Page 52

“Enough that I tried to hire her first.”

“And you know that she’s a woman,” Nicholas points out. “It’s widely believed that one of the most successful contract killers in my line of business is a man.”

“What can I say?” I shrug. “I did my research.”

About him, too, and if my unsaid threat is a little obvious… tough shit. I’m still annoyed at the lack of professionalism on his part, and I want him to know it.

“Yes, well, she’s made an alliance with the organized crime syndicates in Springfield.”

“I heard she married one of them.”

Nicholas nods. “Looks like you really did do your research. Yes. She married someone high up in the Sinners Syndicate. You’ve heard of them?”

I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for Johnny Winters trying to force Uncle Jack into letting him move his criminal enterprise into Harmony Heights by snatching a highly prized Offering… “Yeah. I’ve heard of them.”

“And the Libellula Family, too.”

Damien Libellula. The mafia leader who I mentioned to Loni the other night.

“Yup.”

Nicholas nods. “Did you know she was hired to kill the head of the Sinners Syndicate? She ended up taking out Johnny Winters instead, but she never forgave me for telling Devil everything I knew about the elusive Hummingbird when he asked me my opinion on another hired killer.”

Now that? I didn’t know that. Though I’m glad to hear that Winters is dead—and I’ll have to pass that along to Connor—I’m not sure why this has anything to do with me.

“Interesting.”

“You’ll see why in a moment,” Nicholas assures me. Folding his leg over, poising his ankle on his knees, he steeples his fingers over his lap. “You see, when you tried to hire her, she was just getting married. So she passed your information along to me. I accepted the hit, but I had you down for July 24th, not June. My wife and I brought our little girl to Disney in June. I didn’t ignore your contract. I had inaccurate information.”

There’s an underlying danger to the clipped way he speaks, a sense of darkness in his eyes. I pity the woman who goes home to a man like this, especially when I hear he has a young daughter. Disney? Nicholas Reed doesn’t belong in Disney.

Then again, I don’t look like I’d easily pull a trigger, and I did, didn’t I? I killed because I had to, but I don’t think that makes me a murderer. I’ve learned that Nicholas Reed and his brother, Hunter, only take hits out on people they deem worthy of death. Looks like Desmond fit the bill and it was a fluke that had Nicholas flaking on me.

“I’m glad you told me.”

He nods. “I’ve cleared things up with the Hummingbird. Now I’m here to set things straight with you.”

Nicholas reaches inside of his jacket pocket, pulling out a rectangle white card. Leaning forward, he hands it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“My business card. This number goes straight to my personal line. Like I said, my brother and I pride ourselves on our reputation. I owe you a body in a grave. You need someone taken care of, you call me.”

That done, Nicholas rises up from is seat. Palming his business card, I shake his hand again, then watch him walk out of my office without another word.

Weird. He came all this way to talk to me in person when he could’ve just called me on the phone. Shadowvale is three hoursfrom here; I know, because I checked. He mustreallyhave been pissed off to discover that the Hummingbird got the date wrong.

Ah, well. It can’t hurt to have a hired hitman in my pocket.

Reaching into my suit jacket, I pull out my cigarette case. It’s empty because, while I refuse to get rid of the cigarette tucked behind my ear, I’m not a glutton for punishment. I can resist one. Twelve? That’ll be a little harder.

Still, I’ve carried the same cigarette case around since my induction. Jack gave it to me, saying that I was a man now, and only boys kept their cigarettes in the pack they came in. I kept it because it’s made of gold, and because I know my uncle. If I ever lit up and he didn’t see it? I’d never hear the end of it.

Now? I slip the business card into the empty holder. Right as I’m tucking it into my pocket, someone else walks through my door.

From the leather jacket to the way he jangles as he walks, I know who it is even before I glance up at his face. Besides, there are only four people in this world who will just walk into my office, even if Nicholas Reed neglected to close the door behind him when he left.

Bas jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Who was that?”