Chapter 41

Chapter 41—Reginald notified

2:00 p.m., Monday, December 26

Once back at Bernadette’s apartment, Allison sat down in her favorite chair to gather her thoughts. “I need to contact Reg today, and set up delivery of his payment,” she said aloud, and at the same time writing “Reg” on a sheet of paper she had brought over to the chair with her. She thought, “I wonder if I should set the time and place for delivery, or should I leave that up to Reg? Probably best if he determines that, because we are a little early, and he will have to establish the means to transport and store it. That will take time.”
“Can that be correct?” she said to herself, as she scribbled some numbers down on her piece of paper. “Could one hundred million actually weigh three ton? And that’s only if it is 24 karat—much of this gold is in the form of artifacts, and so weighs substantially more than pure gold. … There could easily be over four ton.”
Allison then took her cell phone and called Reginald. “Hi. … We are ready to deliver. We could arrange for it later today, or tomorrow morning. I would like this to be done before our next meeting. What do you suggest?”
“I really cannot do anything about it today. But tomorrow morning would be fine. Let me know when the truck is on the way, and I will direct it to the drop. Shall we say 7 a.m., west side of the city? South of 36th?”
“That works. Also, the meeting will be tomorrow evening—same place and time as the last one. I do not think it prudent to ever discuss this matter in front of the whole group. You should take your time checking it out. If you have questions or concerns, we will deal with them at a later time We should not talk about it until Wednesday. I’ll call you.”
“Right. See you tomorrow evening.”
As soon as she disconnected, she called Sid back. “The delivery is set for tomorrow morning at seven. You get the truck on the road, and I’ll let you know exactly where to drop it off. I do know that it will be in the city, on the west side—Midtown Manhattan.”
Sid wondered if he would need to get started earlier, but Allison assured him that a one-hour head start would be more than adequate. And she disconnected.
Allison realized that it would take Reginald’s people a fair amount of time to determine the actual value of the gold, given that much of it was not in the form of bullion. She was not concerned, however. For one thing, she knew the level of Sid’s commitment to get his job done perfectly. In fact, she was positive that Sid could accurately calculate the value of any given item in her vault. In cases where the gold content might be in doubt, Sid would intentionally undervalue that piece.
In the end, when Reginald’s people were finished evaluating the gold, she knew they would be pleased. The actual value would undoubtedly be closer to one hundred and five million dollars—five percent over expectations. Perhaps even more.
“You never try to cheat a hit man,” she said to herself again, smiling broadly.
“I had better get back and be Allison for a while,” she groaned, as she began changing back into Allison’s clothes. “My aides are going to be calling for a doctor before long. … Or the coroner.”