“I have never considered it in quite that way. You are right, Muerto. Is that why Phil and Clarice Salvatore are still alive?”
“Absolutely. Phil nearly ended his chances of watching Sonny graduate from high school. He took the hint I gave him when he admitted to practically spying on me. I doubt there’s anything those two toads do apart. Only time will tell what they’ll come up with as Sonny and Jean get older. They’re going to become an old cliché - I can’t stand the sight of them, and I can’t shoot them in the head. Actually, they don’t bother me that much. It’s just they pissed Rachel off to the point she’s ready to hire me to kill them. I think they’re kind of funny.”
“I believe as Rachel. They are not to be trusted. I trust little Sonny completely. He could have ratted us out on a number of things to his parents. I don’t want killing Sonny’s parents to become a necessity, so the less we come into contact with them the better. Since they think they’re riding high in the social circles around here with the county club you got them accepted into, maybe it will keep them busy.”
“Maybe.” John drove in front of Nick’s house. “Thanks for the ride. That was a very satisfying late night treat.”
John chuckled. “I’ll be Gus. ‘Only you could say satisfying late night treat about another heinous murder, Muerto’. Ten o’clock at the point?”
“Oh yeah. I’ll bring everything with me. We have to honor poor old Yoda with a wake.”
“Indeed.” John drove away.
Nick shouldered his bag. He glanced around with professional expertise at the surrounding houses in the misty predawn darkness. When he saw there was no movement, sound, or vehicles with clean windows rather than fogged ones, so he moved to his door. He heard an anxious Deke. Nick smiled, closed his eyes, and listened intently not to Deke’s pawing, but to the hushed wisps of material stirred by the anxious Deke. I feel a disturbance in the force, Deke.
“How in hell did you roll your Mom into allowing Sonny to stay over, Dagger? Better yet, how in hell did Sonny get his folks to allow him to stay in the house of the enemy?” Nick smiled as he heard a hushed ‘Damn it’ from Jean.
The door swung open to reveal the infamous Dagger and her sidekicks the Dekester and Tagalong Sonny, dressed all in black, including Ninja masks. “How did you know this time, Dad? We controlled our breathing, made sure Deke was at the door as if nothing was happening, and we aren’t wearing anything that smelled.”
Nick sniffed the air around each of the ten year olds. Sonny was smiling sheepishly while Jean merely stood with a scowl and arms crossed. “I smell dog. Deke, did these two use your blanket in a lame attempt at disguise?”
“Enough about Deke. How did you know it was an ambush and that Sonny was here?”
“I listened. Deke was pawing the door with first one paw and then the other. I heard his paw graze someone on either side, causing their clothes to rustle ever so slightly. Since I didn’t figure you were straddling Deke, I deduced the presence of your sidekick. I’m going into the kitchen to sip one before I get some sleep. Come with me you two rascals and tell me how this sleepover took place.”
“You’re really good, Mr. McCarty.”
“For the hundredth time, just Nick will do, Sonny. I like your manners, but they’re not needed with my name.” Nick poured himself a Bushmill’s, sipping it with satisfaction. “Now… who wants to start?”
“I overheard my Dad tell Mom he was going to get fired from the passport office,” Sonny replied. “I don’t want to move away from Dagger. Could you maybe use your contacts to help my Dad?”
“Did overhearing the conversation happen last night after I drove you home?”
Sonny shrugged. “Yes.”
“And was it then after John picked me up that you were brought back over to the house?”
“Yes.”
“I see,” Nick said as Jean giggled. “Let me take a wild guess and say your folks suggested you stay overnight after they noticed you overhearing their conversation.”
“They’re using me, Nick. I know that, but I still don’t want to move away,” Sonny stated. “Can you help him keep his job? Dad even called late to ask if I’d told you about him probably getting fired. I told him I hadn’t had a chance to mention it yet. He was surprised and asked if you were home. I told him sure, would he like to talk with you. I knew he’d say no. Then he blurted it out that it was important for me to ease it out into a conversation. I never told him you were out of the house. I knew you were on mission.”
Uh oh. “Dagger?”
“I didn’t say anything,” Jean insisted. “I still haven’t said anything.”