terms, OK?
’ She lifted her left index finger. ‘One million seconds is equivalent to about eleven days.’ She paused, giving Denise a chance to wrap her head around that figure.
She then lifted her right index finger in opposition to her left one.
‘One billion seconds is equivalent to about thirty-one point five years. Not days, Denise… years.’ Mary paused again.
Denise’s frown was a pensive one.
Mary knew she’d got her. She wiggled her left index finger.
‘Eleven days.’ Right index finger wiggle.
‘Thirty-one point five years. Do you see the difference now? We do this right and we’ll be set forever – no more cons…
no more jobs… no more anything. We could buy our own island and spend the rest of our lives sipping cocktails on the beach. ’