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“I was thinking about you this morning,” Hog said, still staring into the liquor.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “You have a nice dream about me?”
He gave me a flat stare. “You wish. No, I heard some rumors, and I thought of you.”
I felt myself tense but tried not to show it. Hog was one of the best connected men in the whole city, and if he heard a rumor he thought would be interesting, I knew I’d better listen.
“What’s that, then?” I asked.
“The Jalisco are looking for a girl,” he said, pointedly not looking at Clair. “A girl that just came into some money, allegedly. And your family’s been protecting her.”
“I’m not sure who you mean,” I said, talking slow.
“Of course you don’t,” he said. “I mean, you’re just a lieutenant.” He sipped his whiskey, swirled it, spilled it down his fingers, cursed, drank it all back. He grabbed a rag and began wiping his hand off with it.
“Where did you hear this?” I asked as he bent forward to clean the whiskey off the floor.
“Oh, you know me,” he said. “Always talking. Lots of talkers come through here.”
“Why do the Jalisco think this girl is important?”
“Mafia money,” he said, wiping the floor, not looking up. “And apparently she’s some outsider. I heard they’re desperate, you know, looking for something to keep them going. I heard you’ve pushed them almost to breaking.”
I smirked a little as Hog looked up at me, his eyes shining. I could feel Clair staring at me, but I didn’t look back, just held Hog’s gaze.
“They think this girl’s money can keep funding their losing war.”
“That’s pretty much it,” he said and got to his feet with a grunt. “Now, whoever this girl is, I think she’s in a lot of danger. I hope she’s got plenty of protection around her.”
“I’m sure she’s safe.”
Hog shrugged, took the glasses off the bar, and put them away for cleaning. He leaned forward and stared down at me, his eyes gleaming, and I couldn’t quite read his expression.
“Okay then,” he said. “I think our deal’s all finished.”
“I’ll let you get back to work,” I said, pushing back from the bar and standing. Clair followed, getting to her feet, and I could see the concern in her eyes.
“Come back any time,” Hog said. “Card game this weekend, Saturday night.”
“I might have to skip it,” I said.
“Bring the girl, if you want.” He beamed at me. “Safest place in the world.”
I laughed and put an arm around Clair’s shoulder. She bristled a little, but didn’t push me away.
“That’s true, but I’m afraid of your corrupting influence.” I steered her to the door and Hog followed us. I got it opened and stepped outside, and Hog lingered on the threshold.
His face got serious for a moment as I dropped my arm from Clair’s shoulder and turned back to him.
“They’re getting desperate,” he said, his voice low. “And desperate people do stupid things.”
I nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for the warning.”
He let out a breath and shook his head. “Don’t ruin the duck,” he said, stepped back inside, and slammed the door shut.
I gripped the bag tight then turned back to Clair. “Well, that was fun,” I said.
“How does he know about me?” she asked, her voice soft. I almost couldn’t hear it over the commotion all around us.
“Hog’s an interesting guy,” I said.
“He must be, if he knows about me.”
“You’re a little famous in this city right now,” I said. “At least in certain circles.”
“And he frequents those circles?”
I sighed, rubbed my face. “Hog used to run a gang,” I said. “This Chinese group called the Ghosts. They were pretty serious back in the day, but disbanded a while back. I’m not really sure why. I think he came up against Don Leone and instead of getting himself killed, he decided to leave the game behind.”
“Oh,” she said, looking surprised. “So he’s Chinese mafia?”
“Sort of,” I said. “Something like that. I don’t think he was ever a real Triad, just, you know, an independent guy.”
“Sure,” she said. “Totally, just an upstart gangster. You know, pulling himself up by his bootstraps, killing and selling drugs, that sort of thing.”
I laughed, unable to help myself. “Your idea of what we do is pretty limited.”
“But I’m right, though,” she said. “You kill and you sell drugs.”
“True enough,” I said, tucking the duck bag under my arm. “Come on, let’s get off the street and head back. I’m making dinner again tonight.”
A glimmer of a smile appeared on her face. “You’re making me some of that, right?” She nodded at the bag.
“Promise,” I said. “It’ll blow you away. And maybe I’ll tell you what it’s like to be in the mafia for real.”
“Oh, yeah?” Her smile disappeared and she looked away, down at the ground. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
