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Adam says, “You’ve got infrared, of course?”
Molloy is looking at the phone over the goon’s shoulder. He says, “Rat shit. Boss, he’s right. There’s got to be about thirty of them out there. Very fucking armed.”
Adam tells Kinahan, “You can set up in another state. I know you have interests in Mississippi and Missouri.”
Kinahan’s laugh is hollow. “I don’t think it would be politic for me to let you take all of my business off me as easy as that, feller.” He tips his head to one side. “A certain amount of face is needed in this business.” He shakes his head. “Ah, well. It seems we’re at something of a standoff. Do you know why it’s called a Mexican standoff, by the way? I always wondered. Seems to me like it’s just a standoff.”
Molloy grabs me by the hair. “You’re the fucking problem here.” He winds my hair, gripped in his fist. Tugs it to pull my head back.
“What was it you were saying earlier, Boss, about the man watching?”
From a standing start, like an athlete, Adam leaps at Molloy. He slams a hard punch into the side of Molloy’s neck. Molloy’s eyes stretch wide and then roll back. He crumples, drops into a heap.
Adam pulls me to him with an arm around my waist. I want to pour myself on him like paint.
Kinahan says, quietly, “You know you can kill a man like that.”
Adan flicks Molloy’s chin with the toe of his shoe. Under the closed lids, Molloy’s eyes move.
Adam shrugs. “He’s not dead.”
Kinahan says, “We’re still back at the standoff, though, my beauties. What to do now?”
“Clear the room. Everybody out. Just you, me, and her.”
“Will the two of you be ganging up on me?” And he chuckles. “Okay, boys. Leave us to chat.”
Kinahan invites us to sit.
Adam shakes his head. “It’s not going to take that long. You ready?”
Kinahan spreads his hands and sits back.
“Okay,” Adam tells him, “here’s the deal. You get to keep face. I keep the license and ownership. You stay on in the operation for as little or as long as you like, but for a flat fee. A salary. No commission, no rake, no skim. No extras.”
“I can’t see that being—”
“No racketeering. No extortion, no bribing cops or officials.”
“Mr. MacAlpine, there are people in City Hall who’ll be upset about that.”
“Good thing you’re a tough guy, then. You’ll know how to handle them.”
I’m buzzing inside, just watching and listening to him. It’s like Adam is made of raw power.
He says, “This is the new dawn, Colm. If you want to survive, this is your only way.”
Fighting to keep the shake out of my voice, I chime in, “And no running drugs, guns, or explosives, no people trafficking. Not in this state.”
Adam stays cool, shows no reaction. I know he’s wondering where that came from, though. Kinahan stares at me, like, what the fuck do I know? So I tell him. “There’s an ambitious new DA, and I know that he’s hungry for business.” Kinahan’s eyes darken. “You’re just the kind of customer he wants.”
It’s true. Or maybe he was just trying to impress me as we danced. “I also know that the gaming commission is perfectly able to look at the activities of former license holders.” That’s something I do know. I had a test on it only last week.
Kinahan’s lips straighten and thin. “Wait,” he says. “What if, just say, for instance, that I had interests…”
I tell him, “Then you would want to get rid of them.”
Adam says, “Maybe sell them on before they’re completely devalued.”
