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“Where’s Agent Billings?” I ask. “Is she the one who’s been helping you?”
“Lucy, I’m impressed. I mean, I knew you were smart, but I had no idea.” She checks her watch. “I have a few minutes to answer questions. So, why not? What do you want to know? Oh, you want to know if Billings was helping me. That would be a no. It was the two idiots lying on the kitchen floor.”
“Parks and Rollins.”
“Is that their names?” She shrugs. “I just called them Thing One and Thing Two. I never could tell them apart. They were useful, but I have no intention of splitting my contract fee with them. Or anyone else either.”
“They were the ones who disabled the surveillance cameras at The Bistro so you could leave Mark Rinaldi’s shirt button near the dumpster. That’s what you were doing, isn’t it, when I caught you in the pantry hallway?”
“That would be a big yes.”
“And last night, when I caught you jogging here on the street, you were on your way to kill Joey, weren’t you? Parks and Rollins tipped you off on the location of the safe house.”
“Not exactly. That would be you, Lucy. You’re the one who told me where the safe house was.”
“Me? I did no such thing!”
“Of course you did. Think back to a few days ago when you came to see Will at the library. You told him all about your adventure following the cops to deliver food to some mysterious jogger? Quite the little sleuth, aren’t you? Let’s see, what did you say again? A house on a cul-de-sac in Dolphin Isles and the broker who manages the property is named Kitty Pappas. With all that information it only took a few minutes on the Internet to get the address.”
“You were eavesdropping?”
“Hardly. The door to Will’s office was partially open. I can’t help it if my desk is just a few feet away.”
The realization that I inadvertently helped El Tigre makes me sick. I’m so angry I could spit on her muffins the next time she comes into The Bistro. Except…she won’t be coming back to The Bistro and I might not be alive to bake any more muffins.
I swallow hard. Keep her talking, Lucy.
“So you killed Mark Rinaldi and Eddie “The Hatchet” because you wanted the money for yourself.”
“Money had nothing to do with those hits. That was a matter of keeping order. Once I gave notice that I was in town those two should have backed off. Nobody takes a contract out from under me. It’s a good lesson for anyone else who might think to cross me in the future.”
“Gave notice?”
“Agent Cameron. He was my notice.”
My blood turns cold. “You killed Ken Cameron as a warning? To anyone else who might think to kill Joey?”
“Joey is my contract. No one else’s. What did you want me to do? Send Rinaldi and O’Leary a Hallmark card telling them their services weren’t needed? I’m afraid they don’t make one for that occasion. Don’t worry, Agent Cameron didn’t suffer. I’ve worked hard to perfect my skills. One bullet clean between the eyes. You see, I hate making a mess.” She points her gun at Joey. “This one, though. He’s going to be a challenge.”
“What do mean?”
“Vito wants him to suffer. I’m supposed to cut his tongue out before I shoot him as a warning to anyone else who might think of squealing against the Scarlotti family. Preferably with a dull knife, but, I’m just not a knife girl. To tell you the truth, they kind of scare me.” Her eyes light up. “Say! You could do it for me.”
I almost throw up in my mouth. “What?”
She checks her watch again. “We need to get going. I have about five minutes before Billings wakes up, and I’d like to shoot her before then.”
“Where is she?”
“In the bathroom, tied up. Thing One did that for me while Thing Two was tying up Joey. I’m going to miss them on my next job. It was nice having help for a change. Oh well. You should have seen their faces when they realized there wasn’t going to be a next job for them.”
“You…you don’t have to kill Agent Billings. We won’t tell anyone about you. I’ll make her promise.”
“Don’t be such a child, Lucy. Of course I have to kill her. Not that it will give me any pleasure. I admire her you know. A woman in her position in the FBI? She’s worked hard to get where she is at such a young age. She doesn’t deserve to be killed protecting this scum,” she says cocking her head at Joey. “The least I can do is kill her before she wakes up. You help me with Joey and I’ll do the same for you too. I’ll make sure your death is as painless as possible.”
“Gee, thanks.”
A movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. Someone is in the kitchen. Could Parks or Rollins still be alive? No. That would be impossible. Maybe it’s the cops. Keep her talking, Lucy.
