“You offer me prison or eternity with my Heavenly Father?” A coughing fit shook his body. “I serve the will of God. I denounce you as a vessel of Satan. Repent, Jeremiah, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is not too late.”
I stood.
“Your soul will burn in hellfire for this!” Hiram shouted. It was the first time I heard true fear in his voice.
“I’m already damned, remember? I’ll see you in hell.”
I slammed my heel down on his fingers.
1
LENNON
If there wasone thing being my mother’s daughter had taught me all too well, it was that every girl needed her own “fuck you” money. No matter how rock solid you thought that job was, no matter how loyal you thought that man was, no matter how secure you thought that living situation was, the day would come when you were forced to choose between walking out or being walked all over.
For me, that day was today.
Again.
“Fuck you, Hector,” I hissed into the phone cradled between my shoulder and ear as I unlocked my mailbox. “Benny said I could have the apartment through the end of the year. It’s only May.”
“I know you’re angry, Lennon. Believe me, this wasn’t what Benny wanted.” His tone was as placating as ever.
Hector was Benny’s emotional fixer. Benny hated giving anyone bad news, so he paid Hector to deliver it for him and deal with the aftermath. When Benny had to cancel my birthday weekend? Hector was the one I heard from, and the one who picked out the diamond earrings to make up for it. He reminded me of oil—he smoothed over all the unpleasantness so nothing stuck to Benny but left you a mess.
“Well, if this isn’t what Benny wanted, then maybe we should work together to find a way to give him what hedoeswant,” I snapped.
“What Benny wants is to not find himself in jail. All his financial accounts are frozen, and he has been warned not to leave the city. Benny owns this apartment outright. It’s his only real estate in New York that the feds can’t seize—yet.”
Frowning, I scooped out my mail. I smelled the postcard before I saw it, a familiar comingling of sweet vanilla and bright orange blossom that had for years been my signature scent. Now it turned my stomach. I wedged the stack of mail under my arm—out of sight, out of mind—and breathed through my mouth. One problem at a time.
“Maybe I could stay here with him?” I wheedled. “I won’t be any trouble at all.”
“It’s in everyone’s best interest for you to stay as far away from this mess as you can. They don’t know about you, and Benny wants to keep it that way.” He paused. “For your own sake, of course.”
I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly fell out the back of my head. “Of course.”
It wasn’t that Bennydidn’tcare about me, because he did. And I cared about him, too. Sure, he was thirty years older than me and refused to part with his wispy comb-over no matter how often I told him I adored his bald head and he was fooling nobody, and yes, we both knew that if he didn’t provide me with a rent-free, prewar apartment with park views and the occasional cash gift I would suddenly be unavailable. But that was the fine print of an unwritten agreement.
What mattered was that he made me smile, I made him laugh, and Wednesdays and Sundays—the days I saw him—were now my favorite days of the week. Hector chose the apology diamonds, but Benny paid for my audiobook addiction. That might not be fairytale love, but it was more than a girl from Chesapeake Trailer Park could reasonably expect from life.
I chewed my lip. “He’s going to be okay, right, Hector?”
“Don’t worry, honey,” he soothed. My lips flattened. The way he said it was more insult than endearment. Like I didn’t have two brain cells to rub together tocreate a spark of intelligent thought. “This will all blow over. The feds don’t have any real evidence of wrongdoing.”
He didnotsay that Benny hadn’t actually committed any wrongdoing. And I had enough friends in low places to know that the FBI couldn’t freeze your accounts without getting a warrant, and warrants required reasonable suspicion of criminal behavior. Hector didn’t have to say any of that, though, because Benny had said alot.
Unfortunately, I was a good listener.
The same realization must have hit Hector, because he said, “You need to make yourself scarce for the next couple of months. The feds aren’t the only ones who have questions. Benny has friends who would hate for certain information to fall into the wrong hands.”
The back of my neck prickled. “Am I in danger?”
“This is an investigation. People are going to be poking into his business and his personal life, asking questions. Benny would appreciate it if you weren’t available to answer those questions.”
“Right.” I slapped the mailbox shut. That wasn’t exactly a straight answer to theam I in dangerquestion. “But where am I supposed to go?”
Hector chuckled. “You’re a resourceful girl, Lennon. You’ll figure something out. The further away from this life, the better.”
