Page 66 of I’ll Be Watching You

“I don’t care.”

Carter watched the two men stare at each other. The weasel averted his eyes first.

He was the weak link. Carter wondered if Sal would ask him to kill the man as soon as the deal went through.

Yes, Carter suspected he would. That would be a job he wouldn’t charge for because it would be too much fun.

Some people were simply better off dead.

“We’ll watch,” Sal said, “and we’ll step in if absolutely necessary, but we’re not going to kill anyone unless there is no choice. And I would suggest that you not be so rash. As you said, you will have your money in days. Which means I will have my money in days. Answers will take a lot longer to come by.”

Carter breathed easier. He wouldn’t have to kill the woman. He could kill her boyfriend or her brother, spare her life. That, he could live with. But not the girl PI.

A knock on the door, then Ed stepped in. Ed was the head of security for Sal’s place.

“Boss, there’s a dispute in the other room.”

Sal dipped his head once in acknowledgment. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he said. Ed walked out, closing the door behind him.

“Don’t come here again,” Sal told the gambler. “If you need to get me information, you know how to do it.”

“But—”

“Shh,” Sal said, putting a finger to his lips. “Go.”

The gambler must have sensed a shift in Sal’s demeanor, because he walked out without another word. Sal crossed to the bar and nodded toward the whiskey; Carter poured him two fingers of Redbreast, neat. Sal drained it, put the glass down.

“Get your head in the game, Carter,” Sal said. “We may have another job, depending on what the Angelharts learn and when they learn it. There’s a lot of money in it for you.”

“He’s an asshole.”

Sal nodded. “That he is. But he was instrumental in this project and we still need him.”

Carter nodded.

He had rules he followed like commandments. He didn’t like to kill the innocent, but sometimes he couldn’t avoid it, like the nurse’s husband. Collateral damage. But the most important: Don’t kill women.

Devin Klein wasn’t innocent; he had stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, caused untold problems.

Liz Swanson saw something she shouldn’t have. That wasn’t her fault. It was the gambler’s fault, and he should have been the one to pay the price, not an innocent woman.

Sal looked at Carter. “I don’t trust that man,” he said quietly.

Carter nodded his agreement.

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Sal said. “He should never have come here. It was a risk to all of us.”

“I will kill him.”

“You may have the opportunity, but wait. There are too many moving pieces right now.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Good man. Set up for the poker game tonight.”

Sal left, and Carter set up for the backroom game that didn’t start until eight tonight, but Sal knew that Carter liked having something to do when he was struggling.

He had promised Sal he’d follow through if needed. But promises were easy to make.