Page 37 of Long Live the King

Dan thinks on it for a moment longer, then he lifts the yellow pad and quickly scribbles on it and turns it to me.

99

I read it and feel my forehead react immediately. I read it again, and still can’t figure it out.

“What does that mean?” I ask. “Nine-nine?”

Dan’s only reaction is a simple nod of his head.

“I’m not sure I understand,” I say, still thinking it through. “Nine-nine. What does two nines me . . .”

The second the words leave my lips, my heart jolts. I look at the notepad again, and involuntarily stand up as I fully realize what it means.

“Two nines,” I whisper to myself. “Tommy Two Nines?”

Dan slowly lowers the notepad to his side as a single tear slides down his young, hairless face. I think to ask him if he’s sure, but I can tell from his expression that he is. It pained him to say it, but it pains him even more that it’s true.

I feel heat rising up in my belly as the numbers on the pad flash in my mind like a traffic light. Tommy-fucking-Two-Nines. He betrayed us. He betrayed me for Victor Fronzo. He’s worse than a rat, because I’ve trusted him for so long. Somewhere deep down, there may be sadness, but all I can feel is the rage on the surface. There will be no rules that can stop me this time. I’m going to fucking kill him.

That’s when the panic sets in.

“Motherfucker!” I say aloud, startling Dan and his mother. “Alannah’s with him.”