Page 108 of Guarding Grace

She’d already warned me not to talk to anybody about this, and the whole cloak-and-dagger aspect worried me. The remaining miles to the Russo restaurant went by slowly as I wondered what could be up. It couldn’t be anything good.

Slowing the Porsche after I rounded the final corner, I found Lucas right where we’d met before.

I passed a guy leaning against a building and smoking, parked behindLucas’s Porsche, and joined him. “Where are the others?” Last time, we’d gone in as a group.

“Duke and Winston have our two guests three blocks away,” he explained. “It’s just the two of us going in this time. Tony called the meet, so by his code, we’re protected. Last time, we were arriving uninvited, and you never know how they might have felt if we’d interrupted something like him banging his mistress. There’s a difference.”

“Handguns?” I asked, not knowing these rules.

“As the guest, I can’t carry, but as my protection, you can. Just be aware that he will have two guys or more in the room who are fast on the draw, and their sole purpose is to take you down if you even twitch, so keep it holstered unless I yell the code word.”

“Which is?”

“Gun, of course.” He laughed and slapped me on the back. “Don’t worry. Don’t flinch, and you’ll do fine. One more thing—today I’m introducing you as my brother, so don’t object.”

I nodded. After Syria, I felt like a part of the Hawk family anyway. They had taken me in as one of their own. But his comment reminded me again that I owed his mother a discreet meeting later.

Lucas looked up and down the block, then started off, pulling a paper and pen from the pocket of his leather jacket. I followed as he wrote a note and then pocketed it.

When we rounded the corner to the restaurant, the same two guards were outside. Once more, they opened the door for us without hesitation. But I reminded myself that this time we’d been invited, while last time they had expected us courtesy of a leak in the LAPD.

I followed Lucas inside, where it was darker than I remembered, and the smells were more pungent, but the same two interior guards greeted us as well.

“Mr. Hawk,” the taller one said.

“Tony is expecting me,” Lucas announced, lifting his arms to be patted down.

The tall man was thorough. “You too.” He pointed at me.

“No.” Lucas spun on the guy with a finger inches from his face—a finger I knew could kill the man, but did he know?

He backed away and nodded. “This way.”

We followed him into the same back room as before.

The room didn’t reek of cigar smoke this time, which was different. The man behind the desk was a match for the photographs of Tall Tony. Behind him were the two guards from yesterday, Baldy and Mustache Guy.

Baldy flinched when he noticed Lucas. His arm probably still hurt from last time.

The surprise was that Victor was also there.

“Have a seat, Lucas,” Tony said. “It’s been a long time.”

Lucas sat, without offering to shake the mobster’s hand. “This is my brother, Terry.”

I stayed standing.

Tony nodded before concentrating his glare on Lucas. “You took my niece, Maria. Where is she?” He pounded a fist on the desk. “You said you’d bring her.”

I might have flinched, but Lucas didn’t. “She’s nearby, but first we need to talk. I understand you’re looking for Elliot Boyle.”

“We are,” Tony confirmed. “Are you interested in helping? Ten grand, no questions asked, if you find him for me.”

“And you’re looking for a certain metal case.”

The twitch of his eye gave him away. He hadn’t expected us to know that. “We are, but why would that concern you?”

“Just in case we find it.”