“What’re you boys up to?” Anthony asked innocently, readjusting the new Rolex he had sparkling on his wrist. Sal and Frank flanked his sides like two shadows.
Pasquale opened his mouth to say something James was sure wouldn’t be the truth—but frankly, he’d had quite enough of that.
“Anthony,” James interjected calmly, “what happened to Danny?”
Anthony glanced at Sal and Frank. A few seconds of silence slipped by, the tension rising with every single one. Anthony cleared his throat and asked, “What do you mean?”
James’s jaw felt tight. “Pasquale said that he quit.”
“Oh . . . yeah.” Anthony laughed, but James knew good and well it was a farce. “He said he wanted to, uh . . . try something different.”
“Different?” James pressed, despite Pasquale’s warning glance. “What’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know what the fuck he’s going to do,” Anthony replied curtly, that red flashing in his eyes once again. “Maybe he’s going to Holl ywood to be in the movies. Don’t ask so many stupid questions, Jimmy.”
With that, Anthony began walking away—with Frank and Sal following suit. James watched as they approached the door and thought to himself, Or else what? He finally acknowledged the gut feeling he’d tried to shove away for weeks, ever since the audit. Something was wrong here—very wrong.
The next day was Saturday, and James went for a long run before breakfast. On his way back, he picked up the Bost on Globe at the newsstand near his apartment. He poured his coffee, sat down at the kitchen table, and unrolled the day’s paper.
The first thing he saw was Danny’s face looking back at him.
His blood ran cold.
Next to the picture, the headline read:
Body Found in Fens Identified
Police found a partially decomposed body in the Fens area of the Back Bay on Thursday evening. It appears the body was the victim of foul play. The individual, a young man, was badly beaten and then shot in the head. The police have since identified the victim as Daniel (Danny) O’Brien.
James immediately felt his stomach roil, cold chills rolling in waves over his body like a reverse fever. He ran to the bathroom and vomited. It felt like the whole world was crashing down on him. He sat on the edge of the tub for several minutes in a stupor, then took a shower. As the hot water splashed down on his body, he began to cry harder than he could ever remember. In his heart, he knew exactly what had happened, and at that very moment, he decided to talk to the one person he trusted the most.
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