They climbed into the truck, with Decker in the driver’s seat.
“What in the hell is going on?”said Baron.
“A lot,” replied Decker. He pulled out his phone.
“Who are you calling?” asked Jamison.
“Nobody. I’m doing some fast research.”
“On what?”
“Australia.”
He scrolled through screen pages for a few minutes.
“Decker, we’re going to be late for the exchange!” snapped Jamison.
“No we’re not.”
He readthrough the screens for another few minutes and then he sent off a lengthy text. Only then did he put the phone away and start the truck.
“Find what you needed?” asked Jamison.
He nodded. “Yeah, I found pretty much everything.”
***
They drove fast and were soon out of the downtown area.
From the backseat Fred Ross said,“Wait a minute. This isn’t—”
He clamped his mouth shut.
“This isn’t the way to the exchange?” said Decker. “I thought you might have known about that since this conspiracy reaches all the way into the police department. But you’re right, it’s not the way to the exchange. I’d rather go where the real action is.”
“What are you talking about?” said Jamison in a worriedtone.
“Trust me, Alex, I know what I’m doing.”
“Well,Idon’t trust easily,” interjected Baron.
Decker said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t either. In fact, I’m not sure I’d trust anybody in this damn town.”
They began the climb up the winding road leading to the top of the hill where the Baron mansion was located.
Baron looked around, puzzled, andsaid, “Why are we going to my house?”
“Because I want you to meet the people who tried their best to send you to death row.”