Long After Midnight Read Free Page A

hope so.”
    Tony looked at him in surprise. Hope wasn’t Noah Smith’s usual modus operandi. He preferred to make his own luck, mold circumstances to suit himself like the modern-day buccaneer Tony knew him to be. The weary heaviness and uncertainty in his tone were uncharacteristic of him. But then, Noah’s entire handling of RU2 had been unusual. He had kept his reckless streak firmly in check. He had been careful, painstaking, and relentlessly protective. “You’re really worried.” He paused before asking the question he’d kept himself from asking for the last ten months. “What the hell is RU2?”
    Noah shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”
    “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked. I’ve been your friend for sixteen years and your lawyer for eight. I think I deserve your trust, Noah.”
    “My lawyer shouldn’t ask me questions I don’t want to answer.” He met his gaze. “And my friend should believe me when I tell him he doesn’t want to know more than he has to know. It’s not safe.”
    “Professionally?”
    “It’s not safe,” Noah repeated. “Back off, Tony.”
    “I doubt if Ogden’s going to blackjack me in some dark alley.”
    “Not personally. Why should he? He can hire someone to do it.”
    Tony shook his head. “I can’t see Ogden regarding your RU2 as that much of a threat. He’s a major player.”
    “Then think of Ogden Pharmaceuticals as Hiroshima and RU2 as the first atomic bomb. That should make it clearer.”
    Tony started to smile. “You’re joking. You can’t be—” Then he realized Noah was dead serious, and for the first time he was shaken. “You’re not being paranoid?”
    “I’m being careful. For God’s sake, I’m trying to keep you out of this.” Noah’s voice roughened. “I let you help me because you’re the only one I could trust, but now I want you out. I knew that someone like Ogden was bound to surface as soon as the sharks found out about RU2.”
    “Found out what?”
    Noah was silent.
    It was no use. “You always were a selfish bastard,” he said lightly. “We haven’t done any shark fishing since Grenada and now you want to keep them all to yourself.”
    Noah relaxed. “With any luck I’ll swim away before they know I’m in the water.”
    “Not likely. You usually make a pretty big splash.”
    “Well, go away to the mountains for a week or so until I see what’s happening with Ogden.” He opened the desk, pulled out a key ring, and tossed it to Tony. “I’ve rented a lodge in the Sierra Madres for you. The address is on the ring. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going, not even your secretary. Okay?”
    “Whatever you say.” He got up to leave. “I could use a little vacation. I have to bring by those Amsterdam contracts for you to sign. They should be ready by Monday and I’ll leave by the end of the week.”
    “Leave Tuesday.”
    “Okay. Okay. You’ll call me if you need me?”
    “Loud and clear.”
    Tony moved toward the door.
    “And Tony.” Noah’s brow was knitted in thought. “Get in touch with Seth. Ask him to come.”
    “He won’t do it.”
    “Ask him.”
    “For God’s sake, Noah, you don’t need a mercenary. This isn’t a war.”
    “Not yet.”
    “He may not even be alive. He hasn’t surfaced in the last five years.”
    “He was alive eight months ago. He spent a week with me on the
Cadro
sailing in the Caribbean.”
    Tony’s eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t tell me.”
    “I don’t tell you everything, Tony.”
    “It seems you tell me precious little.”
    Noah smiled. “Are you disgruntled because I didn’t invite you along? You and Seth are hardly bosom buddies.”
    “The bastard has always needled the hell out of me.”
    “True. I think your newfound respectability annoys him. He doesn’t like lawyers.”
    “No, he prefers smugglers, killers, and sundry riffraff,” Tony said sourly.
    “Riffraff.” Noah savored the phrase. “Where the hell did you