Page 47

Oceanside, New Jersey

October 27

T he crowd on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and the seaside noise did little to drown out Chester Ugentti’s rant.

“I don’t just want him dead, Mikey. I want every vertebra crushed. I want every fingernail and toenail extracted. Take this motherfucker apart bit by bit. After I get the information I need from Caleb Cain, I want his body to fit in a bowling bag.” Chug Ugentti was irate. Nobody got the drop on him, and Caleb Cain had done it twice.

Mikey had done his best to downplay the run-in at Caleb Cain’s apartment, but he couldn’t hide the butterfly bandage across the bridge of his nose and the black eye.

Chug cleared his throat and spat, then pivoted toward a saltwater taffy stand. “Tell me you found something in his apartment before he delivered this beat down.”

“ They ,” Mikey corrected. “There were two of them. I’m pretty sure they were brothers. The other guy was bigger, but they looked alike.”

“You’re sure?” Ugentti skirted a lost, crying child. “The information I dug up says Caleb Cain is an only child.”

Mikey snapped his fingers. “Oh, and that was another thing. The other guy called him Miles.”

Chug stopped walking. “Repeat that.”

“The guy you know, Caleb Cain—the other guy with him called him Miles.”

Of course, he did. Of course, Caleb Cain was a fake identity. Ugentti wanted to kick his own ass for not realizing it earlier.

“Mikey, go back to that apartment. Take Joey B. Tell him to get prints, DNA, anything he can find. I want to know who Caleb Cain really is. And then I’m gonna give him a taste of his own medicine.”

Mikey nodded. “You got it, Boss.”

“And toss the place. See what you can find.” He browsed the salt water taffy selection. After choosing a large bag of assorted flavors, Chug handed a hundred to the teenage salesgirl with a wink. “That’s for you, Princess, from your favorite Congressman, Chug Ugentti.”

“Wow, thanks.”

Chug turned to Mikey. “I want all his electronics, paperwork, everything.” Then, he smiled at the girl. “You old enough to vote?”

“Not yet.” She rang up the taffy purchase and pocketed the tip.

Chug withdrew a business card from a silver case. “Call my office. Ask for Jared. Tell him Chug said he may have a job for you.”

“Um, I’m in tenth grade.”

The congressman leaned in and tapped her plastic name tag. “We have a fantastic internship program for high schoolers, Penny. Jared will ask you for a code word so he knows you’re legit. Tell him ‘peaches’.”

She blushed and accepted the business card. “Okay, cool.”

“Cool.” Chug took his taffy bag and returned to the boardwalk.

Chug took a deep breath of salt air and wrapped a chubby arm around his underling. “You know what the air is filled with, Mikey?” He swept the hand holding the bag of taffy around the boardwalk. “Potential.”