The Trinity Game

groaned with a smile and turned to Daniel. “Our friend is in danger of becoming a nattering nabob of negativism.” He took another bite and chewed. “Great sandwich. Thanks.”
    Daniel tucked the photo back into his pocket and picked up a sandwich while Trinity resumed the banter, teasing Pat about the health benefits of keeping a positive attitude.
    After cheerfully wolfing down a couple of sandwiches and a handful of chips, Trinity announced he was turning in early to finish writing tomorrow’s sermon and get a good night’s sleep.
    As soon as he was gone, Daniel turned to Pat and said, “Carter Ames sends his regards.”
    “What?”
    “You saying you don’t know who Carter Ames is?”
    “Yeah, I know him. Just surprised you do.”
    “We only just met.”
    Pat thought for a second, then laughed through his nose. “I shoulda figured he’d show up in all this. Seems a little late to the party, though.”
    “He’s been in it from the start. Remember I told you about the help I was getting from someone named Papa Legba?”
    “Ah,” Pat smiled. “Crafty old bastard.”
    “So what’s this Fleur-de-Lis
Foundation you guys work for?”
    “He said I worked for the FDL?”
    “He called you an ally.”
    “That’s true enough. But I don’t work
for
them, I’m independent.”
    “Who are they?”
    Pat shook his head. “Carter Ames is playing us. He gave you a little glimpse, now he wants me to recruit you. I won’t do it.”
    “But you believe in what they’re doing.”
    “Yeah, and it’ll get me killed eventually. You too, if you join up. Look, man, when this thing with Tim is over, just ride off into the sunset with Julia and enjoy the rest of your life. You’ve earned it.”
    “I’m not joining up. I just want to understand—”
    “No, brother. You only think you do. I’m telling you, you really don’t want to know what’s going on out there.” Pat stuffed some chips in his mouth and chewed. “Anyway, you want to hear the sales pitch, you gonna have to ask Ames. You won’t hear it from me. Next subject.”
    There was no use pressing him. Daniel pulled the photograph from his back pocket and handed it to Pat. “He gave me this. Said you—”
    “Holy shit.” Pat stopped chewing. “What exactly did he say?”
    “He said this guy came in on a flight from Montreal yesterday, but they lost track of him this afternoon. And he said you’d tell me about him.”
    “His name is Lucien Drapeau, and he is a very bad man.” Pat handed the photo back to Daniel. “Pretty safe guess he’s here to kill your uncle.”
    “An assassin?”
    “Best in the world, maybe. They say he’s a fanatic for precision, never misses. I’ve crossed paths with him a few times over the years, but we’ve never gone head to head.”
    “But he plays for the other team,” said Daniel, “the Council for World Peace or whatever it is.”
    Pat shook his head. “Lucien Drapeau doesn’t play for any team. He’s all about the money.” He pointed at the photo in Daniel’s hand. “You need to memorize that face. Note the details…”
    Daniel looked hard at the face. Eyes very close together, square jaw, small ears, and a dome shaped like a bullet, with a ridge running from front to back, right in the middle.
    “How tall?”
    “A smidge taller than me. About six-four, I’d say.”
    Daniel looked back to the face in the photograph. “Weird,” he said, “the guy’s got no eyebrows.”
    “No hair at all,” said Pat, “anywhere on his body. He removes it.”
    “Some kind of kink?”
    “No, he’s just that committed to his craft. No hair, no DNA evidence trail. The man is uncompromising about his work.” Pat put the bag of potato chips down on the boxing ring. “With Drapeau in the game, our chances of keeping Tim alive just went from slim to very-fucking-slim indeed. Wish I could tell you different, but that’s the truth, Ruth.”

J ulia called just after ten o’clock. “Got your messages,” she said. “All five of them. Sorry, it’s been a little hectic around here. What’s up?”
    “Come have a drink with me,” said Daniel.
    After a second of silence, she said, “That would be nice, really, but not tonight, Danny. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
    “We’ve been having a lot of big days lately.” He could hear her laugh through the phone. It was a warm laugh. “Julia, I realize we’ve all got a lot on our plates right now, and tomorrow’s gonna be crazy. I just want to call a