Page 91 of A Breath of Life
“I had help. Costa is freakishly smart. I envy his brain.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing, and he knows better than to pry.”
Diem seemed grateful yet troubled. His mind was a roaring maelstrom, and I wasn’t sure he would be able to relax until this ordeal was over.
I nodded at the laptop, consciously aware that there was still a minor possibility of the card listening to us. “Anything on Clarence?”
Diem’s eyes darkened and jaw ticked as he turned the laptop screen toward me.
“What am I looking at?”
He glanced at the card, seemed to consider it, then spoke aloud. “Our buddy Clarence made a significant monetary donation to a St. Michael five days before his wife was killed.”
“What?” I glanced at where Diem pointed. Significant was an understatement. Clarence had donated ten thousand dollars, utterly draining his bank account.
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Diem
Tallus’s brows hit his hairline. “Jesus. I wouldn’t have suspected the guy had that much money to throw around based on his apartment. I mean, it was nice, but it wasn’tnice.”
“He doesn’t anymore. Thisdonationleft him with next to nothing, and he hasn’t recovered.”
“Why the air quotes? You don’t think it’s a legitimate donation?”
I huffed. “No, Tallus.” While my boyfriend had been busy deconstructing my phone, I’d been pondering theories. One in particular had smacked harder than the rest. “I think it’s a down payment.”
“For what?”
“For his wife’s murder.”
“But… She walked in on a burglar. It wasn’t… Oh.” He sat back. “Ohhhh. You think—”
“That it was a setup, and Ace gave Clarence a year to pay the rest of the bill.”
The piecesseemed to click as Tallus followed my train of thought. “And Clarence didn’t meet the deadline.”
“Hence why Ace wanted him taken out. Clarence owes him money. A lot of fucking money, if I were to guess.”
Tallus glanced at the laptop screen and the line showing the transaction. “If ten thousand dollars was a down payment, then his outstanding bill is probably what?”
“Outrageously high.”
“Give me a ballpark, Guns. I’m not up on my hit man fees. What are you thinking?”
“If ten grand was ten percent down—which is standard—then at least a hundred K. Could be higher. Someone like Ace likely charges twenty percent interest.”
Tallus whistled. “That’s… I can’t math that high. You know, I never considered how much it might cost to hire a hit man. Is that the going rate?”
“How the fuck would I know?”
Tallus sagely smirked. “Come on, D. Are you telling me you’ve never considered hiring a hit man?”
“No! Who the fuck do I need assassinated?”
“Um… your dad?”
