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copies of this video will be released to you on the condition that you deposit two million dollars in a specified bank account. The details will be spelled out to you on Monday. Have a nice weekend.'' |
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Julius pulled the cassette out. |
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Frank was on his feet. "How the hell did he get the kid?" |
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"You dropped him in his lap when you hired him to clear tracks," Julius told DeVoe. |
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"I don't need that, Julius," Frank said. |
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Julius looked at him. "I'm the one whose head is on the block. You can walk away from this right now. I told you it wasn't necessary to spill blood. They wouldn't have said anything" |
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Julius slammed his fist on the desk. "Could it be worse than that?" He nodded toward the television. "Now we've got to deal with a hit man turned blackmailer." |
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"We did what we thought best to protect our interests, our own president's," Frank said feebly. |
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"And now it's come back on us. No, on me." |
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Frank turned toward Julius. His face was red. "Julius, I'm getting very tired" |
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McDermott cut him off. "Cool it. He's right, it backfired. What's important now is where we go from here." |
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"Straight to prison," Julius said. |
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"So it's going to cost two million dollars." |
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"It beats the alternative," McDermott said. |
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"What's to guarantee he'll deliver the boy?" Julius asked. "Or maybe save a backup tape for when he needs another two million?" |
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"We have no guarantee," McDermott said. "But if he wants his money, he'll have to deliver the boy and the tapes first. Once we have the boy, the tapes will be practically useless. In two or three days the well will be neutralized. After that, there's no case against us. It'll be the word of a presidential appointee against the claims of some anonymous crazy on a crude videojust one more ransom attempt that gets trashed every day in this town." |
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Julius was not convinced. "What about your contact man, Roman? Why not get your men to locate the hit man through him?" |
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