Page 104 of Sinful Crimes for the Artistically Inclined
Percy shrugged, and so commenced an exchange of light pleasantries, a few stories shared, the usual sort of thing one does with an old acquaintance. Luca eventually said that Althea would be provided with a Russian passport by midday the following day, which, assuming she didn’t speak too muchwhile passing through customs, should be adequate. Then they got down to the real business.
“Drugs?” offered Luca.
“You know I don’t do drugs.”
Luca, who always looked to Percy like a no-talent six-year-old had attempted to sketch his far more handsome brother, raised both eyebrows.
“Shift,” Percy corrected. “You know I don’tshiftdrugs.”
“Fine.” One folder was pushed aside, another flipped open. “How about a murder?”
With a half-hearted shrug, “I don’t know. Is it anyone nice?”
“Um…” Luca looked over some papers. “Some guy’s wife.”
“I’m not going to—it’s not—I wouldn’t…” He faltered. “Give me the file.” He ran an eye over the sparse details. “How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“And why?”
“Bad divorce. He’s got some other woman on the hook and he needs this one out of the way, fast.”
“That’s it?”
“That simple.”
“Kids?”
“Three.”
“At school?”
“Correct. She should be home from around two o’clock. That gives you a little over an hour to kill her before they get back.”
“Then her kids come home and find her dead at… fifty-three Via Spaccaforno? That’s just around the corner.” Percy let out a long breath as he mulled over the information. “It’s terrible the things people do to one another, isn’t it?”
Luca paused to frown at Percy. “Do you want it or not?
“Has he paid in full?”
“Of course.”
“You can give me twenty-five thousand now?”
“Give me your safe combination and I’ll have it in your room within the hour.”
“Then I’ll do it. But I’m taking my boyfriend to the beach first.” Percy scrawled out a few numbers on the corner of the hit sheet, tore it off, and passed it to Luca. He closed the folder and dropped it onto the desk. “I need more money than this. Come on, Luca, where’s the good stuff?”
“I don’t have anything good,” said Luca, searching through his files. “I’ve got drugs and more drugs. I know you won’t traffic anyone?—”
“Never,” replied Percy.
“I’ve got kidnaps, forgeries?—”
“I’m no good at forgeries.”
“—high level extortion, debt collection, another hit, I’ve got…” Then, with a long exhale through his teeth and a ten yard stare in Percy’s general direction, “I’ve got…”
