“Eh, you know this really ain’t my scene, doll face,” Maury said, straightening himself up and grinning at Rowena. “I wouldn’t give a nickel to see Christ ridin’ a fuckin’ bike. This fancy stuff is a lot for me, okay?”
“I think you’re doing great,” she said sweetly, booping his nose.
Maury grumbled, but didn’t protest any further.
“Did you like the new infirmary?” David’s voice was asking, getting louder as he approached. Judging by the footsteps and conversation, he wasn’t alone.
“It’s nice! I kinda miss the rusty staple gun, but you’ve really done a great job cleanin’ it up, Doc!” Mickey Tamerlane, out of prison already. He actually smiled when he saw Jimmy, a crooked leer that was incredibly unsettling. “Hey, Jimmy. How’s it goin’?”
“Hey! Welcome back!” Jimmy nodded politely at the assassin and stepped in to hug his father. “Hey, Dad!”
“Heya, slugger,” David sighed, clapping his hand across Jimmy’s back. “Still in one piece, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy laughed. “I’m okay.”
Tamerlane swept around them to kneel before Cold, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles. “Boss.”
“It’s done?” Cold asked casually, motioning for Tamerlane to rise.
“All taken care of,” Tamerlane promised. “They’ll find it soon if they haven’t already.”
“Good.” Cold moved to shake David’s hand. “David, good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Roderick,” David greeted. “How’s the head?”
“Fine. Stitches should be out any day now.”
“I could take a look if you’d like,” David offered.
“Perhaps later,” Cold said politely. “If you all will excuse us, Tamerlane and I need to have a little chat.” He kissed Jimmy’s cheek, murmuring, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Have fun!” Jimmy said, blushing because he had no idea what else to say to an obviously clandestine meeting.
The moment Cold and Tamerlane left, Rowena tore herself away from Charlie and pounced on Jimmy. “Okay! Now! You freakin’ spill! What the hell is going on?”
“Well, uh...” Jimmy was panicked, and he glanced helplessly around the room. There wasn’t anywhere he could hide where Rowena wouldn’t be able to find him.
Then again, she was wearing heels; maybe he could try to outrun her.
“I can tells ya’,” Maury said with a sly smirk, stuffing little sausages in his mouth from the tray at the bar. “Rumor is, ya’ boy Tamerlane didn’t go into prison to whack nobody.”
“What?” Jimmy stared at Maury. That didn’t make any sense. “But the riot?”
“Happy accident,” Maury replied, licking his lips. “He was really there to plant somethin’.”
“There’s no way he could have snuck something into prison,” Jimmy argued, pausing for a moment as he remembered something very interesting.
Lorre was supposed to have visited Tamerlane in the infirmary to deliver a message. It did seem odd that Cold would have gone to all the trouble of having Tamerlane be arrested just for Lorre to later sneak into prison to give him verbal instructions. It could be that the message wasn’t a message at all, but perhaps it was code for something that Lorre was bringing to Tamerlane for him to plant.
Jimmy immediately clammed up as he was quite certain that he wasn’t supposed to say anything.
“The little birdies are all sayin’ this prosecutor guy is on the Luchesis’ payroll, and Cold is settin’ him up,” Maury went on, always happy to gossip and definitely loving that he had Rowena’s full attention. “That guy in prison? I broke his uncle’s knees this one time—you know, allegedly—I know that whole screwed-up family.”
“Oh, really?” Rowena petted Maury’s arm with a sweet smile. “Tell me more, Maury baby.”
“They were real small time crooks,” Maury said. “You know, petty theft, maybe some arson, shit like that. They used to run errands for the Luchesis, doin’ all the bullshit none of the made guys wanted to do. I’d be willin’ to bet the Luchesis named him because of his ties to the family... and he’s expendable.”
“But I thought you just said Tamerlane wasn’t sent in there to kill him?” Jimmy protested.
