Page 79 of Master of Lies

“Oh, of course!” I patted his chest, and let the tiny trace fall into the breast pocket in his jacket, right behind the folded handkerchief that barely poked out of it. “There are so many grateful recipients of your talent, but only one of you, so of course you can’t keep track of us all! But I’m so glad I ran into you here, because I’m desperate to ask you about a possible follow-up procedure. We never did my butt lift. At the time, we were only focused on the front view, but now that some time has gone by, I regret not getting it all done together, you know?”

“Well, now is really not the best time to—”

“But when I called your practice, I just got the runaround! I guess you’re just too much in demand for a little old me.”

“Actually, I’ve stepped back from the practice lately,” Grifo’s face was shiny with sweat. “But all of my colleagues are truly excellent. They can definitely—”

“No. They’re not as good. No one is as good, and I won’t settle for second best.”

“That’s very gratifying, but still, I can’t help you right now.”

I leaned closer. “I know about Wex Boer,” I whispered. “Step out of the ballroom and go to the room at the end of the hall. We can get you out of this.”

Grifo’s face faded to a yellowish gray. “How do you know…”

“I’ll tell you when we’re there. Seriously. I’m here to help. Come with me.”

I gave him a sharp tug, which made him lose his balance. He stepped out of the ballroom with me, but once in the hall outside, he chickened out, and started to pull away. “Actually, this really isn’t the time or place.” His voice quavered. “Let me take your number, miss. We will talk about this tomorrow, when I’ve have a chance to—”

“Five minutes,” I insisted. “I’m not here to hurt you. We can help each other. I want Boer dead and gone. So do you. Five minutes, Dr. Grifo. It’s worth it, to save your life, and your family’s lives.” I kept my eyes locked on his as I tugged him, trying to project conviction, sincerity and hypnotic intensity in equal measure.

The lounge across the hall was deserted. A velvet rope had blocked the door, but Jed had removed it.

I pulled Grifo into the dimly lit room. When he saw Jed, he shrank back. “Oh my God. You’re that man. The thug who threatened Clark and Ramona.”

Jed lifted his hands in a soothing gesture. “I never threatened anybody,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you. Just listen to me. If you can help me take Boer down, you can get your life back. All of it. Everything will be just like it was before.”

Grifo’s eyes were rolling wildly between Jed and me. “How do I know you’re not from him?” His voice was sharp with terror.

“You think you’d still be here talking to me if I was?” Jed asked.

Grifo cowered back, pulling against my clutching hand. “I need to go,” he said.

“I don’t know how to convince you,” Jed said. “But we intend to wipe that motherfucker off the face of the earth. Thing is, we need your help to do it.”

“I can’t,” Grifo said miserably. “He’s watching me. He’s probably watching right now. He’ll kill my wife, my girls. Right in front of me.”

“And this will be your life, from here on out,” Jed said. “For you, Rachelle, Natalie, and Cecilia. Always with that sick feeling in your gut, always looking over your shoulder, waiting for the knife to sink in. Even if you run, that feeling will follow you. Every time your daughters go out on a date, you’ll wonder about who they’re really getting into the car with. Every time your wife goes to the spa, you’ll wonder who she’s going to meet in the massage room.”

“Stop,” Grifo pulled away. “Just…don’t. Please.”

“I can make it stop, if you help me,” Jed said. “Together, we can take that bastard down. So he can’t hurt you, ever again. And you’ll be free.”

“I should never have come to this goddamn thing,” Grifo moaned. “I was trying to act like everything’s normal, but it’s not. It’ll never be normal again.”

“Yeah, all of you should’ve been on the other side of the world by now,” Jed said. “But then, I wouldn’t have been able to help. Look on the bright side.”

Grifo’s face was wretched. “I don’t deserve to be punished like this. All I did was my job, damn it. I just worked on his face, that’s all. Four different surgeries, the last one just four weeks ago. And I did good work. No one could have done it better.”

“Yes, we know,” Jed said. “You still have Mickey’s flash drive, right?”

Grifo looked shocked. “What? How did you know…?”

“Mickey told me,” Jed said. “You kept the flash drive because you knew you might need some leverage with that guy, right? You just didn’t know how much.”

Grifo’s eyes were haunted. “Too much,” he said, his voice hollow. “He’s…he’s a monster. The things he threatened us with…”

“I know,” Jed said. “And if I’d been sent by Boer, I’d already be getting the location of that flash drive out of you with a long, sharp knife. But that’s not me.”

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