The Chase by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

that closed with Velcro straps. Sunblock was smeared heavily on his nose. Once his feet touched solid ground, Jake turned to the gathered crowd with a big smile.
    “Woo-wee, what a wild ride that was. Sure got my fifty bucks’ worth.”
    Carter stepped up to him. “Who are you?”
    “J. W. Saltz from Baxter Springs, Kansas. I own the Chevy dealership in town. Come by and I’ll make you the deal of a century on the Impala of your dreams.”
    It was hard for Kate not to laugh.
    Jake shaded his eyes with his hand and scanned the ocean. “Looks like Pedro headed back to Cuba after my line broke. Can’t really blame him. He probably thinks I’m tangled in a tree with a broken neck. Hell, I’m surprised I’m not. I’ve never steered a parachute before. I just pulled this and pulled that and made a bunch of promises to God that I hope he doesn’t expect me to keep.”
    “What are you doing down here?”
    “Thirty-seventh wedding anniversary. My wife wanted to browse at the consignment stores, so I dropped her off and went to the beach. She loves those stores. Lots of filthy-rich old people die down here and that’s where their stuff ends up, dirt cheap. Nobody at home knows Myrtle is wearing a dead lady’s clothes. They think we’re loaded.”
    “I meant, why were you parasailing in front of my house?”
    “I slipped Pedro an extra twenty to take me for a spin over the big haciendas. I wanted to get some pictures from a bird’s-eye view. We don’t see homes much larger than a double-wide where we’re from.”
    One of the operatives stepped forward and handed Jake’s disposable camera to Carter.
    “I got a great deal on that,” Jake said, tipping his head toward the camera. “Two for ten dollars at Walmart.”
    Carter dropped the camera on the ground and crushed it under his foot.
    “What the hell did you do that for?” Jake said.
    “Consider it the price of trespassing.”
    “It was an accident. You ought to be thankful that I didn’t have a heart attack and die on your roof. My ticker isn’t what it once was, and this has been a big shock to my system. You really don’t want to give me any more stress. I could drop dead right here.”
    “Then we’d better get you off my property before that happens.” Carter gestured to one of his men. “Give Mr. Saltz a ride back to his hotel.”

Kate O’Hare had been trained by the military to be patient, and to endure many forms of torture, but nothing had prepared her for sitting through the next three hours of filming. It wasn’t Carter reveling in his outrageous excesses, or Boyd’s overacting, or Nick’s comfort with his crime that was eating at her. What she couldn’t stand was remaining at the scene of the crime after the heist was done. She desperately wanted to grab the rooster and run. The hardest part came near the end, when Carter showed off the home theater. It felt to her like the case with the rooster was glowing and radiating heat.
    Carter and Boyd came out of the auditorium and were trailed into the lobby by the two cameramen. Boyd stopped and shook his head in wonder.
    “You’ve got a small-town movie theater, an authentic English pub, a re-creation of the Sands casino with vintage slot machines, and the Grand Salon of Vaux-le-Vicomte. Who else has all of thatin their house? It’s incredible. Thank you for showing us all what it’s like to live in one of
the most spectacular homes on Earth
!” Boyd gave Carter a big smile, then they shook hands and remained in that stilted pose for a long moment.
    “Cut!” Nick said.
    The cameramen lowered their cameras and relaxed. Kate turned to the crew, who’d been waiting in the hall, and announced, “That’s a wrap. Let’s break down the lights and clean this place up.”
    Nick hurried over to Boyd and Carter. “Outstanding,” Nick said.
    “Thank you so much.” Boyd bowed theatrically.
    Crew members swarmed in and began unplugging cables and taking down the lights, and Kate went into