2
We spent the rest of that evening hearing about the details of our “operation.” That was a word I had hoped to encounter only as a child’s board game or in a hospital setting, but clearly I was in deep because our operation included cover stories, a vast array of books, and a long string of crimes that I was—counter to all my instincts—supposed to claim instead of avoid. Basically, what Boone was asking of us was in direct opposition to my entire personality and moral code. I was glad we had beer.
“What you’re saying,” Beattie summarized after Boone had given us the run-down, “is that we’re seasoned professional book buyers and forgery experts. We buy and sell books on the black market AND not only identify forgeries but create them, too. Am I understanding?”
“Precisely,” Boone said.
