“What was he looking for?” Malachi asked it like it was a casual thing, like he couldn’t really care less.
“He never said. He just kept asking where ‘it’ was.”
The perky waitress came back. “You folks ready to order?”
The drug dealer spoke without looking. “You know, honey, I think we’ll just stick with the coffee. My friends here are a little off their stomach.”
A lot of her perkiness vanished, but she nodded, walked away. Malachi said, “How’d you get away? I don’t imagine Jack just let you be.”
“No.” Tom nodded sideways. “Anna set off our burglar alarm. After he ran, we left. Slept in a hotel.”
“I see. So y’all are afraid he’s coming back.”
“Sure.” Tom pushed his silverware around.
“Which does make me wonder.” Malachi glanced over his shoulder at Andre, who’d been staring the whole time like a pit bull straining the end of his chain. “If Jack hadn’t come at you, if y’all didn’t need my help, would you still be saying you’re on my side? Would we still be having this conversation?”
Anna said, “That would have been up to you.”
He turned. “How’s that?”
“If Jack hadn’t come after us, we wouldn’t have anything to offer.” She shrugged. “You told Tom you’d be willing to kill us just for having a tenant. So whether we’d be having this conversation would depend on whether or not you were serious.”
Malachi nodded slowly. “Fair answer. For the record, best you never doubt that. You hadn’t come through…” He glanced over his shoulder again, then raised an eyebrow.
Tom fought to keep from clenching his right hand into a fist.
“So.” Malachi turned back. “Jack wants something from you. Something he thinks you have.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t have it.”
“Don’t even know what it is.”
“So then, if he was looking for something, and you don’t have it” – the man spoke slowly – “why is he meeting you at ten o’clock?”
Tom fought to keep cool, forced a smile. “Well, I’ll tell you the truth.” He took a sip of coffee, set it down, moved his hand back to his lap, hoping the man hadn’t caught the shake in his fingers. “I figured the only way was to get him somewhere I could tell you about. So…” He paused, shrugged. “I lied to him.”
The man in the suit stared, eyes locked. The moment stretched thin and tense. Tom kept his gaze forward, a shit-eating grin on his lips. Thinking that this was it. Wondering if the guy would try anything here, whether he and Anna were about to get blasted right out of the breakfast nook.
Then Malachi slapped the table, threw back his head, and barked a laugh. Tom let himself breathe again. He felt Anna’s fingers slide into his under the table. He laughed too.
“You lied to him.” Malachi smiled, wiped at his mouth with one hand. “Well, good for you, Tom. You’re turning into a regular gangster.” He turned and inclined his head at Andre, who rose and walked over. For a moment Tom had a flash of panic, but the bodyguard only pulled out the fourth chair and sat down. “Now,” Malachi said, “let’s talk this thing out. He say where he wanted to meet specifically?”
“Just the mall.”
“You got a cell phone?”
“Yes.”
“Jack know the number?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Wherever you are, he’s going to want you to go somewhere else.”
“No way. We’re doing this in the mall because it’s public. We’re not going to agree to-”
“Cool out. You don’t have to leave the mall. Fact, he knows you won’t. He’ll just move you around some. You standing by one store, he’s going to call, tell you to go to another. Simple good sense. What that means, though, I can’t have my people just waiting around the corner. So you gonna have to stall.”
Tom felt a faint sickness. Anna said, “How long?”
Malachi looked at Andre. The big man shrugged, said, “Minute or two.”
“Wait. You want us to stall him for a couple of minutes while ‘your people’ sneak up on him?” Tom snorted. “No offense, but Century Mall is in the heart of Lincoln Park. A bunch of gangsters are going to stand out.”
“You mean a bunch of niggers are going to stand out.” Malachi smiled.
Tom felt his face go hot. “No, I-”
“I got a couple of white boys I use for situations like these. And I think even Lincoln Park can handle one black man wandering free,” he said, inclining his head toward Andre. “Now, like I said, my people will be there. But Jack’s got some savvy on him. So they going to have to be laying low. They won’t come out till you give the signal.”
“What’s that?”
Andre rattled off a string of digits. Tom stared at him blankly.
“Program that shit into your phone,” Andre said. “Once you got the dude distracted, you press Send.”
“What if he sees me do it?”
“Make sure he don’t.”
“Also,” Malachi said, “you need a bag.”
“A bag? What for?” Anna’s look of confusion was so perfect Tom fought an urge to kiss her right there. She hadn’t given even a hint that she knew exactly why they’d need a bag.
“I have an idea what Jack is after,” Malachi said. “You get yourself a decent size bag. Carry it like it’s heavy.”
“What if Jack wants to look inside?”
Malachi shrugged. Tom’s stomachache grew worse.
“How are you going to grab him in the middle of a mall?” Anna asked.
“Now, that’s a fine question. But I don’t see you needing the answer.”
“Here’s one we do need the answer to.” Tom looked the man in the eye. “After we do this, we’re square, right? We’re done with you?”
“You do this,” the man said, “you prove what I need proved.” He leaned back in his chair, shot his cuffs. “Long as everything goes the way you say, yeah, we square.”
“And what about Jack? What are you going to do to him?”
Malachi shook his wrist to straighten the loose Rolex, then glanced at it. “I’m going to give him a history lesson. Genghis Khan style.” He stood. “Now. You two best be on your way. You got a few details to attend before ten.”
“Wait a second,” Tom said. “Where are you going?”
The drug dealer laughed. “Son, I won’t be inside five miles of that mall. And I’ll have witnesses to back me. This thing, it’s on you two. It goes wrong, you screwed it up.” He raised his eyebrows. “We clear?”
“Clear that you’re leaving us dangling.” Tom was unable to stop himself from glaring, to keep the tone out of his voice.
Malachi just smiled again. “Pay to play, gangster. You got to pay to play.”
“WELL, THAT WENT GREAT.” Anna leaned back in the passenger seat, balanced the arch of her feet against the glove box. She had the window cracked to let cool spring air in. “Just great.”
Tom shook his head. Pressed his lips together hard.
“What if Jack wants to look in the bag first thing? Not like there’s a reason for us to chat. All he wants is the money. He’s probably planning to just walk up, look in the bag, say something threatening, and then walk off.”
“Assuming he doesn’t plan to kill us anyway.”
“Assuming that.”
Tom sighed. “I don’t know. We can stall him, I think. He’ll feel safe. What scares me is that at the same time, we have to signal Andre. One thing we know about Jack, he’s smart. He’ll be watching for any sign something is wrong.”
“He doesn’t know about Malachi, does he?”
“No. He won’t be expecting this. If he’s expecting anything, it will probably be police. He’ll have his eyes tuned for cops.”
“That will work for us,” she said. “He won’t be looking for gangsters.”