Page 3 of Beautiful Obsessions
“Even retired professionals would come out of the woodwork for that amount of money.”
“Yes,” I said.“I imagine they will.”
The man across from us finally leaned in.And there it was.The moment he had been working toward.
“I might have information,” he said.
Atlas rolled his eyes.
I folded my hands on the table.
“Do you?”
He nodded slowly.
“But information has value.”
Here we go.
I waited.He waited.
We stared at each other across the table while the restaurant continued moving quietly around us.
“I could tell you who placed the bounty.”
Ah.Extortion.Classic.
“And what,” I asked pleasantly, “would you like in return?”
The man smiled.
“Protection.”
Atlas laughed.Actually laughed.A short, sharp sound that made the man stiffen.
“You want protection from the man whose head has a price on it?”Atlas asked.
The man flushed slightly.
“Well—when you put it like that?—”
I sighed.
The sigh of a man who had hoped—briefly—that this evening might offer something interesting.Instead I had been given a con man.
“Let me understand,” I said slowly.“You came here.To a private dinner.With two men who have buried more enemies than most people have acquaintances…”
The man swallowed.
“…to attempt a negotiation based on information you refuse to share.”
He opened his mouth.Closed it.Then nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at Atlas.Atlas looked at me.Then he leaned back again.
“Do what you want,” he said.
