Humphrey reached in with his pinkie, but before he could wrap it around Andre’s, Andre grabbed his wrist and yanked Humphrey’s head into the car and growled, “Donotplay games with me.”
“I’m not,” Humphrey pleaded. “Really!”
Andre locked eyes with him for a few seconds before shoving him out of the car.
“Two weeks,” he said.
“I told you. It might take longer?”
“Not my problem. See you, Ollie.”
“Don’t call me—”
Andre drove away before Humphrey could finish.
Andre was not an idiot.He knew Humphrey wouldn’t have the money immediately, but he also knew that people like him needed reminders about the debts they owed.
So when Humphrey had mentioned that he would be in New York to discuss the will, Andre had followed him.
The surprise in the guy’s eyes when he realized Andre was waiting for him was priceless. Andre could almost smell the fear coming off him.
The memory of it made him smile.
Ahead, the traffic light was turning yellow. With no one in front of him, Andre punched the gas and shot through the intersection just as the signal flipped to red.
A half block later, he saw flashing lights in his rearview.
“Well, shit,” he muttered.
A motorcycle cop was right behind him, motioning for Andre to pull over.
As much as he wanted to ignore him, Andre knew he had to play the good little citizen. He spotted an open area at the curb and guided the car to it.
Fifteen minutes later, he was on his way again, a crumpled-up traffic ticket on the passenger seat.
The NYPD could give him as many tickets as they wanted, but they would never see a dime from him, because soon he’d be leaving the country for good.
He’d made a good living doing the dirty jobs others couldn’t, but what Humphrey was going to pay him was on a whole different level.
Andre would have done the job for half a million, but it was clear this was Humphrey’s first time hiring a hitman, and he had no idea about the going rates. Before Andre could even quote him a price, the idiot had offered him five million dollars, then immediately doubled it, obviously worried that the first number had been too low.
Andre had squeezed the promise of another five million out of him before accepting the job.
Once he had the cash in hand—or, more specifically, in an offshore bank account—he’d be gone.
The thought made him smile, and he broke a few more traffic laws on his way home. He was almost disappointed that he didn’t get pulled over again.
Chapter 14
That evening, Stone sat atthe bar at Patroon, enjoying a Knob Creek, while he waited for Josie to arrive.
“Mind if we join you?” a familiar voice said behind him.
He turned to find Mike Freeman in the company of a beautiful, raven-haired woman Stone didn’t know.
“Of course not,” Stone said.
They took the pair of empty stools to his right.
