Excerpt
Race had dropped off the comedian and was headed downtown when his cell phone rang. The display showed the number as UNLISTED. He pushed the button to pick up the call. “Taxi Adventure, Race speaking.”
“Is this Horatio Rivera?” the caller asked.
“Yes, sir,” Race said, “but everybody calls me—”
“You picked up an associate of mine this morning and brought him to my office at the Esplanade.”
“Okay,” Race said.
“My associate left a briefcase in your taxi, and you turned it in to the headquarters, is that correct?”
Race felt his eyebrows pull into a frown. “Yes.”
“Then I’d like you to come back to the Esplanade,” the man said. “I’d like to give you a reward.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Race said, “but all right.” He thought he should sound enthusiastic, but something didn’t seem right. “What is your name and address?”
“Just come to the Esplanade,” the man said. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
“I’m not supposed to—” Race began, intending to tell the man of Lucius’s rule that the drivers were never supposed to meet anyone without giving dispatch a name and address. It wasn’t a firm rule, but in times like these, when things felt weird, he liked to trot it out. He stopped talking, though, when the man hung up.
Stopped at a stoplight, Race considered the situation. A reward was pretty unusual, but he supposed it could be legitimate. He wondered if he might somehow work this up into a public endorsement of the company, something that would provide the kind of publicity that Lucius was hoping to get before it was too late. Maybe, Race thought, this just might work.
When the light changed, he cranked the wheel to the left and headed to the Esplanade.
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