He looked like he’d lost some weight but he was still a big guy, wide and heavy-boned. His hair was thinning too but still so black it looked like it had been dyed. He looked pretty healthy, tanned, relaxed as he chatted away.
He kept talking as they approached but glanced up and then seized, muttering something into the phone before ending the call. Lucas knew what he was thinking and was impressed by how calm he looked under the circumstances.
He didn’t say anything until Lucas had reached the table and then simply, ‘Is this it?’ It almost made Lucas feel nostalgic for the past, for the power he’d had over people’s lives.
‘No. How are you, Bruno?’ Only now did his nervousness show, his hand shaking as he reached for his iced tea, a twitching smile struggling to take control of his face. A waitress walked over as they sat down and Lucas said, ‘Iced tea for me, please.’
‘Make that two,’ said Ella.
Bruno finally laughed and said, ‘I wish you’d called first.’
‘I don’t think that would have been a wise move. Do you?’
‘Potentially not. I’m hearing nothing about you for over two years and then the grapevine is telling me you’re the one who interferes with one of my jobs in Italy. Three good people.’
‘They weren’t that good.’
Bruno shrugged and said, ‘Could be so. Two Albanians. The young Italian, he could have shown some promise. But I expected a bodyguard, not a Lucas.’
He felt a slight twinge of unease because the young Italian really had shown some promise, slipping undetected beneath his radar. But it was buried by something more significant: the fact that Bruno had expected a bodyguard.
‘You knew she’d have a bodyguard?’
Bruno looked confused for a second and said, ‘Not before the job started, but obviously, somebody took the two Albanians down—I didn’t think it was a member of the public.’
‘Oh.’ Lucas gestured towards Ella and said, ‘This is the job I interfered with.’
Bruno was clearly captivated. ‘So you’re Ella Hatto. You look different from your pictures. Prettier. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’ He shook her hand. Ella looked uncomfortable and Lucas realized how inappropriate this whole conversation was. ‘Also, I’m sorry about your family.’
‘You ordered their murders.’ Her voice was forceful, full of indignation.
‘I arranged them. That might not seem a distinction to you, but it is. And I am sorry.’ The waitress arrived with the drinks, a welcome diversion, and then Bruno lifted his glass and said to Lucas, ‘To business.’
‘To retirement.’
Bruno laughed and said, ‘I don’t think so. It’s like soldiers—old hitmen never die; they simply disappear.’
‘Who killed my family?’
He looked at Ella, acknowledging the interruption with a small nod, and said to both of them, ‘That’s why you’re here?’
‘That’s why we’re here,’ said Lucas. ‘The calling in of favors.’
‘I wasn’t aware I owed you any.’ He smiled and said, ‘It was all done anonymously. Payment came from a numbered account. But you’re in luck. I recognized the number, you know, a familiar pattern of digits. So I’m curious to know who this was and I check my records.’
‘Who was it?’
Lucas had asked the question but Bruno looked at Ella as he said, ‘The contract to kill your family, and you also, came from London, from Larsen Grohl.’
She turned to Lucas. ‘Have you heard of him?’
Before he could answer Bruno said, ‘Not him. Larsen Grohl is a company, corporate security. They’ve used my services on two previous occasions, not for contracts, just security personnel in the East. For those two occasions, the man who contacted me was named Cooper. This last time, of course, no names.’
Lucas said, ‘So it’s unusual for this company to take a contract, even for a client?’
‘It’s my experience. Okay, maybe they’re using other people on other occasions but why come to me for this job? No, this is a departure, which I think makes life easier for you.’
‘Maybe so,’ said Lucas. ‘I’ll need that bank account number.’
‘Call me later, but Lucas, please be quiet about this. If it had been a regular client, you know I wouldn’t have given it to you.’
‘Sure.’ He looked out briefly at the mix of tourists and locals strolling to the thermal baths. There they were with their towels and bags, oblivious—he didn’t know whether he envied them or not. ‘So long, Bruno.’ He shook his hand and got up. Ella seemed surprised, caught mid-gulp. She stood quickly but Bruno remained in his seat and they didn’t shake hands.
‘If you do come out of retirement, you’ll call me first?’
‘Better for both of us if I don’t.’ He hesitated, giving Ella the chance to say something if she wanted to. But she simply walked back toward the waiting taxis and Lucas wondered if she fully appreciated how useful Bruno had been to them.
In the taxi she said, ‘Don’t believe in hanging around, do you?’
‘I did say there was no need for you to come.’ It was true, though: he was in a hurry, like he could feel the time running out.