Bodyguard Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the dog. Pinky. What a ridiculous name for an attack dog.
    “I’ll stand, thank you,” she told him.
    “Please sit,” he said. “I insist.” He turned to the man with the accent. “Ivo?”
    Ivo took her arm, but she pulled free, stepping forward herself. She took the chair and dragged it several feet farther from Pinky’s still-bared teeth.
    Amusement and something not quite as funny gleamed in Michael Trotta’s brown eyes. “Do you know why you’re here?” he asked.
    There were times in life when a woman might get further by playing dumb, but this was not one of them. “I assume it has something to do with Griffin’s death.”
    “There’s a connection,” Michael admitted. He sat back in his chair. “My dear Mrs. Lamont, you have something that belongs to me.”
    Nicole glanced at the Fantasy Club stage, at Monique, who was coming to the end of her dance routine, legs spread, hips gyrating wildly.
    “She’s good, isn’t she?” George asked.
    Nicole laughed. “You’re such an asshole.”
    He slid down off the bar stool. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”
    “My oh my, you’re in a hurry to get rid of me. But I’m not done. We’ve got a little more to discuss.”
    George glanced toward the stage as Monique exited to the sparse applause. He sat back down with a sigh. “Nicole. Darling. It’s my day off.”
    “It’s my day off, too, but this couldn’t wait.” She reached for his drink and took a sip. “You and O’Dell went to Long Island last night, right? Checking into that B&E and vandalism report called in by Alessandra Lamont?”
    He took the glass away from her. “My report will be on your desk on Monday. No sooner.”
    She waved that away. “I got a call this morning from a reliable informant,” she told him. “According to him, the word on the street is that Alessandra has something that belongs to Trotta. A substantial sum of money, to be exact. The story goes Trotta found out Griffin was double-crossing him by doing business with a competitor. He had him snuffed as a punishment, you know, as a ‘this could happen to you’ visual aid for the rest of his people. It was only after Griffin had two bullets in his head that Trotta found out there was a million dollars missing.”
    As awful and macabre as that was, George had to laugh. “Oops. Kind of hard to get a dead man to tell where he hid a million dollars.”
    Nicole’s mouth curved up into a smile, too. “Yeah. The stupidity factor here is off the scale.”
    “And that’s why Lamont’s house was trashed?” George asked. “Trotta’s men were searching for the million?”
    “That’s what we think. My informant told me Trotta’s either going to get the money back from the wife, or take her out, too—reinforce that message he sent by killing Lamont. Rumor has it this time it won’t be a clean kill. According to my source, if he doesn’t get the money, Trotta’s going to make sure everyone knows that the wife suffered for her husband’s sins.”
    George shook his head. “This is a technique that wasn’t touched on in The One Minute Manager. Control through fear of hideous death.”
    He glanced at the stage. It was still empty. There was usually a ten-minute break between dancers, which gave him about seven minutes before Kim came on.
    “My plan is to pull Alessandra in,” Nicole told him. “Have Trotta think she’s gone into the Witness Protection Program, then let slip her location. We’ve gotenough leaks in the local police department—we can make it look unintentional. And when Trotta sends his men to hit her, we’ll be ready for ’em. With luck, we’ll have him on conspiracy and attempted murder in just a few short weeks.”
    “And you think Alessandra Lamont’s going to go along with this?” George asked.
    Nicole shook her head. “No. We can’t tell her what’s going on. We don’t know the extent of her connection to Trotta. We don’t want her thinking she might have a better shot