Page 96 of Hannah and the Hitman
He shook his head. “Nope. Sorry. But I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“No teleporting in the car!” Jack called out.
I wasn’t going to do it since we were going eighty and I had no idea what the “landing” would be like, so I changed the subject. “You said Paul Reggiano’s going to take care of his father.”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“Take care as in, he’s going to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“Because–”
“Because Paul wants to take over. Mafia doesn’t mess with women and kids. When he threatened you, he crossed that line. Going after you isn’t enough to take him out because these guys do a lot of bad shit, but it’s enough for me to ask Paul for help. I’ve done work for him, and it would be disrespectful to me for him to let this slide.”
“It’s his father though.”
“Trust me, they don’t like each other,” Jack replied, and Dax nodded in agreement.
“This is the excuse Paul’s been waiting for then?” I wondered.
Jack tipped his head and shared a look with Dax.
“Paul’s learned that his father thinks you can hulk smash people and teleport.”
“Who’d he learn this from?”
“Me,” Jack said. “But probably also from his father directly. Joey Brains told Sal what happened in the library and the parking garage security feeds showed him how you threw Eyebrows around. Even with that first-hand knowledge, Paul thinks his dad might be losing it. Another reason to take him out.”
“I don’t want Sal Reggiano to die because of mental illness when he’s actually completely sane.”
“Is he?” Dax asked. “The guy’s filled the Vegas desert with dead bodies. He’s not a choir boy. He needs to die.”
I glanced at Jack.
“Remember I said we’re thegoodbad guys?”
“Oh, I like that,” Dax replied.
“This is one of those times,” Jack continued. “The earth will be a better place with him gone.”
I pursed my lips and considered. Could I go on with life knowing I had part in a man’s demise?
“How about this?” Jack prodded. “It’s you or him, gorgeous. He either wants you as a hitman or he’ll kill you. And your family. And me.”
“And probably me, too,” Dax added.
“Him or me?” I repeated.
There was no other choice. “Then I go in alone and bring him out to Paul.”
“Fuck,” Jack muttered.
63
JACK
We parked down the street, about three houses from the Highcliff place, as planned. Dax and I watched Hannah walk down the sidewalk toward her parents’ house, then turn up the walk. He even set his hand on my chest to keep me from going after her.