by B. B. Hamel
“Bennigan!”
He stopped and pulled back. My heart raced and my ears rang. Tanner leaned toward the steering wheel and stared out the windshield.
The familiar figure moved toward the stoop we’d been watching for the last week. He walked up the steps, paused outside the door, looked around, then unlocked it and went inside.
Tanner leaned back. “Holy shit,” he said.
“Was that him?”
“Definitely. That was definitely him.”
“Why haven’t we seen him until now?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe he’s staying somewhere else for a week. Sometimes guys rotate locations, helps to stay hidden. Not a lot of people have the patience to stake out a house for an entire week.”
“No kidding,” I said. “I can tell.”
“But if he’s here—”
“What are you going to do?”
I could see Tanner making the mental calculations. Fear spiked through me. I suddenly didn’t want him to do anything stupid. I didn’t want him to do anything that might put him in danger.
That scared me more than anything else.
“Stay here,” he said, and grabbed for the door.
“No,” I said, reaching out. I yanked at his shirt. “No, don’t.”
He looked back at me, head tilted. “What?”
“Don’t go,” I said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want you to.” I felt stupid and knew I didn’t have a good reason. “I just… want you to stay here.”
“Why?” he asked.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He gave me a small, sad smile. “I’m not sure that’s an option, sweet girl.”
“It is right now. We can sit on this, talk it out back at the hotel. There have to be other options, right?”
“I have the drop on him,” Tanner said. “He’s right there, right in that house. I can follow him in and—”
“Please,” I said and felt an insane hopelessness come over me. “Just let it go, okay?”
The thought of my unborn child’s father getting himself killed in that house made me want to throw up.
The thought of my unborn child made me almost as sick.
I felt dizzy. I let go of his shirt and leaned back in my seat.
“Are you okay?” he asked, letting go of the door.
“I’m fine,” I said, closing my eyes. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself.
“You look pale again. What the fuck’s going on, Elise?”
“Nothing.” I opened my eyes and put all my remaining energy into an epic glare. “I’m fine.”
He let out a breath then stared at the house again. I knew he was thinking about it, but I’d gotten him to stay. That was a pretty big victory, as far as I was concerned.
“Fine,” he said. “I won’t go, for now at least. There are other options.”
“We’ll figure it out together.”
He looked at me then started the car. “Yeah, together.”
He put it in drive and pulled out of the parking spot. I didn’t look at the house as we drove past it, and Tanner kept his eyes locked on the road ahead of us.
My hand drifted to my stomach as Tanner drove us back to the hotel.
16
Tanner
Elise practically sprinted into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. I lingered outside of the door and listened, trying to see if I could hear her crying or anything to give me some idea of what was going on, but I heard nothing but silence.
I sat on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, and stared at the TV.
My mind raced through the possibilities. I had no clue what happened, but maybe she had a change of heart. Maybe she doesn’t want me to go after Bennigan for some insane reason. I knew she didn’t like the violence, and the whole reason she ran away from her father was to avoid getting involved in anything like this.
But she had to be realistic. Bennigan was going to come and kill her if I didn’t step up to stop it. There was no other solution to our little problem, and yet maybe she was starting to realize just how dangerous this situation had become.
She stayed in the room for a few hours and I left her alone. It was boring, but at least I could plan. I watched the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies on TV and wondered how the hell Pierce Brosnan ever got the job. After the latest Bond movies, all the other James Bonds looked like pathetic little weaklings.
The room phone started ringing. I stared at it and waited for Elise to picked up in the bedroom, but it just kept right on ringing. I walked over and answered just to get the thing to stop making noise.
“Hello?”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Pippen?”
I hesitated. It took me a second to remember that was the fake name I gave to the desk clerk. “Yes, this is him,” I said.
“You have a visitor down at the front desk. He requested that I call up and check to see if you’re available before he comes up to visit?”
I felt my body go tense. “Did he give you a name?”
“Yes, sir. He says his name is Drago Borghi?”
I let out a low breath. “Send him up,” I said.
“Very good.” She hung up the phone.
I hung up on my end and paced back and forth. After a pause I walked to the bedroom door and knocked three times.
“Elise,” I said. “Open up. This is important.”
Still silence.
“Elise,” I said again. “Your dad’s on his way up.”
That got her attention. I heard movement, then the door unlocked and opened. She peered out at me in nothing but a tank top and a pair of black panties. The light was off and the blinds were shut.
“My dad’s coming here?” she asked. “What the hell?”
“The phone call, that was the front desk. Apparently he’s here, and he wanted to come up. But he made them check in first.”
“Didn’t want to surprise us,” she said. “That’s probably smart.”
“I don’t know how he tracked us down, but he’s coming up right now. We have maybe a minute before he shows.”
“What do we do?”
“Stay in there,” I said. “Lock the door. I’ll talk to him.”
“He’s my father.”
“And he wants you. Stay in that room, let me do the talking.”
She stared at me before nodding once. “Okay,” she said.
I could see the fear in her eyes. I reached out and touched her hand on impulse, not sure what I was doing. She bit her lip and looked at my fingers then met my eyes. I wanted to kiss her, but a knock at the door stopped me.
“Go,” I said.
She pulled back, shut the door, and locked it.
I walked to the coffee table and picked up my Glock. I slipped it into my waistband before walking to the door and pulling it open.
The man standing outside was a few inches shorter than me with broad shoulders, graying hair, intense dark eyes, and a pure black suit with a black dress shirt.
“Tanner,” he said.
“Drago.” I smiled at him, extended my hand.
He took it and we shook.
“May I come in?” he asked.
I opened the door, but didn’t move. “Two rules,” I said.
“Okay,” he said, a little smile on his lips. “Go ahead.”
“First, you don’t try to talk to Elise. She’s not interested.”
“And the other?”
“You make a move for a gun and I’ll kill you before you have the chance.”
“That’s not really a rule,” he said. “More like a threat.”
I shrugged and didn’t step out of his way. I was sure a guy like Drago wasn’t used to being threatened, and certainly not to his face. But he was on my turf and he was alone, which meant he’d better play by my rules. I knew he was armed, and I wasn’t stupid enough to ask him to disarm before coming inside.
But at the very least he could be polite and not try
to kill me. That would be such a mess and I liked this hotel.
“Fine,” he said. “Now, can I come in?”
I stepped aside and let him walk past. I shut the door behind him as he looked around the room.
“It’s not much,” I said. “And a little messy.”
His eyes moved over an empty champagne bottle, some empty takeout bags, and empty beer cans. “I see that.”
“Hard to keep it clean when we’re in here all the time.”
“Where’s my daughter?”
“Don’t worry. She’s safe.”
His eyes strayed to the bedroom door. “Can she hear me?”
“Assume she can,” I said. “And act accordingly.”
He grunted and turned his back to me. He walked to the window and spread the curtains aside. It was dark out and the moon reflected off the building across from ours in dappled sprays of gray.
“I’m not used to going to another man with my hat in hand,” he said. “I’m a long way from New York.”
“You run those streets,” I said, “but this is Philadelphia. Things work differently here.”
“I know.” He clasped his hands behind his back. I thought he did it to show me that he wasn’t armed or reaching for anything. “Do you know why I came to this city?”
“To gain more power and money,” I said. “You think the Leone family is getting fat and happy. You’re probably right about that.”
He laughed gently. “That’s true,” he said. “But I also came to be closer to my daughter. Do you think that’s strange?”
“Yes,” I said. “You could’ve just come yourself. You didn’t have to start a mafia war to spend some time with her.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But imagine you were in my position. You’re head of one of the biggest families in the biggest city in the world. I may be an important man and I may have a lot of latitude, but I still answer to many, many people. I couldn’t just pick up and move here.”
“It’s not such a long drive from New York,” I said. “A few weekends a year would be a good start.”
He laughed again. “I suppose you’re right. I’m a vain man and I only know one way of life. My daughter, she never took to that life. She never wanted any of it. I tried to instill in her the same work ethic and self-reliance that I built up in myself, and I think it worked a little too well. She ran away the second it was possible and never looked back.”
“Can you blame her?” I asked.
He stiffened. But his hands remained behind his back. “I think I can,” he said. “I’m family.”
“You don’t get to choose family, do you?” I asked. “I certainly never did. Even when I was a street kid getting passed through the system. I didn’t have a say in anything, it was just, you go here, you do this, you stay with these people. Even if they were a bunch of assholes, I still had to stay and take it, because I was just a kid.”
“What’s your point?” he asked.
“Family isn’t everything,” I said. “Just because you’re her father doesn’t mean she owes you a thing.”
He let out a breath and I saw some of the tension relax. “I disagree with you,” he said and slowly turned around. He released his hands from behind his back and crossed them at his chest. “But I suppose I’m starting to come around.”
“Why are you here, Drago?”
“I thought we could speak, man to man.”
“I don’t speak for Elise,” I said.
“I know that.”
“And you can’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do.”
“I know that, too.”
“Then what’s there to say?”
He gestured with his hands, like he was trying to get me to see something right in front of him. “She listens to you. For better or for worse, I don’t know why.”
“How did you find me?”
“I’m a connected man. It wasn’t so hard.”
“I guess it’s time for me to switch hotels, then.”
“If you like.” He waved that away. “But this is as safe as it gets. Plenty of cameras, hotel security, a police station nearby, plenty of cops down in the park. Bennigan isn’t going to make a move on you here, at least not until he gets desperate.”
“You know about Bennigan?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’m connected. If I could find you, then of course I know what you’re hiding from.”
I grunted. “Tell me again why you’re here.”
“I want you to convince Elise to come home with me.”
“I don’t think I’m going to do that.”
“Try anyway.” He tilted his head. “I can make it worthwhile. You’re a killer, right? You do jobs for money? Well, I have plenty of money.”
“Elise isn’t for sale.”
“No, I didn’t think so.” He smiled at me, and I found him loathsome and toad-like. “You don’t need money anymore, do you? I mean, you have plenty. I know what you charge, and I know you’ve been very active these last few years.”
“You’re right that I don’t need money.” I stared at him hard, hoping he’d just leave on his own.
“What do you need then, Tanner? You’re in over your head on this one, aren’t you?”
“I’m staying ahead of it.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. Your whole strategy relies on me sitting down with the Leone family, right?” He laughed and this time it was malicious and sharp. “Don’t bother denying it, I know what you’re trying to do. I already ignored a message from them, and I can bet you put them up to it.”
I stared at him and refused to let my anger show on my face. “So you’re going to avoid making a profitable business decision, for what? Pride?”
“Something like that.”
“If you sat down with the Leone family and hammered out a deal—”
“I get my daughter back?” he asked. “You think that’ll happen?”
I stared at him. “No,” I said. “But she definitely won’t get killed at least. I feel like you owe her that much.”
He smirked and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t owe anyone shit,” he said. “Much less her.”
“Then I have to ask you again: Why are you here?”
“Because I know you’re in deep shit,” he said. “And I know you need to get out of it. Tell me what you want in exchange for my daughter, and I’ll give it to you.”
My mind raced. I didn’t want a thing from Drago, certainly didn’t need money, but I did want him to make a deal. I could suggest that, but I had a feeling he’d only laugh at me. I wanted him to get the hell out of here before he made things worse with Elise, and I wanted to knock him off his game.
So I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Kill Bennigan for me.”
He looked taken aback. His lips pulled into a frown and a little half laugh escaped his lips.
“Are you— you’re being serious? You want me to kill Bennigan?”
“Maybe not personally,” I said. “But someone in your crew. Or multiple someones. I don’t actually care how you do it.”
“And then what? You’ll just hand over my daughter?”
“Something like that.”
“I thought she wasn’t for sale. I thought you couldn’t control her.”
“She’s not, and I can’t. But you killing Bennigan will be good for both of us, and I suspect you won’t be able to hold on to her for very long. So it’s fairly low stakes for me.”
He grinned and shook his head. “I knew you were one fucked-up guy, Tanner, but this takes it. All your big talk about respecting her and she’s not for sale and whatever, all that’s gone as soon as you see a chance to get something from me.”
“Are you going to do it or not?”
He shrugged. “I could,” he said.
“Then go,” I said. “Go get started. I don’t want to wait long.”
“Let me see my daughter first.”
“No,” I said. “Walk out of here now and fo
llow through with our deal, and then you can see her.”
He stared me down and I felt the tension drop like a blanket. I stared back and prepared to reach for my gun. I was younger, stronger, and faster than him, but he was a notorious gangster. I couldn’t rule him out. I couldn’t make any assumptions. One false move could end things.
But instead, he relaxed. “All right,” he said. “I take care of Bennigan, you convince my daughter to come stay with me. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
“That’s the deal,” I said.
He nodded a few times then took a step toward me. I tensed, but he only reached out a hand.
I took it and we shook.
“Good doing business with you,” he said, grinning. “I’m glad we could have this chat. You know, man to man.”
I smiled back even though inwardly I wanted to crush the little bones in his hand. “It’s been a pleasure,” I said.
He released my hand and walked to the door. I watched him go, turned in to every single little movement he made. He looked back at me, shot me one last smile, then opened the door and walked into the hall. It slammed shut behind him.
I stood in the silent room as James Bond continues to play on mute on the TV.
I counted to fifty in my head before turning to the bedroom door.
As soon as I turned the knob, it flew open. I stumbled back as Elise crashed out into the living room.
“You asshole!”
She threw herself at me. I was too surprised to do anything but put my hands up. She punched at me, clawed at me, and shoved me hard. I took a step back and stared at her.
“You sold me!” she said. “You sold me out to my dad, you asshole. I heard every word. I heard what you did, you disgusting piece of shit.”
“Wait,” I said. “Hold on. I can explain, I was just—”
“You asshole,” she said and kicked me hard in the shin.
All right, that got me. That fucking hurt. I jumped up on one foot and clutched at the bruise. “Oh, motherfucker,” I said.
“Asshole,” she said again. “I can’t believe I trusted you. I can’t believe I thought you’d help me, but here you are, looking out for number one, you dick.”
“Wait,” I said. “Elise. I was just trying to play him.”
“You played yourself.” She glared at me then stormed off.