Conrad James didn’t need to follow Costa or Quinn from the airport to know where they were going. That they arrived on time was good enough for him.
He had a tight schedule, and didn’t like to be rushed, even when he had a deadline.
The people who needed to die would all die in good time.
He listened to classical music not because he was well educated—though he was—and not because he particularly liked it—though he had an affection for Tchaikovsky—but because the music relaxed him and put him in the right mindset.
He was halfway downtown when his cell phone rang. He paused the music and answered the call.
“Yes.”
“Well? What’s going on?”
“Why are you calling?” He’d been working for the group for months and they still hadn’t learned that he did not appreciate micromanagement.
“Because you sent me a cryptic text message while I’m in the middle of a meeting that the game is on? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Should I have said, in writing, that Mathias Costa and his team are here, that Detective Quinn has an appointment at the courthouse at eleven thirty with Mr. Dyson? Should I have said, in writing, that the assassination is on schedule?”
“Don’t be such an asshole.”
Conrad bristled. He did not like this man. He didn’t particularly like anyone in the group, but he was the most vulgar and, honestly, the most stupid.
“Do you have a change order?”
“No.”
“Let me do the job for which I was hired.” He ended the call without a goodbye.
He did not trust these people. He didn’t trust anyone he worked for, which was why he had survived for as long as he had as a fixer. But these people were particularly capricious and slippery.
Yet he prided himself on doing his job well, and his plan was set. Structured, but fluid enough to adapt if necessary.
Two people would die today.
Game on.
He changed the music from Tchaikovsky to Mozart. Not his favorite, but the balanced rhythm of the sonata had a wonderful centering effect on his mind.
He had a job to do, and he would do it. After all, they paid him a lot of money to clean up their messes.