The kidnapper was too anxious to eat, too excited to watch television, too agitated, even, to sit down. He put all of his nervous energy into digging the grave. From the time his partner left until he heard the sound of her car crunching gravel in the driveway, all he’d done was dig.
But here she was, back at last. He threw the shovel aside, climbed out of the hole and circled the house at a run. She saw him coming, grinned, and held up her leather bag like it was the World Cup and she’d just brought it home.
He reached her, wrapped his arms around her, held her close.
She dropped the bag and pushed him away with the heels of her hands.
“You’re filthy,” she said.
“I can get dirtier than this,” he said, nuzzling her ear. “Want a demonstration?”
“Mmmm,” she said. “Let’s go inside. But not without this.”
She picked up the bag.
He took her hand and led her to the house. She’d shed her blouse before he’d locked the front door, was out of her panties before he’d removed his shirt.
They made frenzied love on the couch. But she didn’t linger when it was done. Still wearing her socks, and nothing else, she grabbed the bag, opened it, and turned it upside down over his naked belly.
The banknotes tumbled out, six bundles, bound together by rubber bands.
“How much?” he said.
“Thirty thousand.”
“Thirty thousand? That’s all? Thirty thousand for all six rings? The bastards cheated you.”
“Sure they did. Every one of them. And I don’t care.”
“Because that makes it all the more likely they’ll keep their mouths shut?”
“Exactly. Did you finish?”
“It’s not deep enough. I want to go down another thirty centimeters or so. When are you going to do it?”
“As soon as you’re done. I’ll need your help to carry her. That bitch is fat. I won’t be able to get her up the stairs on my own.”
“Why don’t we just walk her to the hole? You could pop her there. Then all we’d have to do is pitch her in.”
“Noise,” she said. “Suppose she starts screaming?”
“Nobody’s gonna hear her. Not out there.”
“Never can tell.”
“There you go again,” he said. “The Queen of Caution.”
“That’s me. Did you pack?”
He stepped into his pants, then shook his head. “I’ve been digging.”
“Ever since I left?”
“Ground is hard as a rock.”
“I’ll pack for both of us then.”
He shook his head. “No,” he said, “you won’t. We don’t have to leave for the airport until seven. I’ll finish digging, you pop her, and then we’ll pack.”
“How come?”
“Because, I’m not going to take hardly anything, and you aren’t either. The days of me being your pack animal, lugging stuff you’re never gonna wear, are over. From here on in, every place we go, you can afford to buy new clothes.”
“Goody,” she said. “Paris, here we come.”