I’d been trailing the guy all day. He’s a little rough around the edges. But as he watched Leonardo DiCaprio let go of that wooden door? He started bawling.”
I blinked. “That’s the dirt you dug up? That he cried during the Titanic movie?”
“Like a baby. Buckets of tears.” He waved his hands in front of his eyes to show me like I didn’t understand.
“Yeah, I got you. But how does that help me out of this mess?”
“It doesn’t. But it’s hilarious. Come on. Picture Richard in his crisp little suit all stoic watching a romantic movie. And then crying at the end when everyone I’ve ever known is sensible enough not to go on a floating death ship. The propaganda around that boat. I don’t know why anyone bought into it. I still don’t trust cruise ships.” He shook his head. “Regardless, Richard was clearly embarrassed about the whole ordeal. And I got a firsthand witness of the events.”
“How the hell am I going to use Mr. Pruitt crying during the Titanic against him?”
“Well, I’m sure he’s embarrassed, or else he wouldn’t have been all alone in the middle of the day in a theater so far away from his apartment.”
“Tanner, I have a freaking woman following me everywhere. And Poppy threatened Scarlett. I need leverage. Or answers. Not…whatever that is.”
“You have to admit it’s funny.” He popped an appetizer into his mouth. “Almost as funny as this poor excuse for foie gras.” He started writing in his notebook again. “Titanic.” He laughed to himself. “You should have seen it.”
I tried to picture Mr. Pruitt crying during a movie. And I…couldn’t. Mr. Pruitt was heartless.
“Buckets,” Tanner said with a giggle.
And I couldn’t help it. I started laughing too. Not just at the thought of him crying over a romantic movie. But also just over the whole situation. Should I really be so worried about Mr. Pruitt? He’d had years to do something to me and he hadn’t. Why was I still scared of him? The man cried over Titanic for God’s sake.
“See,” Tanner said. “Hilarious. Now I have an important question for you. What do you think this restaurant’s nudity policy is?” He looked around like he thought a streaker was about to run by.
What? “I’m assuming they don’t allow it. It’s a restaurant.”
“That’s a darn shame.”
“Tanner, is that really it?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation back to whatever he found out about Mr. Pruitt.
He looked down at his notebook. “Well, I have a few more questions, but the nudity thing really is a bummer. The food is really going to have to make up for that deficit.”
“I’m not talking about the restaurant’s nudity policies. I’m talking about Mr. Pruitt. Is that really all you found? There has to be something else.”
“Oh. Well, yes. But the rest isn’t quite as funny though. I think it’s more of an after-dessert kind of discussion, if you know what I mean.”
“If you don’t tell me right now I’m going to leave before we even eat.”
Tanner sighed. “As you wish. But I did warn you. This might ruin your appetite altogether. “He pulled out a few pictures from his notebook. “Before Richard went to the theater, he had some sketchy meeting. I couldn’t get inside the old warehouse to see what was going on. But I did see one of the men that came out afterward.” He poked the top image.
I stared at the image of a guy with a deep scar under one of his green eyes.
“I did some digging. His name is Isaac Russo. He’s a known hitman. Richard recently paid Isaac a large sum and there was another equal amount that popped up.” He moved the picture of Isaac to the side to show another intimidating hitman. “This is Isaac’s brother, Antonio. He’s been in and out of prison over the last two decades but no verdict ever sticks if you know what I mean. I’m pretty sure he’s killed at least eight people. I think Richard hired him too.”
My heart was racing. But this was good news, right? Bad news for whoever the hit was against. But good news for me. The person trailing me was a woman. “Well at least Scarlett isn’t really in danger. Or me. Maybe we can use that money trail to pin a few murders on Mr. Pruitt?”
“Yeah, maybe. Although, I got all this information illegally, so probably not. And I wouldn’t say you and Scarlett are in the clear yet. The Russo