He poured his coffee with one hand and held up his burner phone in the other so I could see the text. “Jacopo,” he told me. “He says he has a lead.”
“He says?” I queried, noting his word usage. “Do we not trust Jack now, either?” Angelo raised one eyebrow. “I mean,obviouslywe don’t trust Jack,” I amended, “but do we not-trust him enough that we should turn down this tip? He had the perfect opportunity to disappear us out in the desert—or try, anyway—if he was under orders.”
Angelo was quiet as he stirred his coffee, and I let him think it over. I’d learned to trust his judgment over mine. His had been honed over the years of knowing criminals exactly like the Castellanis, Bernardis and Jacopos of the world.Myjudgment, I had learned the hard way, was still developing. Long months on the run under Angelo’s tutelage had given me a crash course in criminal psychology that no amount of book-smarts could equal, but I still deferred to his views when it came to life-and-death decisions.
“We could approach one of the other Families here in Los Angeles,” he said at last. “The Espositos are run by someone who might be amenable to an alliance while we’re here.” My ears pricked up at that. The Esposito Family, it was rumored, was run by a woman. “Wecouldtake our chances with them,” Angelo mused, “but we agreed that Jacopo seemed legitimately surprised by that body out there in the desert, and not just because of the manner of death.”
I nodded. “We did.”
“He’s been useful so far. And my view is that if his Boss is planning anything for us, Jacopo’s not aware of it.”
“Doesn’t mean Jack’snotleading us into a trap,” I pointed out. “Maybe he just isn’t aware that that’s what he’s doing.”
“Maybe.” Angelo took a sip of his coffee, closed his eyes, and gave a quiet sigh of pleasure. “But the fact is, he says he has a lead. You and I together are more than a match for him—and any backup they might think they have. And we have nothing else in the pipeline right now as far as Greco’s whereabouts, correct?”
“Correct.” I shut downCute Crimsand closed the laptop with a snap. “Jack’s lead is the only thing we’ve got right now. Let’s do it.”
* * *
Just after midnight,Jack pulled up in his Pinto to the meeting place we gave him—a dog park several blocks down from our motel—and I was relieved to see the usual car. It was a shitty old bomb, but at least it meant we weren’t getting another trip out into the desert. “Gentlemen,” he greeted us as we climbed in. “How are we tonight?”
“Getting a little tired of chasing our tails,” Angelo said, “so I hope this tip will take us somewhere other than another dead body.”
Jack snorted as he pulled out from the curb. “You know what, Mr. Messina, I don’t enjoy cleaning up behind some anonymous killer, either. So I hope this new lead does pan out. But I should warn you—” Here he glanced back at me in the mirror as well. “—it’s got a bit of a stink to it.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Meaning it fell into my lap a little too easy. Plus if it’s true, it means Greco’s still under Bernardi protection, which makes me wonder who killed our icicle guy, if it wasn’t him. So, just a heads up. Keep a lookout when we get where we’re going.”
It was exactly what Angelo and I had already decided before meeting Jack: to stay aware. Stay flexible.
“And wherearewe going?” Angelo asked.
“Down to the port. Word is Greco’s skipping borders tonight with a cargo ship bound for Europe.”
“He’sleaving the country?” I snapped. “You could’ve told us that before—picked us up earlier—”
“Settle down there, champ, you’re rocking the car getting all excited like that. Ship’s not due to leave until morning. It’ll take them a long time to load up, and there’s no point wandering around the docks in broad daylight.”
“Yeah? Well, if we miss our chance, Jacopo, maybe you should get on that boat, too.”
Jack shook his head. “You need a Xanax, buddy?”
“Fuck you,” I muttered. I sat back in my seat and caught Angelo’s eye in the side mirror. He seemed to have missed the conversation, lost in his own thoughts until he saw me watching him. He smiled then. “Well, it’s been a few days since Bax and I have been in a shootout. It’ll be nice to have something to do.”
Jack laughed. “You know, I heard on the grapevine that things got a little hairy in New York there for Don Morelli. Heard you two helped out while you were there.”
Was Jack fishing for information? Or was he just making conversation? It was hard to tell.
“Don Morelli doesn’t need help,” Angelo said, and he didn’t bother hiding the warmth and pride in his voice when he said it. “He’s doing great things in New York.”
“So why’s he so eager to make friends out here?” Jack said. “He just likes to spread the love?” He turned the wheel to take an exit heading southeast, and as he glanced at the traffic before turning, I saw him give Angelo a sharp look.
“Something like that,” Angelo said.
“And what are you, John the Baptist? Spreading the good news before hereallyarrives in town?”
“You think my head is going to end up on a silver platter?”
