Page 53 of Deadly Target
He’d heard through one of his sources that Felix “The Hook” was already in town, looking for his daughter. Alfie had not been expecting this latest complication, but he would deal with it as soon as he was done with Dupé. Olivia would have no one left. She’d be vulnerable and looking to avenge Victor’s death, not believing for a moment it was a scorned ex-lover who’d killed him.
And that’s where Alfie would come in, sprinkling a few pieces of evidence pointing at Gino and Frankie and sealing the last two nails in the coffin. Somewhere down the road, he would complete his vision of the future by enticing Olivia to run his new syndicate with him. She craved power and justice; he could give her both.
“I…,” Tracee rose from the couch, staring at him with cloudy eyes. Her hands shook as she wrung them. “I can’t do this.”
Here we go again. Leave it to Victor to have an ex with morals. “We’ve been over this, Tracee, and the deal is the same. You don’t have a choice.” With some people, he found the best way to recruit them was appeal to their emotions. “This guy doesn’t care about you or he would’ve never left you. You need him and all he’s done is blow you off. If he really cared about you, he’d have come to see you several days ago, wouldn’t he? Wouldn’t he be concerned about your safety? No, he’s too busy hanging out with his new girlfriend. It’s time you stopped letting him run all over you and push you around. All you have to do is get him inside, lock the door, and let me do the rest.”
Her strung out eyes dropped to the gun. “What’s that for?”
“Protection.” He put it out of sight behind his back. “You don’t worry about that. All you have to do is get him in, so I can talk to him, that’s all we’re going to do,” he lied.
Her bottom lip trembled. “And then I’ll get unlimited coke?”
Weak women were a real turn off. Weak people in general. But that’s what drugs did, making them vulnerable and easy to manipulate. “Lifetime supply guaranteed.”
She nodded hesitantly and plopped back down on the sofa once more watching some stupid reality show. It was going to be a relief to pop her a good one and never have to deal with her again.
Never have to deal with Victor Dupé again.
A musical note went off, alerting her that the front desk was calling. Tracee looked at him and he gave her the nod to answer. She spoke to her invisible virtual assistant. “Yes, Ian?” She had named the damn thing after her favorite actor. “What is it?”
A deep male voice responded, sounding like a real person. “You have a visitor at the front desk. Victor Dupé.”
“Send him up.”
Alfie gave her one more pep talk. “You’ve got this. Get him inside, lock the door, and offer him a glass of wine or whatever. Keep him occupied until I come out, got it?”
She headed for the door, saying nothing to him, but muttering under her breath. “Everything will be okay. I’m a great actress. I can do this.”
Before he slipped around the corner out of sight, he heard her whisper, “I’m sorry, Vic. Please forgive me.”
