“The Rescue” – Part 2

“Col, this Mr. Smith,” Adam told his brother-in-law as he walked up with the rather nervous-looking man. “Mr. Smith, this is my...er...associate, Colin.”

“G’day,” the two men acknowledged one another, both a bit on edge. Colin looked the man up and down, thought he looked more like he should be sitting in an office behind a big desk rather than doing shady business down on the docks. The fact that he was nervous didn’t settle Colin’s nerves one bit, either. A man that nervous could be trouble; either he was undercover, working for the cops, or he wasn’t used to such dealings and might do something rash if push came to shove. Either way, Colin knew the man was trouble.

“Well, pleasantries aside, let’s get down to it, then,” Adam told them, then cleared his throat and turned to look at Mr. Smith. “My boss said you would have something for me...in exchange for the cargo here,” he tapped on the large metal rectangular box.

Mr. Smith nodded, “Um, yeah, that’s right... I ... um... left it in the trunk of my car over there,” he pointed to a black non-descript car parked a ways behind them. “Wanted to make sure everything was up and up before... ya know?” he let out a nervous little chuckle.

Adam and Colin exchanged looks, their eyebrows raised, then Adam cleared his throat and turned back to Mr. Smith. “We’ll wait here while you retrieve it then,” he told the man.

Mr. Smith nodded, then turned and walked swiftly to his car.

“Mate, I don’t like this,” Colin whispered to Adam as they watched Mr. Smith open the trunk of his car.

Adam nodded in agreement, “Shhh! Here he comes, just follow my lead and everything will be fine.”

Mr. Smith slowly approached them, a black leather briefcase clutched firmly in his left hand. Adam and Colin both noticed that he was also now wearing black leather gloves on his hands, something that made them both uneasy.

“Well, here it is,” he told them, lifting the case a bit. “It’s all here, but you should have a count... just to make certain.” He smiled nervously as he looked at Colin and added, “Don’t want to be thought a cheat, now do I?”

“No, mate, that you don’t,” Colin told him, clenching his jaw.

Adam set the case on the trunk of his car, looked up at Mr. Smith, “This ain’t gonna explode or anything when I open it, is it mate?” he asked, his fingers poised on the lock.

“Um... no, no, of course not! What do you take me for, some kind of a criminal?” Mr. Smith replied.

“Well,” Adam chuckled, his eyebrow raised.

“Oh, yes, um... right,” Mr. Smith sniggered. “I assure you, however, the case is perfectly safe, the bills completely untraceable.”

Satisfied the man was telling the truth, Adam opened the briefcase. He stared at the contents for a moment, then set about counting out the stacks of twenties within. When he was finished he closed the case and glared up at Mr. Smith.

“This is only half,” he told the man, irritably.

“Yes, well, that was the deal,” Mr. Smith replied, smugly, “you get the other half once the cargo has been delivered to desired location and I am satisfied with its...contents.”

“Where’s your truck? You said you had a truck to haul the load?”

“Just down the dock here,” Mr. Smith pointed at a large vehicle parked a ways from them.

“Driver?” Adam asked, skeptically.

“I thought you knew... that would be you,” Mr. Smith told him. “Surely one of you is able to drive a truck? I was assured you would be most capable and readily available to do so if I so desired. If that is not the case, well then...” Mr. Smith was looking more nervous by the minute.

“No, no, I can drive it, no problem,” Adam interrupted the man before he did anything foolish – like call the deal off.

“Good, good, then here are the keys,” Mr. Smith told him, dabbing at the sweat that had begun beading up on his brow. “Once you have the cargo loaded, I shall lead you to the drop-off location. Once there, I will no doubt require complete inspection of the contents before handing off the remainder of your payment.”

“Right,” Adam said, nodding in agreement. He took the keys and headed off for the truck. Colin stayed behind and helped guide him in place, then the two of them set about getting the box loaded to the rigging while Mr. Smith stood and watched beside his car. Once they had the cargo box loaded up on the back of the truck, Colin headed over to the side of the truck to get in.

“Wait there... Colin, was it?” Mr. Smith said, placing a gloved hand on Colin’s shoulder.

“Yeah?” Colin asked.

“You ride in the car... with me,” he told him, then turned to Adam, “Just a...precaution.”

Adam glared at him, was about to call the whole thing off when Colin stopped him, “It’s fine, fine. I’ll ride with Mr. Smith here, it will be fine. Just stay close behind, Mate.”

Adam nodded, “See you at the drop.”

Colin nodded back, watched as he walked off towards the truck, then climbed into the back seat of Mr. Smith’s car.

TBC...