The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online

sure The Crew never found him. With luck, he’d stay one step ahead, and they’d never get the revenge they were after.
    “I’m hoping for the best,” he said.
    She sent him a “give me a break” look, what he guessed her adult sons saw when they tried to put one over on her. “I wish that assured me,” she said, but then concern pushed aside the skepticism. “I know you won’t tell me what’s going on, but I’m getting the impression you’re really in a mess this time.”
    He’d been in a mess since long before he knew her. It’d started when he’d been a lost and confused teenager and then spiraled out of control. But the men who wanted him dead also had a business to run—several businesses. Prostitution. Gun and drug smuggling. Money laundering. Theft. Whatever would make them a buck. Although killing him would give the banger who did it ultimate bragging rights, chasing him around didn’t net The Crew any money. If he continued to elude them, they’d eventually quit, wouldn’t they?
    It was possible. But the opposite was more likely. The longer he lived, the more of a legend he became, and that only increased their desire to put him in a body bag. As far as they were concerned, he and his best friend, Virgil Skinner, had done the unpardonable when they defected and then assisted the authorities—and that demanded retribution. The member who accomplished it would be a hero, at least in their small, sordid world.
    “Depends,” he said. “Has anyone come by the office, asking for me? Any strange calls?”
    “There are always strange calls,” she said. “You own a personal security firm. Some of our clients are delusional as well as paranoid.”
    “So nothing out of the ordinary.”
    She studied him for several seconds. “It would help if I understood what you were dealing with. Maybe then I could figure out what to look for.”
    “You know I can’t tell you. Some people are after me. That’s all.”
    “There’ve been no red flags on my end.”
    He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and let it go. He’d stay away from his usual haunts for another week, see if there was any sign of his former “brothers.” If all remained quiet, he’d head home. Mona Livingston, the friend who’d warned him that several members of The Crew claimed to have new information on his whereabouts, was still using drugs, so he wasn’t sure her information was all that reliable. She could’ve imagined what she’d heard. Or maybe it was nothing but a bunch of street soldiers trying to impress everyone else by vowing they were going to bring him down. There was always that chance, since putting a bullet in him or Virgil, who now lived on the east coast with his wife and kids, would make them the envy of all they admired.
    “So how’d it go with Frick?” he asked.
    “That’s Jason, right? For the job? Physically, he’s perfect. He’s an absolute Goliath! But mentally?” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “He seems a little trigger-happy to me. I’d worry about him shooting someone without a legitimate reason.”
    Rex had sensed that same reckless element when they’d chatted briefly on the phone, but he’d wanted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t easy to come by someone who was six-six and built like a Mack truck. “What about the others? Anyone else a good fit?”
    “Peter Viselli seems like he has the right temperament.”
    He grimaced. “Peter’s what...five-eleven?”
    “Yes, but that’s just a couple of inches shorter than you. You also weigh less than every other man in our company—and yet no one’s better at security than you are.”
    Size wasn’t a man’s only weapon. Rex found speed, agility, experience and intelligence to be more important. But appearance counted, too. Size gave All About Security, Inc., the intimidation factor, and enough of an intimidation factor could head off problems before they started. Being surrounded by a couple of