by Ali Vali
“With my life.”
“Then let’s get you back to what you know.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I know, don’t call anyone,” Brinley said two days later as she stood by the kitchen door with her mother.
Oscar was about to drive Reed away from the house for the series of phone calls she had to make—she was paranoid enough not to want to do them from home. “I didn’t say it,” she said smiling.
“You were thinking it, but don’t worry, we’ll wait for you to get back. Can I talk to you privately for a moment?”
“Sure.” She headed to the den. “What?” she asked when they were out of sight of Oscar and Wilma.
“This.” Brinley stood on her toes and put her arms around her neck and kissed her. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances.”
“Your mother was right,” she said, not pushing Brinley away. “You’re stubborn.”
“Good, that means you’re not a slow learner.”
She left her hands on Brinley’s waist a moment longer and maintained eye contact. “I’m not the one having trouble understanding the reality of things, Ms. Myers.”
“Go do your job and come back without the need for a medic.”
Reed fought against the desire to take Brinley upstairs and make love to her right that moment. She’d been lying awake at night, watching Brinley sleeping next to her, and showering with Brinley watching had been agony. Every touch, every caress, the smell of her hair…it was insanely, dangerously distracting. She pulled away and left without another word.
“What are you going to do about that?” Oscar said when he pulled away from the house.
“About what?” She felt pretty good with the compression bandage she’d had Brinley put on that supported both her back and front. The pain was still there, but it wasn’t distracting enough to keep her from doing what she had to do.
“Brinley’s in love with you.”
“That’s crazy. She’s grateful for what we’ve done, and once she’s back home with Finn and her mom, the one thing she’ll be the most thankful for is that we’re no longer around. I may not know shit about love, but no one falls that fast. And not for the person hired to kill them.”
“Okay, you saying that is what’s crazy, but I’ll drop it. We have to concentrate, or we’ll really be out of her life when we’re dead.”
She forced herself to focus and thought of the conversations she needed to have. They drove to their diner, and she settled into the most private booth that still had a good view of the parking lot. The breakfast rush was over, so it was relatively quiet. “Do you ever get tired?” she asked, and Oscar nodded as if he knew exactly what she meant.
“The best thing about my life is you, and we have enough money to live the rest of our time on this planet without worrying about all this shit.” Oscar sighed and it did appear as if he was physically and emotionally exhausted.
“You wouldn’t miss it?”
He stared at her and shook his head. “Maybe what happened was karma’s way of saying we’ve paid enough for shit that wasn’t our fault. Penny wasn’t your mistake, and my father wasn’t mine. We got screwed in that department, but we made it. We’ve survived, we’ve succeeded, and we’ve got time to figure out what comes next.”
“Getting the Jatibons to believe us is what comes next, buddy. Beyond that I’ve got no clue.” She’d waved off the waitress and picked up the phone. Oscar had done his magic and gotten Remi Jatibon’s cell number, and it only rang twice before someone answered it.
“Hello.” It was definitely a woman, but she had a deep voice.
“Please hear me out before you hang up, Ms. Jatibon,” she said as a start. That got her silence but not a disconnect. “Your people put out feelers about some information you want.”
“This is a cryptic way to go about it, but do you have what I want?”
“I killed two of the three on the list, but I had a contract for one of them.”
That got her another stretch of silence, but obviously Remi wanted to hear more. “Usually contractors don’t like talking about their work, which makes me skeptical about this call.”
“Until today I haven’t talked about any contract, ever, but when you hire me, then double-cross me, all bets are off, as they say. I’ll give you what you want, but then you have to give me something in return.”
“What’s that?”
“A life.” The memories of Brinley’s lips on hers could be the reward of her retirement, and she refused to second-guess it. “Actually, two.”
“You want to hit the people who double-crossed you?”
“No, I want to save two people who got caught in the middle. They bear no blame in all this.”
“You’ll have to come out of the shadows. I want to know who I’m dealing with.”
It was her turn to be silent for a moment. “I have your word you’ll at least listen first before you turn me over to the wolves?”
“My word is everything to me, and you have mine. I usually take care of my problems myself, but to have someone like you call me…you must have an interesting story.”
“It’s one of a kind.”
“I bet, and I’m available whenever you want to meet,” Remi said.
“Now would be good, and as a sign of good faith, you pick the place.” Oscar took a deep breath at that offer, but this time they couldn’t stay in the shadows.
“Half an hour in the one place in the Gemini that has no cameras.”
Reed laughed and reconsidered her offer for a minute. “I head up to the executive offices of your casino, Ms. Jatibon, and I’m sure I’ll be on a set of glossies so fast I’ll be famous to everyone who wants a piece of me.”
“I was talking about the spa. By law, we don’t record anything in there, and a good massage never killed anyone.”
“Half an hour then.” She hung up and gazed at Oscar. “This is it, buddy. We take this chance and there’s no turning back on anonymity.”
“Remi Jatibon better hope she has a good memory,” Oscar said, standing up and leaving a tip for the use of the booth. “You might be changing the game, but there’s no reason we can’t play by some of our rules.”
“How do you plan to do that?”
“You meet with her and give her everything, and I’ll make you as invisible in there as I did at Bellagio. I’m not letting anything happen to you since you’ve got a good chance at happiness.” He blew a kiss at her and laughed.
“Get your head out of the pretty clouds, my friend. I don’t mind retirement for a while, but we have to give the cute kid and his mother back when we’re done.” She stood and placed her hand over her wound when she straightened out. It was a shame she could only kill Paolo Moretti once for the fucking annoying wound.
She couldn’t go into a meeting with an Earwig, so she spoke to Oscar on her phone until she reached the spa, then stepped inside. He was working from the back of the SUV in the parking lot and giving her directions as she went. When she entered the spa, the tall woman with cowboy boots on seemed as out of place as she did, so she walked over and held her hand out. “Are you dying for a good massage?”
“I find that great conversation can be just as relaxing.” Remi shook her hand and smiled. She was tall, but Remi had a few inches on her. “Let’s take the manager up on her offer of using her office.”
“I’ve never done this.” Reed stared out at a rock garden with designs in the sand like someone had raked it. She supposed it was a Zen relaxation thing, but relaxed was the last thing she was. “But the way I see it, you don’t have a gun in the war that’s probably coming. That makes you the perfect person to negotiate for the lives of the people who really don’t have a place in this.”
“You’re right, it’s not our war, and I don’t usually use contractors. If I have a problem, I like to deal with it internally.” Remi poured them some juice and sat back. “Not that I’m not going to trust what you’re going to say, but the reason I mentioned contrac
tors is precisely why we’re here. You trust someone for something important, and it leaves you exposed if something goes wrong.”
Remi had a point, but a true professional like her was never that loose end. You could shake down a client for more, but that would make for a short-lived career. “I totally understand that, but I’ve never betrayed anyone’s trust. The problem started when they betrayed mine. The same code we all abide by means you double-cross me, and that cancels any business I have with you.”
“Then let’s have an honest conversation, and we’ll see what we can do to move forward, wherever that might be.”
“My first contract was for Victor Madison.” The story of what put Victor on her kill list made Remi lean forward and tap her fingers together. “It had to look like an accident, and humiliating if I could manage it. If I’d known the woman with him was that young or Benito Lucassi’s granddaughter, I would’ve handled it differently. I’m not into killing innocents.”
“London Emerson stretches the meaning of innocent as far as it’ll go without snapping, but the fact that she was working for Caterina Terzo earns you forgiveness for that one. Benito Lucassi might not see it that way, but this is a game with serious penalties if you don’t play to win,” Remi said, shrugging. “London was too young to know the rules, much less how it’s played.”
“True, but still, I would’ve played it differently if I’d known.” She left out the part about the theft from Victor’s office but saved it in case she needed something else to get Remi to work with her to save Brinley. “I had no idea about the kid’s connection to Lucassi until Caterina Terzo was found the same way I left Madison, but that wasn’t me. Whoever hired the contractor for that job copied my scenario, but I had nothing to do with it.”
“So Paolo Moretti was your other contract?”
“That’s where the double-cross came in. When I got the contract like I usually do, the order came from Francesco Terzo. I should’ve figured out it was bogus when it came with an explanation for the hit. No one ever gives you that because it gives the contractor your motive.”
“Leverage over whoever hires you,” Remi said. “Nothing like a good shakedown after you’ve already paid what I assume is big money, but then Terzo has never struck me as genius material.”
“The contract was on Lucassi, it had to be in front of his family, and it was for killing Caterina. The wording gave me no choice but to do it the way Terzo wanted it. Contract killing isn’t something I specialize in, but it’s worth the trouble at times.” She stopped when Remi put her hand up.
“Do you mind telling me what your specialty is?”
“I’m a thief, and a damn good one. This time, though, I had no choice if I wanted to keep working in Vegas.” She took a sip of the juice and held her hand over her side. Sitting for so long had made the throbbing worse. “I’m the idiot who went to the place specified in the order. Following such precise directions made me easy to find, and I paid for that mistake.”
“Someone shot you?” Remi said, pointing to her side. “I doubt that’s a pulled muscle.”
“Paolo Moretti shot me. He was there to kill me, only I’m a much better shot.”
“Damn,” Remi said, straightening out. “What the hell was he thinking?”
“Diego Moretti is in town to bury Victor, and he thinks like you do. Sofia hired me, and I’m not someone he wanted hanging over his family’s head, considering Moretti’s connections to Francesco Terzo.”
“What connections do you think they have?”
She smiled. Remi Jatibon didn’t need her breakdown of the facts, but she was checking to see if she had an accurate grasp of what was going on. “The two families run drugs from here to New York and clean their money through the Moroccan’s operations. From what I found, they were bringing Victor Madison in slowly to expand that part of the operation.”
“Sofia killed Victor without Diego’s okay, I’m guessing.” Remi smiled and shook her head.
“That she didn’t discuss with me, but Victor’s affair with his secretary was the main focus of her anger. He was screwing around on her and turning her kids against her. She’d had enough and wanted him gone, but she wanted to enjoy the money and everything she would’ve lost by going to jail.” The juice was delicious and the coldness of it was taking her mind off her pain, so she took some more sips. “I guess she knew I wouldn’t come to a specific spot if she’d asked, so they made it look like Francesco had hired me.”
“There’s one missing piece in all this.” Remi made eye contact with her and waited. “You’ve come this far, so finish it. Diego’s an animal, but there had to be more to it than simply a loose end.”
“Your brother and the cops alerted them to the text messages between Caterina and London. I doubt Diego cared about the cheating, but Caterina wanting Sofia dead for no good reason was unforgivable. Caterina wanted Sofia dead only to put a leash on Victor, or that’s my guess. Before Diego could do something about the threat to his family, Caterina showed up dead, and there’s only one explanation for that.” She tried half the truth first. There still was no reason to mention the money quite yet.
“Benito beat him to it.”
“Exactly, but Benito’s contractor used my moves, and that put Sofia front and center for the police to indict. Even though she had the alibi of being out of state for Victor’s murder, the way Caterina died made a case against Sofia hiring someone to do her wet work. It was the way that Caterina was found that signed my death warrant, but this time they couldn’t use a contractor. Especially if Diego was going to pin it on Francesco Terzo.”
Remi nodded and stood to get her more juice. “I understand everything you’ve told me, but I still don’t get who you’re trying to protect.”
“Robert Wallace is responsible for the next contract I took, the day after Madison.”
That made Remi laugh. “You’re a busy bee, but anyone that popular is someone who’s good.”
“Thanks, I guess. His man Alex made it sound urgent,” she said, giving Remi the whole story. “Naomi Williams died with her little girl, but I couldn’t kill a mother in front of her child, and I damn well wasn’t killing a one-year-old.” Greed was definitely one of the deadly sins and it had screwed her out of the life she knew. Victor’s contract should’ve been enough, but the trade-off for what she was losing was that Brinley and Finn were still alive.
“According to the news, Brinley Myers and her son are presumed dead. Their bodies haven’t been found, but the scene left little doubt.”
“It’s not smart to assume anything, and they’re very much alive.”
Remi sighed and nodded again. “I’m sure I’m not going to like the reason, but why would that little shit order a hit on two of his employees?”
She told Remi the rest and what Wallace’s true plans were. “He must’ve been thinking too much about his pretty boy Alex to consider who he was double-crossing, and the money must’ve blinded him.”
“Little Bobby isn’t my favorite person, and I agree he’s dense, but I can’t go to Angelo Giordano with just your word.”
“The woman I was hired to kill is an accountant,” she said, taking the ledgers out of her bag. This was the gamble, since it was their only copy and it would prove to Remi she was serious about what she wanted. “She detailed exactly what I’ve just told you, and you may not believe me, but the numbers don’t lie. Little Bobby made the mistake of being too good at record keeping, or his flunky running Moroccan’s accounting department was too good. Dean Jasper was meticulous because he wanted leverage as well as a way to protect himself. If he went down, he was pulling everyone down with him. Tell whoever you share this with that it’s the only copy I have. There’s no reason for me to keep one if Brinley and her son are safe.”
“And all you want for this are the lives of Brinley and her son?” Remi asked, sounding skeptical.
“You said it before, Ms. Jatibon. When you play this game, you play to win. The problem with Brinley is
she didn’t know she was in anyone’s game until I showed up with a gun. She was a woman hired to do a legitimate job, and that’s what she thought she was doing.” The only thing left if Remi didn’t believe her was to go against what Brinley wanted and take care of the problem herself.
“You need to call me Remi.” She held her hand out again. “You being here is a figment of my imagination, but if I’m going to have an imaginary friend, I’d like to know their name.”
“Reed Gable, and thank you. I need her to come out whole. No changing her name, no looking over her shoulder, and no bad surprises a few years from now when someone thinks it’s safe to hit her.”
“Reed, I’ll do my best, and if I can’t get her that, I’ll give her peace on my terms. That might mean a new life somewhere no one knows her, but she’ll be alive.” Remi’s promise was exactly what she was after. “But you’re right. She bears no blame here and deserves to come out whole.”
“How about Wallace?”
Remi smiled and shrugged again. “That one I can’t promise will come out whole and breathing. Trying to cut into Giordano’s business or trying to cut him out altogether isn’t a wise career choice. His job performance review will be memorable for about ten minutes.”
“I don’t know Mr. Giordano, but I’ll be happy to do a pro bono case for him if he needs to send a message.”
“This time let’s try finesse. There’s nothing wrong with coming out of a situation having someone like Angelo owing you a favor.”
“It never hurts to make friends, I guess.” She didn’t have much experience with that, but Remi seemed like someone who’d come through.
“No, it doesn’t.” Remi stood and accepted the bag with all the ledgers and Brinley’s report. “You have my word that I’ll do my best to get you what you want. All I need is a contact number.”
She handed over a card and shook her hand again. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” The ledgers were in Remi’s other hand and she was having second thoughts about letting them go. “Remember, those are the only proof I have, and the only bargaining chip I have to keep Brinley alive.”
