Page 143 of The Session

“No, Max,” Tru cut in. “Not for a while now. Future Strategies is Morris’s shadow army inside Summit. It’s how he takes control. He ties up the parts he wants, including the Vault, and sells it off to a third party he controls with Safid.”

“Jesus,” Lightman said. “If I’m arrested, he can get away with it.”

“I think Kevin knew something that threatened Morris,” Mark said. “Probably this Future Strategies thing. He might have been getting leaks from a kid named McCready who worked in It.” He took the phone from his pocket. “The night before he died, he left this with a friend.”

“His phone?” Marnie asked.

“A secondary phone with a passcode lock. I’ve been trying to access it each time the time-out ends. So far, no luck,” Mark said.

“We might be able to find someone who can do that,” Lightman said. “Why do you think Kevin knew about Future Strategies?”

“Because Morris went to meet with him, then lied about it to me,” Mark replied. “The night before he died.”

“Why am I hearing about this now?” Lightman demanded.

“I told you earlier tonight,” said Mark, “that Morris visited Kevin shortly before he died.”

Marnie spoke up. “Would you have listened? You stood up for Morris when you shouldn’t have. And now we’re here.”

Lightman stared at the table. “I just can’t process this.”

“Process it later. We need to figure out what the next course of action is,” Marnie told him sternly.

“Running makes me look weak,” Lightman said.

“I don’t think you have much time. They had the French agent at the party. They could be here soon,” Mark warned.

“You ran when the IRS was after you,” Marnie noted.

“I took a trip on my yacht, but I was never more than a plane flight away from showing up for testimony,” Lightman replied.

Tru cut in. “Going to Belize would look bad, especially with the board meeting coming up. That’s what this is about. He’s trying to make you look terrible. And if you’re on the run, calling an emergency meeting is easy.”

“You’ve done those meetings by phone before. There shouldn’t be any difference,” Marnie argued.

“Why not go back to the United States?” Mark suggested.

“They can have him extradited from there,” Tru explained.

“Sure, but if they’re trying to do the red notice here and you think it’s bullshit, that means Morris knows—or is afraid—it won’t stand up in a US court. At least that would buy you time,” Mark explained.

“Well, if we’re going to run, why not just run to someplace they can’t extradite from?” Marnie asked. “Answer? Because it looks terrible.”

“Is the point to run or to fight?” Mark asked. “Go back to the United States and fight it. If you’re in Belize, you’re going to look guilty. And Morris wins.”

Tru nodded in agreement.

“Belize? Never,” Lightman told them.

“So we go to Miami. It’s that simple,” Mark said.

“No, it’s not. They’re going to be watching the airport. They might be waiting for him to fly out from there,” Tru countered.

“Why not go by boat? Don’t you own a few?” Mark asked.

“What’s the status of The Logician?” Tru asked, referring to Lightman’s megayacht.

“The crew’s aboard,” said Lightman, wearily. “She’s fueled up. We were going to take a trip to Martinique. Marnie has a favorite French restaurant there,” he told Mark.