He smiled.
“There we go.”
Adrian’s voice remained calm.
“Put that back.”
Rourke looked almost delighted.
“What is it?”
“You should not open it.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a warning.”
The younger officer looked over.
“Rourke, maybe—”
“Stay there.”
Rourke turned the pouch around.
Adrian saw the moment his thumb covered the small printed seal.
Not enough for the officer to read it.
Enough to hide it from himself.
Rourke tore the strip.
Adrian closed his eyes for half a second.
There it was.
The line.
Rourke reached inside.
He removed six folded hundred-dollar bills.
All crisp.
Sequential enough to look suspicious.
Then a small black transmitter no larger than a car key.
The officer held the cash up.
Several customers could see it now.
One man had started filming.
Rourke noticed and smiled toward him.
“See?”
He turned back to Adrian.
“Guys like you always have something hidden.”
The words hung in the open air.
Adrian’s face changed almost imperceptibly.
Not surprise.
Confirmation.
He said, “Then you should be very careful with what you just found.”
Rourke laughed.
“Oh, I will.”
He unfolded the money.
“Six hundred.”
Adrian did not respond.
“What’s it for?”
Silence.
Rourke moved closer.
“Drugs?”
“No.”
“Gambling?”
“No.”
“Buying something?”
“No.”
“Selling?”
“No.”
“Then why are you carrying marked cash in a sealed bag?”
Adrian looked down at the small transmitter in Rourke’s hand.
“You tell me.”
Rourke’s jaw tightened.
The younger officer called from behind them.
“Marked?”
Rourke turned.
“What?”
Officer Mason had moved toward the cruiser.
“Did you say marked?”
Rourke stared.
“Get back over here.”
Mason hesitated.
Then looked inside the patrol car.
The mobile terminal chimed.
A sharp electronic sound.
Once.
Then again.
Rourke ignored it.
He reached for Adrian’s phone inside another pocket.
Adrian said, “Don’t.”
Rourke pulled it anyway.
The screen was already active.
A call timer.
Nine minutes.
Rourke looked at it.
“Who are you talking to?”
Adrian remained silent.
Rourke pressed the side button.
The screen dimmed.
“Unlock it.”
“No.”
Rourke’s expression changed.
“You don’t tell me no.”
“I just did.”
The officer raised the phone.
For a fraction of a second Adrian thought he might smash it.
Instead Rourke slapped it out of his own hand toward the pavement.
The phone hit concrete and skidded under the pickup.
The woman by the SUV shouted, “Hey!”
Rourke turned.
“Stay out of this.”
She froze.
Adrian looked toward the cruiser again.