I checked the gun. It was loaded. I suddenly turned and pointed it at Algernon. He stopped and merely looked at me.

“I just have a few questions,” I said. “Have you been sent to kill me?”

“If I wished to kill you, would I hand you a loaded gun?”

“Probably not. But since it’s my life, I need a better answer than a probably.”

“No. I have not been hired to kill you. I do not kill without a reason. And my reason cannot be only money. Because then money rules everything. I was poor for too long to give it that kind of power.

“Last week, I killed a man. I was not paid to do so. He laughed as two of his little thugs beat and robbed an old woman. They beat her to steal nothing more than change from her food stamps. He dealt crack and he ran that block with no more remorse than a slave master would show to his slaves. He thought he would die young. He did. For his thugs, I merely broke their knees, now they will walk slower than the old women.” He looked directly at me and said, “Until you pulled the gun on me, I had no reason to wish to harm you.”

“My goal is for neither of us to get hurt.”

“Good. Then we share the same goals. You may keep the gun if you prefer, but it would be a step toward our mutual goal if you would not point it so directly at me.”

I lowered the gun slightly. I knew what O’Connor would want me to do. Tell Algernon thanks, but no thanks, and hightail it back to the street where my police tail was supposed to be. My only other choice was to go to the boat without any backup or anyone who even knew where I was.

If I didn’t get to the boat, it would sail off with no one to stop it. The kids would be abused and dumped. I lowered the gun. “Let’s go. We don’t want to keep them waiting.” I started to hand the gun back to him.

“Keep it until the end of the ride. It’s my gesture of trust.”

I followed him out to a quiet back street. There were a few people on the corner, but no one was near us.

“Here,” he said, indicating a black, vintage Cadillac. “I will have to ask that you sit in back on the floor. My instructions are that you are not to be seen leaving this neighborhood.”

I did as I was told, climbing into the backseat and getting on the floor.

“Lie down and pull the blanket over you. That way no one can look in at a stoplight and see that you are there. Certain people, like the police, would ask very awkward questions if you were seen like that.”

The blanket was really a deep navy flannel sheet. I covered myself with it as Algernon had instructed and was glad to notice that it was clean. The car started and Algernon drove away. I wondered how long it would take my police escort to realize that I wasn’t coming out of the building.

After a few blocks I cheated and pulled the blanket off of my head. But from my angle all I could see through the windows of the car was the dark night sky and an occasional streetlight. Frustrated with that, I took the envelope out and opened it. It contained several smaller envelopes and a word-processed letter to me. I could only read it in sections, when the street lights gave enough illumination to see by.

Dear Micky,

Congratulations on your recent promotion. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Joey is no longer up to the job.

You’re going to take a boat ride, and at the end of it you will be a very rich woman. There should be an envelope with your name on it and the first installment. The other envelopes are to pay your crew. You will be traveling along the Gulf Coast, with stops in Biloxi, down the Florida coast and on to the Caribbean. You will get further instructions on the boat.

There will be a crew of eight. They are all experienced seamen, each with only a few flaws that make them unable to get commercial work. Quince, the captain, assures me that he can control them. Keep watch, though, most of them are drunks if they get the chance. There are convicted pedophiles, so keep them away from the merchandise. (Unless it suits your purpose not to.)

You will be in charge of the passengers and the four stewards who serve them. (To be picked up in Biloxi where you get your first passengers.) Whatever problems arise, you get to decide how to handle them. Make sure the passengers get what they’ve been promised. Exactly how that’s done is up to you.