Dominic walked in like a man trying not to look like he was walking to his own execution. Thirty-four years old, light-skinned, wearing a Saints jersey and jeans that had seen better days. He carried a duffel bag over one shoulder, and his eyes immediately went to me, then to Priest, then back to me.
“Mr. Landry,” Dominic said.
His voice was too loud. Trying to sound confident but failing.
“I got it. Everything you asked for. It’s all here.”
I didn’t move.
I watched him. Watched the way his shoulders tensed. Watched the way his grip tightened on the duffel bag. Watched the thin sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.
Fear had a smell. Copper and salt. It mixed with the expensive cologne in the air and turned it sour.
“Close the door,” I said.
Dominic hesitated in the doorway just for a second. Just long enough for me to notice.
Then he closed it.
The sound of the latch clicking into place was very loud in the quiet room.
“Sit,” I said.
Dominic sat. He set the duffel bag on the floor beside his chair, his hands moving too quickly, too nervously. The chair scraped against the hardwood floor—a harsh sound that made him wince.
I let the silence stretch.
Priest didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just watched Dominic the way a man watches something that might need to be handled.
I counted to ten in my head. Slow. Deliberate.
Then, I spoke.
“You’re late.”
“I know,” Dominic said quickly. “I know, Mr. Landry, and I’m sorry. There was traffic on St. Charles, and the pickup took longer than I thought, and?—”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
Dominic stopped talking.
I leaned back in my chair. The leather creaked softly. “I told you to be here at two o’clock. It’s now two twenty-three.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know why I told you to be here at two o’clock?”
Dominic swallowed. I watched his throat work. “Because that’s when you wanted the delivery.”
“Because,” I said, my voice still flat, still conversational. “I have a schedule, and my schedule depends on people doing what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
The question hung in the air like a blade.
Dominic’s hands were shaking. Just a little. Just enough for me to see.
