Page 24 of Samson

“She’s a project of mine.”

“Does she know that?”

Samson sniggered. “I’m pretty sure she does.”

“She doesn’t look impressed.”

“She’s not.”

“That has to be a first.”

“I don’t know. You’re never that eager to see me.”

“I have a wife and kids at home, so my interests lie elsewhere. No offense. You’re a very handsome fellow.”

Samson laughed. “Thank you for your kind words.”

“I’ve never seen anyone get to you before. Who is she?”

“The waitress. And she hasn’t gotten to me.”

“No?”

He lifted the file he’d taken from the envelope. “Can we get back to business? You’ve got somewhere you need to be, remember?”

“All right. I won’t torture you. There’s a gang in this area that has recently come on our radar.”

“Which one?”

“It’s led by a guy named Marc Rubin.”

“I’ve heard the name. I thought he was small time. How’d he getyourattention?”

“It’s his recent associates and their activities. There have been several murders. None of which we’ve been able to pin on him. But we don’t think he’s doing it on his own.”

“Hired gun?”

“We believe it’s something like that. It’s connected to extremist activity, but he doesn’t fit the profile. We think he’s in it for the money.”

“But you're sure it’s him killing people?”

“As far as we can tell from what we’ve put together. But it’s not enough to make an arrest.”

“Ouch. That’s tough. So, what’s the purpose of the murders? You said extremists? I take it there are drugs involved if you’re on the case.”

“That’s one of them. And the murders are complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“Where do I start?”

“How about with the latest incident?”

“It was at a church. A drive by.”

“A drive by at a church? They weren’t happy with the sermon?”

“If it had been a one off, I’d say it was connected to their fears about the Armenia mafia moving into town.”

---