Part 14:
The parking lot lights were the orange sodium kind that made everyone look a little yellow. There was a path that went around the side of the building, a gravel path, and she walked on it, and he walked beside her. “How’s your daughter?” she said. “She’s good. She’s got new boots.” “That’s good.” “Yeah.
” They walked maybe 30ft without saying anything. “Celeste?” “Yes.” “You didn’t come out here to ask me about my daughter.” “I did, actually, but I also did not.” “Okay.” “I want to ask you something, Ryan, and I want you to answer me honestly.” “Okay.” She stopped walking. He stopped, too. They were maybe halfway down the gravel path, at a bend where you could see out across the pines to the hills beyond.
The wind was picking up. She had her hands in her jacket pockets, and her shoulders were up a little against the cold. “Do you trust me?” she said. He thought about it. He thought about it longer than she probably expected him to. “I don’t know yet,” he said. She nodded. “That’s a good answer. It’s an honest one.
” “Yes. Why do you ask?” She looked out at the hills. “Because I’m about to ask you to do something that I cannot do through Delia. I need you to do it for me personally, and I need you to know that if you say no, I will not hold it against you. And if you say yes, I’m going to put you in a room with a man, and I’m going to ask you to lie to him.
” Ryan was quiet. “Lie to who?” “Everett Sharp.” “What? I want you to go see him.” “I want you to tell him that you have information that could clear your name, but that you are willing to make it disappear for a price. I want you to tell him that you know something the company does not know, and that you will stay quiet about it for money.
” “I want you to tell him you need $60,000.” “He’ll know I already got 60,000.” “He will not.” “Your settlement was handled through a shell. His visibility into the lower part of the organization is less than he thinks it is. He will not know what you were paid and by whom. He will not be able to verify it quickly, which is part of why he will bite.
Celeste, I know. That’s entrapment. It is not. Entrapment is when the government induces someone to commit a crime they would not have otherwise committed. I am not the government. And Everett Sharp has already committed the crime. We are simply creating an opportunity for him to confirm on audio that he has committed it.
On audio? Yes. You want me to wear a wire? I want you to wear a wire. Ryan turned and looked at her. She was still looking out at the hills. You understand, he said slowly, that I’m a warehouse guy. I understand that you are an extremely observant man who has been working in a warehouse. There is a difference. Celeste, I’ve never done anything like this in my life.
I know. I don’t know what to say to a man like that. You don’t have to say anything fancy. You have to go in nervous. You have to go in like a man who has been pushed into doing something he doesn’t want to do. That is not a hard performance for you, Ryan, because it is the truth. You’re going to be nervous.
You’re going to have been pushed into doing something you don’t want to do. All you have to do is let him see it. And then you have to ask for the money. And you have to let him talk. Why me? Because he will believe it of you. Why? Because he already thinks you are the kind of man who takes what he is offered.
He thinks that because he is the kind of man who takes what he is offered, and he cannot imagine a man who isn’t. That is going to be the thing that ruins him, but it is also what makes this possible. Ryan shook his head. Can’t Delia get him some other way? She can. She will, eventually. But it will take months. It will take careful subpoenas and federal cooperation and a sit-down with the district attorney.
It will take a very long time and a lot of very expensive lawyers, and in that time two more shipments are going to get moved, and two more men are going to get framed for moving them, and one of those men might be fired, and one of those men might be arrested, and I am not willing to wait that long.
I have waited long enough. Then do it legally. Do it the slow way. Ryan. Yeah. I am asking you. I am asking you because I think you can do it, and because I think you will do it well, and because I trust you to do it without getting yourself hurt. But I’m asking you. If you say no, we will do it the slow way. I will not punish you.
