Page 62 of The Ghost Assassin

Kane

Don’t wait for trouble, walk up and introduce yourself. It’s a strategy I learned years before and it works for me.

I land in Long Island and travel to the estate I’m visiting, an impressive twenty acres with high security, and the name on the gate is Romano. This is the meeting I thought I’d never entertain, but never say never. This is the home of the mob’s patriarch who I share a jaded past with. I tied the man up in my garage at one point, but I also made peace with them and stopped the war between the cartel and the Romano family. If they find out my father is alive, there will be bloodshed. But knowledge alone won’t stop the war.

Control will, though.

My control of my father.

There’s only one way to do that, and while my wife will not approve of my methods, she’ll eventually see the light.

I’m going to make a deal with the mob.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Lilah

A couple hours later, I’ve still not heard from Kane, and there are several empty pizza boxes at the end of the coffee table that we all pretty much inhaled. I ate almost a whole one myself while the men in the room marveled. “If I have to kill someone, or arrest them rather, I need energy,” I explained.

At this point, I’m on the floor in front of a chair, at the end of the coffee table. Tic Tac and Jack are still side-by-side on the couch, doing who knows what on their computers, because we have no answers. Even Tic Tac can’t find a location for the ex-diner employee, which has me concerned about her safety.

People don’t just disappear.

Unless they’re hiding or dead.

It’s interesting to me that I have not heard from Adams, who should be worried about one of our own dying. Andrew has nothing to offer me. Chief Houston has nothing to offer me. No one knows shit. On the bright side, no one else has died. Frustrated at our lack of progress I call Ellis. “What do the two directors have in common?”

He’s silent for a few heavy beats. “They sat on a committee together.”

“Were you on that committee?”

“I was.”

“Why didn’t I know that until now?”

“Because it’s all top-secret information, and you still don’t have clearance.”

“I need to see those files before someone else dies.”

“I have them. I’m looking through them, but they’re marked up. You won’t understand what you’re seeing.”

“If you bring them and you to me, you can explain.”

He sighs. “I could lose my job and get thrown in jail, but I’ll do it. I’m actually here. I have the files with me.”

“Why?”

“Because the minute you had clearance, I was going to give them to you.”

“Are you allowed to even have those files?”

“Don’t ask those kinds of questions.” He hangs up and I’m fairly certain he’s coming here.

Thirty minutes later, Jay is helping him carry boxes into the living room. “This is it,” he says. “It’s all redacted.”

“Who else was on the committee?” I ask.

He reaches into his blazer pocket and offers the list to me. “I’ve had them all put on lockdown, which may well be why they’re still alive. But they can only be locked down for so long.”

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