SEEMS SILLY NOW…an orange martini…a sailboat drifting on a blue Caribbean sea…

That’s what I was thinking when I first got word something had gone wrong.

I was parked on South County Road, across from the Palm Beach firehouse, tracking the cop cars racing by me, lights and sirens blaring. I had done my job really, really well.

I was letting myself think about Tess lying next to me on the deck. In a tight little suit, all gorgeous and tanned. And we were sipping those martinis. Don’t know who was making them. Let’s throw in a skipper and a crew. But we were somewhere in the Caribbean. And they tasted soooo good.

That’s when Dee ’s voice crackled on the walkie-talkie. “Ned, where are you? Neddie!”

Just hearing her voice made me nervous all over again. I wasn’t supposed to hear from her until we met back at the house in Lake Worth at 9:30. She sounded scared. I think I knew right then that the scene on the sailboat was never going to happen.

“Ned, something’s gone wrong!” Dee shouted. “Get back here, right now!”

I picked up the receiver and pressed the TALK button. “ Dee, what do you mean, ‘gone wrong’?”

“The job’s busted,” she said. “It’s goddamn over, Ned.”

I had known Dee since we were kids. She was always cool. But disappointment and anger were exploding through her voice.

“What do you mean ‘busted’?” I said. “Bobby and Mickey, are they all right?”

“Just get back here,” she said. “Mickey’s contact… Gachet. The bastard set us up!”

My heart almost came to a full stop at that moment. What did Dee mean, ‘set us up’?

My head dropped to rest on the steering wheel. All I knew was a name – Gachet. Mickey never told us any more. But it was clear, the job was gone. My million dollars, too. Then I realized it could get worse. Much worse. Mickey, Bobby, and Barney could get nabbed.