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He said: “I’m waiting.”

“Okay, what I want is what you and your boy Willie’s got.”

You mean you want blackmailing assholes like you? Badde thought.

He said: “I thought you were all worried about stopping the killings in Philly.”

“That, too,” Lenny said, his tone sanctimonious.

After a long moment, Badde said: “Can you be more to the point?”

“I want a piece of the pie, Rapp.”

He can’t know about the hotel project.

The ink on those contracts isn’t even dry yet.

“You’re already getting a nice piece of pie, Lenny. You’re getting eighty grand a year on CPOC.”

“Yeah, and twenty of that finds its way back to someone’s political action committee.”

Badde grunted.

“Okay,” he said, “then call it sixty. Sixty grand is better than no grand. Which, by the way, I know you’re bluffing about walking away from.”

“Funny you bring that up, ’cause I’m in my last year on CPOC. That means it is about to be no grand. That’s why I want in on something like you and Willie got going.”

“You keep saying me and Willie. There is no me and Willie. Get that straight in your head.”

“Maybe not, but you both got things going. I think it would look good to have Word of Brotherly Love Ministry listed as one of the investors.”

“But you don’t have that kind of money to invest.”

“You’re gonna take care of that for me. I let you use the name. You figure out how much that’s worth.”

There was a long silence before Badde said, his tone even, “How much, Lenny?”

“You tell me, Rapp.”

“How much?”

Lenny was quiet a long moment, then he said, “What’s a small slice of the new stadium pie?”

What? Even if I wanted, I can’t let him in on the Diamond Development projects. Yuri will not go for it.

Unless it comes out of my share.

“I’ll say it again, Lenny: how much?”

“I think something better than CPOC is good.”

“Sixty grand?”

“CPOC was four years of sixty. I’m thinking round it off to two hundred and fifty.”

“You want a quarter million?” Badde blurted.

He saw Janelle Harper raise her eyebrows.