“My assassination?” Amelia asked. “Was one of those jobs he did for you that ambush on Jappa Road?”
Lenny was shaking his head. “No,” he said, still cringing in pain. “I wouldn’t do that to you. You know that.”
“Then why was he trying to kill her,” Hammer asked, “if he was working for you and you didn’t order the hit?”
“I wasn’t the only one he worked for,” Lenny said. “I farmed him out. But I’m telling you now I had no idea you were going to be the target, Millie. I would never do that to you!”
“Stop with the lies for once in your life,” Amelia fired back at him. “You’d do it to your mother if it’ll get you what you want. You and me both know that. Now cut the bullshit!”
“Who did you farm him out to?” Hammer asked.
“You don’t think I respect you, but I do,” Lenny said to Amelia. “You were always up front with me in all our business dealings, and I respected that. That’s why I let you handle my shipment.”
Mick looked at Amelia. “Okay that’s enough,” she said. Lenny always talked too much in her opinion. “Just answer Hammer’s question. Who did you farm Mike out to?”
Lenny exhaled. He was still sitting on the floor. Still nursing his wounded face. But he knew he had to come clean. “Reggie,” he said. “Reggie Dell.” And then he looked at Hammer.
Amelia looked at Hammer too. “I knew that bitch was involved!” she said. “We hadn’t seen her in years and then suddenly she pops back up? I knew it!”
Hammer sighed. Because if it was true, and Reggie was the one who hired Ostertag to ambush Amelia on that backroad, the promise he made to Reggie’s mother to forever protect her was out the window. He let her get away with her deadly shit once before. Not again.
“I know it’s hard for you, Hammer,” Lenny said. “Her mother took that bullet for you and on her deathbed you promised to always protect her little girl. But the problem with Reggie, she fell in love with your ass. The problem with Reggie, she wants Amelia, and Amelia’s child, out of the picture. She’s always wanted that. And for years she’s been planning it too.”
“Planning it how?” Hammer asked.
“Planning it! I don’t know how. But I’m gonna tell you the whole thing because I know it’s coming out.”
“Then tell us, bitch,” Mick said impatiently. “Nobody’s got all day with your punk ass!”
“Alright,” Lenny said. “When Millie lost Milo Scarferetti’s shipment a month ago and Reggie found out somehow that she paid him in full for that lost, that’s when she came to me. We’d split the millions fifty-fifty, she said. And I agreed.”
Amelia frowned. “What do you mean split the millions?”
“When I contacted you about being my middle man on a shipment I purchased for four-and-a-half million dollars, and you agreed,” he said, “it was all a lie.”
Hammer was shocked. “There was no shipment?”
Lenny shook his head. “Nope. I mean, I had to put a lot of cash in a lot of palms, but that didn’t total shit compared to what I was going to make if I got away with it.” He smiled. “And I got away with it. Millie, as we suspected she would be, was good for the money. She paid up. Every dime.”
Mick looked at Amelia. But Amelia was floored. “There was no shipment?” she asked Lenny.
“None,” said Lenny.
“But Copenhagen confirmed that shit!” Amelia said.
“Because I paid them to. Nearly fifty grand, but I paid it. That was the gamble. But Reggie needed some working cash, and she got it. To the tune of two mill. That was her take. That’s a slick bitch,” he added. “It’s no surprise you trained her, Hammer, with your crooked ass.”
They all were floored. Amelia and Hammer looked at each other. But while they were floored and looking at each other, Lenny was slyly removing a knife from the inner sole of his shoe. That was why he was remaining on the floor, not because of the pain and shame of a woman drop-kicking his ass, but for leverage.
And as soon as he saw his advantage, he pounced. He grabbed that knife from out of his shoe and flung it, not at Hammer and Amelia, but at the biggest dog in that room: Mick the Tick.
But Mick wasn’t the boss of all bosses by serendipity. He became the head dog by reputation. And when he realized that knife was coming for his head, he knew his reflexes had to be faster than that speeding knife. Not only were they faster, but Mick was able to lean his body sideways as if he was in the Matrix, and pull out his gun at the same time. And he began firing repeatedly at Lenny. The knife missed Mick, but Mick wasn’t about to miss Lenny. He was hurrying toward him as he fired. He was putting bullet after bullet after bullet into Lenny’s body. It was a rage killing as far as Mick was concerned.
Hammer had to hurry over and touch Mick’s shooting hand, to remind him that he was killing a dead man. Hammer knew all about the viciousness of Mick when you ticked him off. Seeing it up close and personal was jarring even for Hammer.
But Hammer’s reminder was enough. Mick finally stopped his assault on Lenny, a man who had the audacity to think he was going to harm Mick the Tick and live to talk about it.
Amelia was shocked too. “Why would he do it?” she asked. “He was coming clean. Why would he need to try something that stupid?”
Hammer looked at her. “Maybe he was more involved in this shit than he was letting on.”
“Are you going to handle Reggie Dell,” Mick asked, still staring at a very dead Lenny, “or am I going to handle her? Because,” he added and looked at Hammer, “she will be handled this time.” Mick knew all about the last time when Hammer, in the name of that promise he made to Reggie’s mother, cut her some slack.
“I’ll handle Reggie,” Hammer said. Then he added: “Millie and I.”
Amelia was pleased to at least hear that.
“Then I’ll handle this scene,” Mick said.
“I can get my men in here to clean it up.”
“No,” Mick said. “You get that bitch. I’ll handle this.”
Hammer agreed. “Come on, Millie,” he said, preparing to leave.
“Amelia?” Mick said, looking at Lenny once again. Then he looked at Amelia. “A word,” he said.
Amelia looked at Hammer. “I’ll be outside,” Hammer said, and left.
Amelia looked at Mick. “Yes?” she asked.
“He proposed.”
Amelia paused, and then nodded her head. “Yes.”
“He breaks your heart and then proposes.”
Amelia nodded “That’s true.”
Mick looked at her. “He may break it again.”
Amelia felt an ache in her heart. “That’s true too. He may. Or he may not.”
“He’s a gamble, Amelia. A terrible gamble. I should know. He’s a lot like me.”
Amelia was shocked to hear him say that. Hammer was nothing like him! Hammer was a good father. Mick neglected his children until they were fully grown, and he met Roz. He had twins with Roz and was doing better at it, but that didn’t negate all those years of neglect with his first batch of kids. Hammer was in JoJo’s life his whole life.
Except, Amelia suddenly realized, all those times he wasn’t.
Then she looked at Mick. He wouldn’t declare Hammer just like him unless he knew what he was talking about. But she still had no regrets. “He’s a risk,” she said. “But so am I. I’m hoping the laws of science holds, and a negative times a negative will equal a positive.”
Mick was nobody’s optimist, but she actually saw a small smile on his face. “I’m hoping so too,” he said. “I’m turning it around. Perhaps he can too.”
Amelia smiled, hurried over to Mick and hugged him from behind, even though he wasn’t the type and didn’t bother to hug her back, and then she hurried out of the house.
When Amelia glanced back, Mick was shooting Lenny the Butcher one more time.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“A beach house?” Amelia asked and then looked at Hammer. “She owns a beach house?
”
“No. But that’s her location right now, according to the agency.”
“Then who owns this beach house?” Amelia asked.
Hammer hesitated before answering. “I do,” he said.
Amelia turned to him. “You do?” Amelia turned all the way toward him. “What’s she doing at your beach house, Hammer?”
“How am I supposed to know that? I have no idea.”
“You gave her a key?”
“Hell no I didn’t give that woman a key!”
“I mean did you give her a key when you two were on good terms?”
“Not even then. I’ve never given a woman a key to any property of mine, except for you.”
And it was true. Although she never used it, Amelia did have a key to Charlemagne, which was a huge step forward in their relationship, she thought at the time. It turned out not to be a step forward at all.
Then Amelia’s cellphone began to ring. She looked at the Caller ID. When she saw that it was Trevor Reese, Hammer’s kid brother, she answered immediately. “Hey, Trev, everything okay?”
Hammer glanced at her when she said his brother’s name.
“Everything’s fine,” Trevor said. “I just wanted to let you know that JoJo and Rowena just arrived in Boston in one piece.”
Amelia smiled. “I didn’t expect anything less,” she said, and Trevor laughed. “Thanks for keeping them until we can figure out just what’s going on.”
“My pleasure,” Trevor said. “We’re always happy to see little man. Where’s my brother?”
“Right here,” Amelia said. “He’s driving.”
“And you guys think Reggie Dell’s involved in what’s been happening?”
Amelia nodded. “We were told she was. We’re going to find out for ourselves.”
“She probably is,” Trevor said. “I told Hammer to kick her ass to the curb years ago, but he never listens to me. He never listens to anybody. But you.”
“Yeah, right,” Amelia said, and Trevor laughed again. And then he offered his congratulations about the engagement, they small-talked briefly, and then they ended the call.
“What did he want?” Hammer asked.
“He wanted to let me know JoJo and Ro arrived safely.” But she had already moved on. “Where is this beach house?” she asked Hammer.
“Not far. I used to stay there whenever I would drop by the club.” Hammer owned JazzLight, a club home-based in Canada, but with a location in Baltimore too.
“Is that where we’re headed?” Amelia asked him.
“That’s where we’re headed.”
“I had a feeling she was involved,” Amelia said. “She probably masterminded the whole thing.”
But it still wasn’t making sense to Hammer. Why would Reggie, after all those years of nothingness, suddenly want to be back in his life? And he still would be shocked to know that Reggie targeted JoJo after doing what she could to protect JoJo from her psychotic boyfriend some time ago. He wasn’t nearly as convinced as Amelia.
But he didn’t let his feelings be known. Amelia could not stand Reggie, and for good reason, and would only interpret his hesitation with some desire he had for Reggie. Which would be off the mark. But he wasn’t going there yet. Not yet. Not until he saw for himself just what exactly was going on.
The beach house was on a quiet stretch of beach sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Isle of Wight bay. Hammer drove the Land Rover three houses down, and parked it there.
Amelia looked at him. “Is this it?”
“Not where Reggie’s holed up, no,” Hammer said as he removed his seatbelt.
“Then who lives here?”
“Nobody,” Hammer said, getting out. “Nobody lives in any of the houses along this stretch.” There were four beach houses including the last one, where Reggie Dell was supposedly located.
When he made it to the passenger side and opened the door for Amelia, she looked at him. “How do you know they’re empty? What if they aren’t and you parked my truck on their property.”
“It’s my property,” Hammer said. “I own all four homes along this stretch.”
Amelia was shocked as he helped her out of the truck. “You own all four homes? Are you serious?”
Hammer placed his hand on her lower back and began walking with her toward the fourth house at the end of the stretch. “I’m afraid so.”
She started to ask him how in the world could he afford all that he had, but she didn’t go there. He was a successful nightclub owner and a super-successful government man. She supposed it was legally possible. Although she doubted that he could have acquired the wealth he had legally. But that was a conversation for another day. “How do you know which one she’s in?” she asked him.
“She only knows about one. The one on the end down there. We’ll go in through the back,” he added, and began escorting her toward the backside of his properties.
Amelia shook her head. “You are the original man of mystery, you know that?”
Hammer smiled. “I do not know that.”
“But you are. If I live to be a hundred, I don’t think I’ll still be able to fully peel back that onion called your life. And your wealth. And how in the world you acquired it all.”
A look of regret crossed Hammer’s eyes. “You don’t want to know,” he said to her. They exchanged a glance, and continued their beach walk in silence, although the thick sand wasn’t exactly friendly to Amelia’s boot heels.
When they made it to the house, Hammer pulled the loaded gun from the small of his back. “You stay on the side,” he said to Amelia. “I’ll bring you in after I get in.”
Amelia agreed and pulled out her weapon as she hurried for the side of the house.
Hammer kept up the back steps, unlocked the door, and walked in.
Reggie, hearing the entrance, hurried into the kitchen where he was now standing. “Did you do it?” she asked anxiously as she ran in. But she stopped in her tracks when she saw it wasn’t who she was expecting. It was Hammer. She frowned. “What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“What am I doing in my own home?” Hammer asked her. “I think you have it twisted.”
“And what’s with the gun?” Reggie asked. “Put that away.”
But Hammer kept it aimed at her. “Go into the living room,” he said.
“Are you going to shoot me, Hammer?”
“Go into the living room,” he said again.
She did as she was told and walked, unnecessarily with her hands up, into the living room.
“Sit down,” he ordered her. She sat on the couch.
Hammer went to the side wall of the frame house, and banged against it. Within seconds, Amelia walked through the back door. When she entered the living room, Reggie frowned again. “What’s she doing here?” she asked angrily.
But neither Hammer nor Amelia gave her anger a second thought. Amelia was armed, too, and she kept her weapon trained on Reggie.
“Anybody else here?” Hammer asked Reggie.
“Why are you asking me that question? No. And please tell your bitch to stop pointing that gun at me before an accident happens.”
“You’re the accident,” Amelia said, “and you already happened.”
“Keep an eye on her,” Hammer said to Amelia as he went to the back of the house to make certain they were alone. Satisfied, he returned quickly.
And he sat on the coffee table in front of Reggie. Amelia had his back. But she also saw a marked-up calendar on a side table, and picked it up.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Hammer said to Reggie. “You’re going to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth, and I’m going to prevent Amelia from killing your ass. You got it?”
Reggie folded her arms, in defiance, Amelia thought. But Hammer saw the fear in her eyes. “What do you want to know?” Reggie asked him.
“Why are you in my house?” Hammer asked her.
“You never use this place.”
�
�Why are you in my house?” he asked her again.
She huffed, but then she answered. “I have a date,” she said, “and I thought this would be as romantic a place as anything I have.”
“Who’s your date?” Hammer asked.
Amelia looked at Hammer. Why should he care?
Reggie, picking up on Amelia’s concern, smiled. “Jealous, Hammer?”
Amelia rolled her eyes. Hammer didn’t crack a smile. “Who’s your date?” he asked her again.
“That’s none of your business,” she said. But before she could even finish saying it, Hammer stood up, grabbed her by her blouse, lifted her all the way up and off of the sofa, and flipped her onto her back on the coffee table.
And he was in her face. “Stop fucking with me Regina! Who’s your date?”
Reggie was in pain. “Lenny,” she said.
“Buckner?” Hammer asked.
She looked at him as if surprised he would know that name. “Yeah. Why?”
Hammer released her, and stood upright. “He’s not coming,” he said.
Reggie stared at him, and then sat up on the coffee table. “How would you know?” She looked genuinely concerned. “What have you done to him?”
“He said you faked that shipment heist and split my money,” Hammer said. “That true too?”
“That was his take for hiring Mike Ostertag, who blew that ambush. So Lenny said he’d take it from there. But he didn’t do it right either. But what did you do to him, Hammer? How did you find out?”
“She had it all planned out, Hammer,” Amelia said, looking at that calendar.
Hammer looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“She had it all laid out. When she hired LB, which I assume meant Lenny Buckner. When LB hired MO, which, I assume, meant Mike Ostertag. And then, for yesterday, she had the BD in red, which I assume meant the big day, the day she thought would be my last day on earth.” She looked at Hammer. “She had it all planned out. And everything on this calendar happened after she caught that ride on your plane and saw me at that airport.” Amelia shook her head. “She didn’t use her phone. She wanted to write that shit out on paper. It was as if she was using this calendar to memorialize her little plan so the agency wouldn’t be able to access it on her phone.”
Amelia Sinatra: What Hammer Wants Page 11
