Ted had all the right information but had come to the wrong conclusion. Fear will do that. He could admit that he was afraid of so much—physical pain, Jill’s disapproval, the power of her grandfather and his cronies, and, not least, failure. He had surrendered at the first blow struck—or before. But seeing Lester, a pawn on this battlefield, reminded him of something—someone he used to be.
Once upon a time, Ted had been a young man from an undistinguished background, his father an absent alcoholic and his mother a striver who had lost all pretensions. Ted had studied long and hard and finished law school at the top of his class, proud to be chosen to begin his career at the feet of an eminent judge. Someday, he thought, he would champion the poor, the unlucky, the pushed aside, thumbing his nose at those in power, the corrupt, the uncaring. That guy had become lost along the way. Power, money, and prestige had turned his head. And when they were taken away, he was back to where he had begun.
Lester was no threat to anyone. The sole reason he’d been given a beating was to send a message—to Ted.
“You want to tell me about it?” Ted said, taking a seat next to him.
“Russians.” He swallowed saliva before continuing. “Two. They broke in the front door and came straight to my room.”
“They knew where to find you.” Ted wouldn’t have known where to find him. Lester had once mentioned an SRO in Hollis but not an address. They’d followed him or put a lot of effort and energy into running him down. Which meant they had resources and were willing to use them.
Lester nodded, saving his words.
“Was it the same two? The ones we saw right here?”
Lester shook his head. “Never seen ’em before.”
“What did they want? Did they say anything?”
“Nothing.”
“When?” Ted asked, unconsciously copying Lester’s terse style.
Lester took a moment to answer. “Yesterday afternoon.”
While Ted was sleeping off his hangover. “Thank god somebody got you to a hospital.”
He nodded again. “Neighbor. Drives a cab. Took me to Great Neck.”
“What the hell? Why’d you go all the way to Nassau County?”
“You ever been to an ER in an outer borough? People die there.”
“This guy must be part angel,” Ted said.
“Son of a bitch wanted me to pay double the meter when we got there. I told him to go ffffuck himself.”
“Sounds right,” Ted said. “What did they look like? Can you describe them at all?”
Lester answered with a dismissive shrug. “We didn’t take a long time getting acquainted. I had my feet up and might have been dozing off. They came in, took care of their business, and got out.”
“Yes, they’re quick. I ran into the two guys from Friday just now.”
Lester’s expression shifted to exaggerated disbelief.
Ted’s bruises didn’t show. “They went easy on me.”
“I’d say so.” Shay sho.
Ted looked for the Russians again. If they were all in a forties B movie, this would have been the cue for the bad guys to reappear. There weren’t many people around at all. The line of protestors that morning was sparse. Mondays. There was no sign of Kenzie. He found he very much wanted to see her.
“What are we going to do?” Lester asked.
“I came here this morning prepared to ditch the whole thing. Pull the file. Screw it, I thought, there’s easier ways of making a buck. What do I care if that tower gets built or if some developer bought off a politician or two? I’m sorry Richie’s dead, but I have to watch out for myself and the people I care about.”
“Understandable,” Lester said.
“But I don’t want to do that now.” Both the Judge and the Russian mob wanted him to pull that file; therefore, he would do the opposite. “Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.”
“Well put.”
“I don’t know how, but I want to fuck them up.”
“I like it,” Lester said.
“Got a plan?” Ted asked.
“No, but I wouldn’t mind a little get back. Besides, I made promises.”
“To Barbara Miller?”
“And Anora. She wants that green card,” he said.
They both stood. “Okay,” Ted said, “but she’s got to wait in line. We have other priorities.”
“Agreed. You got any ideas?”
“Not yet, but it’s early. Let’s get some coffee.”