Page 63 of The Pretenders of Copper County
“Nope. We still don’t know what happened in Vermont that got Dante spooked. And what we’re hearing now is that the Evanoviches have turned their backs on Robert. He’s not popular in the organization—a little too crime-y and violent even for them. Old Man Evanovich washed his hands of Junior and passed leadership of the familybusiness down to a grandson, passing over Robert entirely. Now, the old man’s gone to ground to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and the grandson’s trying to clean up the family’s act and take their businesses legitimate.” He snorted. “We’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, everyone seems happy to have Robert in jail for a good long time, and everything’s tied up in a bow. If there’s a threat, Sunday, it’s not coming from them.”
Ifthere was a threat?
“Well… shit.” I stood and paced the area around the bench, trying to think. Did this mean Chris had been right all along? Was the shootout at the safe house related to Kenny’s business, not ours? Had Chris’s presence been nothing but a coincidence? Was I really just so determined to look for danger that I saw it even when it wasn’t there?
“So what happens now?” I demanded. “If there’s no danger, what does that mean for Ch—for my protectee?”
“Once again, asking the good questions, Sunday,” he approved. “We maintain the status quo for a bit, but the end is in sight. I’ll probably need to loop you in on a preliminary call about your next assignment in the next day or two, but we can circle back to that.”
“Sure.” I rolled my eyes. “Loop me in and circle back. Leverage those assets.”
I tried to ignore a twinge of unease at the thought of my next assignment. Usually, I was more than ready to move on to the next assignment as soon as the first one was finished…
But nothing felt finished here.
“In the meantime, I don’t suppose your protectee’s heard from his family?”
“Oh, sure. The Marshals brought Dante over for a tea party just last night. Super fun. Sorry we didn’t invite you.”
“Smart-ass. I meant the cousin. Nicky. He’s beentrying to find Chris… at least according to our FBI friends who’ve been keeping tabs on him?—”
“Keeping tabs on him for what?”
“Usual shit.” A squeak in the background suggested Janissey was leaning back in his chair. “They call him Nicky Knives for a reason, you know.”
“And he’s looking for Chris?” I demanded. “Is he making threats?”
“Chill, Sunday.” He snorted. “Jesus. Yes, Nicky’s looking for Chris. He’s also looking for Dante. Which is what people do when their family members fall off the face of the planet. No threats. More likely, he’s looking to contact his cousin for business reasons.”
“They don’t have business together.”
“Not yet. But Nicky’s lost a lot of clout since Dante took himself off the chessboard. And since he fancies himself next in line, that shit’s gonna sting. He probably wants to get his cousin in line to consolidate power. Fromadgio 2.0 or whatever the fuck.”
The very idea that Chris would agree to co-rule a criminal empire was laughable… at least tome. Janissey wasn’t laughing.
“There’s never been any indication that Chris had a role in Dante’s illegal activities,” I reminded him. “When I took this assignment, you told me he had no arrests, no investigations, not so much as a parking ticket. You said he was squeaky-clean. And that’s definitely been my impression, as well.”
“I told you helookedclean. But when you’re dealing with a family like that…”
He trailed off, expecting me to finish his sentence, to agree as I usually did that there was no such thing as innocent. This time, I refused.
“Anyway,” Janissey went on. “We’ll have to see how things shake out now that Uncle Cheese is out of the way. But I don’t think?—”
“Could you not call him that?” I said without thinking. “It’s a stupid nickname. Dante might be a criminal, but he’s a person.”
Janissey was silent just long enough for me to play back what I’d said and mutter a curse under my breath.
“Sunday,” he began, “you better not be going soft for your protectee.” Thenot againwas unspoken but strongly implied.
I kicked at a rock. “This is nothing like last time,” I said truthfully. “Iprovided us with a safe house, Janissey.Ihave been doing twenty-four-seven protection with zero support and no updates from you, which is like having one hand tied behind my back. I’m doing my job.”
“Uh-huh. And the information on Danny’s crimes you asked for? What’s that about?” he asked, suspicious.
I hesitated. I’d already explained to Janissey, in my many unreturned messages, that Chris had no idea he’d been signed up for protective custody but was cooperating fully. I hadn’t explained just how ignorant Chris was regarding his uncle’s activities, though, because I knew Janissey wouldn’t believe it any more than I had at first. Youcouldn’tbelieve it unless you’d met Chris and experienced his kind, open nature firsthand.
Worse, I was afraid that if I tried to explain it, Janissey would realize that I wasn’t soft for my protectee; I was… well,hardfor him. Janissey would have me off the case so fast I’d leave a cartoon dust cloud behind, even if it meant he had to leave his precious office and come and take over this assignment himself.
A week ago, I might have agreed that was agood idea. Now… I didn’t trust anyone to protect Chris the way I would.
