V Is for Vengeance

a man of your word.”
    “Based on what?”
    “Based on the fact that you have power and you’ve had it for years. You don’t need to dick around.”
    “Nice talk, but it’s not going to help. You’ve got nothing to trade. Cappi’s snitching is not exactly late-breaking news. I’ve been suspicious about him since he got out of Soledad.”
    “Well, now you know for sure. I saw the photographs.”
    “Your word against his. You said he destroyed them all, so where’s your proof?”
    “Doesn’t matter. You won’t be taking him to court, so the evidence is irrelevant.”
    “Two corrections. A, you don’t know what I’ll do with him, and B, you don’t have a clue what’s relevant. Tell me something I don’t know and maybe we’ll do business. Believe it or not, I’m fond of Pinky myself.”
    She held his gaze and he could tell there was something more she wanted to say. She was debating the wisdom of it and for the first time, he was truly interested.
    “Come on. Out with it.”
    “Are you aware Abbie Upshaw is Len Priddy’s girlfriend?”
    He could feel his focus sharpen. “Says who?”
    “I saw them at the Palms a week ago. That’s how she was introduced. You can ask her yourself.”
    “You saw her in my office.”
    “Of course. I was looking for you when I ran into her.”
    “And she’s in on the deal, whatever it is. With these pictures you’re talking about?”
    “For starters, I think she took them. Len stashed them at her place. She was out of town last weekend, no doubt humping his bones. Pinky looked for the photographs at Len’s and when they didn’t turn up, he decided to try her place. He walked away with her home safe and when he drilled it, he hit pay dirt.”
    “What’s his stake in this?”
    “Len was using another set of photographs to keep him in line. Those are the ones he was after at the time. The shots of Len and Cappi were a bonus. Dumb luck on his part. He was hoping you’d forgive his two-thousand-dollar debt in exchange for them.”
    Dante took a moment to assimilate the information. “Fair enough,” he said. “You tell Pinky to come see me and I’ll take care of him. You have a car?”
    “I’m parked in the underground garage.”
    Dante reached up and pressed a button on the console. “You can take us back now. We’ll drop the lady at her car.”

    He took the elevator up. When the doors opened, he crossed the reception area and paused at Abbie’s desk. Beautiful girl, no doubt about it, with that long dark hair. Sometimes she wore it up, caught in an oversize tortoiseshell clip that looked like a set of spring-loaded teeth. Steady, responsible, a valuable employee. She was watching him carefully, trying to read his mood. Maybe it had occurred to her that he and the private eye might have crossed paths downstairs.
    “I have a job for you,” he said, his tone matter-of-fact.
    “For me?”
    Her warm olive complexion had taken on a gray cast, and he knew if he reached out and touched her hand, her fingers would be cold. “I need two first-class seats on a flight from LAX to Manila. I’ll need a limousine to take us down to the airport.”
    Her face went blank as the request sank in. A frown created two parallel creases between her eyes. If she did that often, they’d be permanent.
    “Is this a problem?” he asked.
    “I was wondering why you chose Manila.”
    “I like the Philippines, okay?”
    She licked her lips as though her mouth had gone dry. “When did you want to leave?”
    “Thursday. Make it late so I can get in a full day’s work. I’ll be at the warehouse first thing. Have a limo pick us up at the house for the trip down to the airport.”
    “You don’t want your driver to take you?”
    “He’s entitled to three weeks’ paid vacation. I’m giving him the time off. Same with my bodyguard.”
    She hesitated. “Lou Elle usually handles travel.”
    “And now you do. Think you can manage it?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He leaned down and pulled over the notepad where she recorded phone calls. He preferred a different system, one with automatic carbons so the top slip could be torn off and left on his desk. He jotted two names and a series of numbers on the lined page and pushed it back to her.
    She glanced down. “Mrs. Vogelsang?”
    “You have an opinion, you can keep it to yourself.”
    “Won’t I need her birth date and passport number?”
    He pointed. “What do you think that is?”
    “Oh, sorry. What