But if he caught me, he’d see it as another breach of trust. Or worse—proof of his darkest thoughts about me.
Then again, if someonewascoming after him, I’d never forgive myself if I left him unprotected.
Outside, the wind had picked up, and dark clouds were rushing across the sky. I nodded at Tony the valet. “Taking a walk,” I said briefly, and headed down the driveway while I tried to decide what to do.
I was angry, for sure. Mostly at myself for being so stupid and short-sighted. And I was angry at my so-called Family.
At Ciro Castellani, who presumed to use me without telling me the full story.
Angry at Sandro, for being so proud that he couldn’t forgive me, wouldn’t believe me.
And angry at Julian, just for being Julian.
Speaking of Julian, how in the helldidhe fit into it all? I had all the puzzle pieces, I was sure of that. The problem was the picture they made was so blurry that I couldn’t tell what it was supposed tobe.
As for that necklace…
A thought struck me, so clear out of the blue it felt like God had reached down and flicked me in the forehead. Suddenly Iknewwhere that damn necklace was. Where it had been all along. So even though my heart was telling me to stick around, protect Miller, make sure nothing could touch him, I knew I had to leave. I had to get to the root of this whole tangled mess and dig it out, for once and for all.
When I reached the gate at the bottom of the long driveway, I stopped for a moment and made a phone call. “Freddy,” I said when he answered, “I need a favor. But it’ll get Legs Liggari’s panties in a twist if you do it.”
“Oh, I’m in,” he said.
“Full disclosure, the Boss might not like it much, either.”
There was a long pause, and then he said, “Appreciate the warning, but I’d put my chips on you any day, Jack. What do you need?”
“I need you to get over here and do a little guardian angel work.”
CHAPTER48
JACK
The next moveI made was to catch an Uber back toward my own neighborhood, where I spent a while watching my apartment. I broke my rules and used my phone to search for news items in the vicinity, but there were no reports of altercations, fights, disturbances… Maybe I’d been lucky enough that my assault on Julian hadn’t caught interest on the internet.
After a half-hour of surveillance, my mounting anxiety about Miller overcame my caution, and I entered my apartment. It was exactly as we’d left it. Half my clothes were still on the floor of the closet, where they’d fallen when I’d been rummaging around in there, but the other half were just hanging where they should be.
All my guns were still in that closet, too.
Uneasy still, I pulled out my leather pants, jacket, and boots, changed into them, and then began to head out again. But I stopped next to the rickety hall table where I always dropped my keys when I came in. I pulled open the drawer and took out the old paper napkin that Miller had drawn of me, and then the ripped-up picture that I’d scotch-taped back together, and then the latest one of my sleeping form laid out on the bed, relaxed and trusting.
Three pictures. Three different ways of living. Which one did I want to be?
The scowling, shadowy underworld figure?
The mistrustful loner?
Or the guy who could fall asleep andstayasleep, like nothing would ever touch him?
I folded all three carefully and tucked them into the inner pocket of my leather jacket. Then I locked up and made my way to Enrico’s garage. There was nothing in his manner to suggest my name was out there with a target on it, and Enrico was the kind of man who stayed aware.
“Jack,” he said in surprise and pleasure, “Been seeing a lot of you lately. What can I do for you now?”
“I need a bike,” I told him. “Clean, you understand? Nothing traceable, false plates.”
An hour later I was heading out to the Valley on a Suzuki. It had been a long time since I’d been on a bike, but it came back to me quickly, and the easy power of the motor in comparison to the Pinto helped lift my heart. I also liked the anonymity the dark-visored helmet and leathers gave me. When I rolled up at Brent Elwood’s gate, though, I pulled off the helmet to make sure Nate, who answered the intercom, was under no illusions.
“Mr. JJ?” came the breathless answer to my buzz.
