said with rare spirit. “Well, my goodness, Marisa Lyn, you’re not the only tough broad in the family, I’ll have you know.”
Her mother’s words surprised a laugh from her. They bumped shoulders companionably.
“I guess I had to get it from somewhere.”
It was just four of them tonight. Jonas was on the job. Which was just as well, Johnny figured. The pansy ass would probably freak out at the news.
It had been Hans’s idea to get together again. They needed to compare notes, he’d insisted. Had to keep on top of this thing. And the others deserved to know about Sean and Johnson.
So they sat there at the corner booth, each nursing a beer. Johnny couldn’t help wondering if anyone else had the same thought that was swirling around in his head.
Which one of them would be next to burn.
Juan and Jack sat across from him and he could almost smell their fear. He wanted to think he didn’t have the same stench. Almost believed it.
“So this task force has some woman on it. Some sort of consultant.” Jack looked at his companions over the top of his beer as he took a long swig. After he put the bottle down he continued. “Chandler’s her name. Did a little digging around. Used to be on the force.”
“Yeah, I heard that, too.” Hans loosened a corner of the bottle’s label with his thumbnail. “Works for a private outfit now. Adam Raiker runs it, if you’ve heard of him.”
“Wasn’t he the mole they found in the bureau? Sold secrets to the Israelis or something?”
Hans flicked a rolled-up piece of the label at Juan. “No, you dick. He was the fed’s top profiler who brought down John LeCroix about eight years ago, that perv that killed twenty-seven kids.”
The other man hunched over his beer. “Knew the name sounded familiar,” he muttered.
“He’s got his own firm now. With his rep, he can hire the best, so Chandler must have some chops if she’s working for him.”
Jack looked worried. “I don’t like the sound of that,” he muttered. “The task force is sniffing around Javon Emmons. McGuire wants to talk to him.”
Johnny felt the spaghetti he’d downed tonight begin a slow burning rise in his chest. “Shit. How do you know that?”
“Because he told me, that’s how.” The man twisted the gay-looking earring he wore. He’d always claimed it was part of the street guise, but Johnny had never been too sure. “He called wanting some information on him, said something about him being a possible wit to Giovanni’s murder.”
“What?” Johnny was dumbfounded. “You think he might have been involved?”
“Hell no. He has no way of even knowing Giovanni. He’s always dealt with me. McGuire’s on the wrong track, but he’s got officers beating the streets looking for him. I told Emmons to lay low for a while.”
Hans eyed him consideringly. “You’re going to have to tell him go in and talk to McGuire at some point.”
Jack shook his head stubbornly and took a long pull from his beer. “I don’t see why. If Emmons wants to keep a low profile, believe me, he can stay lost for as long as he wants.”
“But he can’t,” the older man explained patiently. “He’s got business to conduct, and he’ll be too cocky and stupid to stay put. So he’ll get scooped up the next time he ventures out to conduct a deal, get caught with something incriminating probably, and then we have a bigger mess on our hands than him going in to answer a few questions. We have enough to deal with right now without having to worry about bailing out one of our dumb-ass business partners.”
Jack clutched the bottle until his knuckles turned white. “Easy for you to say. It’s not your ass on the line if he says the wrong thing.”
“Bullshit,” Johnny put in. Jesus, the guy was acting so fucking stupid he wanted to kill him himself. And Juan sitting over there was no better. Tearing his napkin into little balls as if that were going to help anything. “It’s all our asses on the line. If one goes down, we’re all in danger. What you need to do is coach your boy very carefully before he goes in. You can control him, right?”
Jack rubbed a hand over the graying stubble on his jaw nervously. “Yeah, of course.”
“Then lay it on the line for him. Let him waltz in, then waltz out again. McGuire is going to know what Emmons is into, but it