from body to body. All jokers, each more twisted than the last. He brought me obscene pictures. Is this what you want to fuck? he'd ask me. Is this what turns you on? But finally he got bored with the game. That was when he killed Tachyon." She looked away. "He brought me pictures of that, too."
"Maybe he was lying," Jerry said. "Trying to hurt you."
"The nrisoners were all kept in the warehouse," Cody said. "If he was still alive, he would have been freed in the raid, along with the rest of us. He's dead, Mr. Strauss. Denying it only prolongs the pain."
Jerry figured she was right. He put his hand on her shoulder, then walked back over to Ackroyd.
"Trying to pick up Cody at Tach's memorial service is a gesture he'd probably understand," Jay said, smiling. Jerry's shoulders slumped. "I wasn't trying to pick her up."
"I know, I know," Jay said. "What is it about tombs that makes people lose their sense of humor? Let's get out of here before someone asks us to make a speech."
Jerry sighed. "How about dinner?" He didn't feel like being alone.
"Now you're talking," Jay said. "Being morose gives me an appetite."
The pair made their way to the edge of the crowd and out onto the rain-slicked concrete. A rainbow arced over Staten Island. Jerry wondered if there would be a pot of gold on his doorstep when he got home. It was the last thing he needed.
Jerry sat alone in the private room of the Haiphong Lily. Half the Gambione family had died in this room, and he wasn't happy about the apparent thinness of the walls, but he could live with it. His look was burly, middle-aged, and Italian. The person he was meeting thought he was a Mafia kingpin from Vegas. He'd been laying the background for the disguise for several weeks.
The door slid open, and the Lily's owner ushered in a young man in a pressed dark gray suit. The man looked more Greek than Italian. His eyes and mouth were impassive and deadly. Jerry studied his face and build. Never could tell when it might come in handy.
The door closed. "Sit down," Jerry said.
"Thank you." The man unbuttoned his coat and quietly took his seat. Jerry passed him the menu. "No, thanks. I'm not here to eat."
"Whatever." Jerry ran a finger cautiously along his lower lip. "You come highly recommended."
The man shrugged. "There aren't many of us left. To still be around, you have to be the best."
Jerry nodded and pulled an envelope out of his coat pocket, then slid it across the table. Inside was everything he'd managed to find out about Latham's habits and associates in the past months and twenty thousand dollars in cash. He'd removed his fingerprints when handling the paper and didn't have any now either. "How soon can you start?"
The man opened the envelope and slowly went through the contents. "Soon as I'm out the door."
"He's heavily guarded most of the time," Jerry said. "Watch out for the kids especially."
"I'll want another twenty when I'm done." The killer carefully tucked the money back into the envelope.
Jerry nodded.
The man stood and took a step toward the door, then turned and smiled. "Want any souvenirs? I do that for free."
"No," Jerry said. "I'll save the news clippings."
The man nodded and left.
Jerry sat in the Tomlin International Airport, fidgeting in one of the plastic chairs. A newspaper was folded across his lap. Mafia Killer Found in East River was a front-page headline. Next to the story was a picture of Alex "Buttons" Parylos. Jerry should have known Latham would be too tough for one man, even a professional.
"Delta Flight twenty-three now arriving from Chicago at gate nine," came a soft voice over the public address.
Jerry bounced up from his chair and shouldered his way through to the front of the receiving area. Latham would have to wait; this was more important.
After a couple of minutes, the passengers began trickling out of the plane. After fifty or so had passed by him, Jerry panicked and wondered if he'd gotten the wrong flight number or come the wrong day. He'd made that sort of mistake before. She was almost in his arms before he saw her. She'd grown her blond hair out several inches and dropped some weight, but her smile was the same.
"Hey, bro," Beth said, setting down her blue overnight bag and giving him a big hug. "Long time no see."