Sophia was still smiling. "Yes, Joe, how many million dollars?" At the use of Kurtz's first name, Don Farino shot a glance at his daughter, but then turned his gaze back in Kurtz's direction.
Kurtz shrugged. "How the hell should I know? Little Skag knew that something weird was going on. That's why he suggested I get in touch with you, Don Farino. He doesn't give a shit about a missing accountant."
Farino blinked. "What are you saying? Why is Stephen interested?"
Kurtz sighed. He wished he was carrying a weapon, but it was too late for that. "Skag started screwing around in the drug business, started sampling his product, and was sent to jail. You and the other families let that happen."
Farino glared. "Mr. Kurtz, it took almost twenty years for the New York State families to come to some accommodation with the Colombians, the Mexicans, the Vietnamese, and all of the other"
"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Kurtz, "I know all about your little treaties and arrangements and quotas. Who gives a shit? Skag rocked the boat, trying to get more heroin on the streets and money in his pocket, and you let him be sent up for it. But someone using the family contacts opened those floodgates again just a few months
The madman swung his head in her direction. In this greenish goggle light, his burns and swollen face and hands and sopping bandages were even more terrible He held a long knife in his right hand. The blade seemed to flicker like a beacon in the amplified night-vision goggles.
The creature was sniffing the air as if searching for her. He began lurching in her direction.
Arlene slid her right hand under the desk drawer, found the hammerless.32 Magnum Ruger revolver there, and lifted the weapon. The goggles slipped in her trembling left hand. Suddenly she was blind.
The burned man ran into the low partition running down the middle of the room. He kicked it to splinters and came on.
My perfume. He smells my perfume.
The creature was ten feet away when Arlene squeezed the Ruger's trigger.
Nothing.
Oh, dear God. I forgot to load it!
The burned man crashed into the far side of Arlene's desk. He swung the knife in a wild arc, hitting the computer monitor and sweeping it and stacks of files off the desk with a crash.
Arlene dropped the night-vision goggles and held the useless Ruger up with both hands. Saliva splattered her as the monster began crawling over the desk. It was screaming obscenities. She could hear him, but not see him.
No, I loaded it. The safety! Once a week a mah-jongg at Bernice's and twice a week to the shooting range since Alan had died. Arlene clicked off the safety with her forefinger, found the trigger guard, found the trigger, and fired upward into darkness, toward the heat and stench less than a foot above her. She kept firing until the hammer clicked on empty chambers.
CHAPTER 38
The Dane walked over, looked at the twitching Charles, and fired another bullet into the fallen man's head.
Leonard Miles flinched. The Dane pointed one gloved finger at Miles's empty chair. "Sit, please."
Miles sat.
Kurtz was sitting exactly as he had beenfeet flat on the floor, palms down on his thighs. Don Farino was holding his chest, but smiling. Sophia Farino had pulled her legs up onto the chair and folded them under her as if a mouse were in the room.
The Dane was wearing a tan-checked wool topcoat, a Bavarian-style hat, dark-rimmed glasses, but no mustache. He walked around and stood behind and to one side of Don Farino. The semiautomatic 9mm Beretta was not precisely aimed at anyone, but the muzzle pointed in the general direction of Leonard Miles. "Thank you, my friend," said Don Farino. The Dane nodded.
The don turned his heavy gaze on Miles. "Is my daughter involved in this? Was she the one who gave you the orders?"
Miles's lips were white and trembling. Kurtz saw the yellow silk upholstery on the seat of the upright chair darken as the lawyer urinated in his trousers.
"Speak !" exploded Don Farino. The bark was so loud and fierce that even Kurtz jumped a bit.
"She made me do it, Don Farino," babbled Miles. "She threatened me, threatened to kill me, threatened to kill my lover. She" He fell into silence the instant that Don Farino made an impatient gesture with his fingers.
The don looked at his daughter. "You traded weapons to the Triads, brought these new drugs into the community?"
Sophia looked at him calmly. "Answer me you miserable putana!" screamed the don. His face was mottled red and white. Sophia said nothing.
"I swear to you, Don Farino," Miles babbled, "I didn't want to be involved with this. Sophia was the one who dropped the dime on Stephen. She was the one who ordered Richardson killed. She was"
Don Farino's gaze never moved from his daughter. "You are the one who turned Stephen in?"
"Sure," Sophia said. "Stevie's a fag and a junkie, Papa. He would have dragged the family down with him."
Don Farino gripped the arms of his wheelchair until his fingers went white. "Sophia you would have had everything. You would have been my heir."